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Meat from Hungary

Szegedi szalámi / Szegedi téliszalámi PDOSzegedi szalámi

Szegedi téliszalámi is Hungary's PDO winter salami, made in Szeged from heavy pigs of at least 150 kg. The batter is cold-smoked over beech at no more than 12 °C for 12–14 days, then ripened and dried for 2–3 months while a grey-white cover of house moulds grows over it. It is a low-acid salami with a pH above 5.6, so it must dry slowly.

Fully documentedMeat2.4 months – 3.5 months

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets the pigs, particle size, casing and process conditions but not the recipe amounts; Pick describes the recipe as unchanged for 142 years.
Pork meat and fat cutsPre-dried at 0 °C and frozen at -4 to -6 °C, then chopped to 2–4 mm[eu-szeged-2007]
Seasonings and curing saltWhite pepper, allspice, a little sweet paprika, table salt and nitrite curing salt, blended in during chopping; amounts not given in the specification[eu-szeged-2007][hu-szeged-spec]
CasingNatural or water-vapour-permeable artificial casing, at least 65 mm across[eu-szeged-2007]
Starterspontaneous house mycoflora; the Hungarian specification bars any starter culture, even as a protective culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.4 months – 3.5 months

Start
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-6–-4 °C

What changes: Frozen pork and fat are chopped to 2–4 mm with seasoning and curing salt

Step 1 of 5
Chill, chop and season the meat and fat
Time
Not documented
Temperature
-6–-4 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Szegedi téliszalámi is Hungary's PDO winter salami, made in Szeged from heavy pigs of at least 150 kg. The batter is cold-smoked over beech at no more than 12 °C for 12–14 days, then ripened and dried for 2–3 months while a grey-white cover of house moulds grows over it. It is a low-acid salami with a pH above 5.6, so it must dry slowly. Made in 5 steps over 2.4 months – 3.5 months. The longest step, ripen and dry slowly, takes 2–3 months (European Commission 2007). House mycoflora of the ripening rooms, mostly Penicillium species; at least 10 mould species grow on the finished salami does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 monthsSet[eu-szeged-2007][hu-szeged-spec]Ripen and dry slowly
Temperature-6–-4 °CSet[eu-szeged-2007]Chill, chop and season the meat and fat
AciditypH at least 5.6Set[eu-szeged-2007]Ripen and dry slowly

What makes this one different

Szegedi téliszalámi is not acidified. Its pH stays above 5.6, so it must dry slowly under a mould cover from the house flora; from stuffing to sliceable salami takes at least 90 days. The specification names nitrite curing salt as needed for microbiological safety and says the long cold smoking inhibits unwanted microbes. Many fermented salamis rely on souring to a lower pH.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Pick téliszalámiThe best-known maker in Szeged, the only one when the PDO was registered.

Safety

Because the pH stays above 5.6, the specification requires slow, controlled drying; rapid drying would damage the shape, flavour and food safety of the salami. This is raw pork with no acid barrier. The specification relies on nitrite curing salt, water activity of at most 0.91, veterinary inspection of each animal and daily plant and laboratory checks, and a home copy without those controls is not covered. CDC says curing, drying or smoking alone does not reliably kill Trichinella worms in pork.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The Hungarian specification names Péter Rolando as the first salami maker in Szeged, in 1841, and records József Torossy making 30 t in 1852. Márk Pick founded his firm in Szeged in 1869, split salami production off in 1883 and began large-scale salami production in 1885 with workers from Italy. Szeged's salami factories made 160 t in 1891 and 380 t in 1900. The name became an EU PDO by Regulation (EC) 1485/2007.

  1. [eu-szeged-2007] European Commission 2007, Publication of an application, Szegedi szalámi / Szegedi téliszalámi PDO (HU/PDO/005/0392/21.10.2004), summary, Official Journal C 86, 20.4.2007 (CELEX 52007XC0420(03)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  2. [pick2011] Pick Szeged Zrt., Using geographical indications for Hungarian salami (slides), EU-Japan Centre, 2011web
  3. [hu-szeged-spec] Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture (gi.kormany.hu), Szegedi szalámi / Szegedi téliszalámi termékleírás (product specification, in Hungarian)spec
  4. [cdc-trichinella] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How to Prevent Trichinellosisgov