So it seems I haven't made enough time for that other area of specialty foods dear to my heart. Charcuterie (or Salami). Now Charcuterie is really the Luigi to cheese's Mario. As Bourdain is to Ripert. You understand. They are meant to occupy the same culinary space. As most cured meat also developed in tandem with a cheese. In a time when finding creative ways to preserve food was of utmost importance.
Continued after the jump...
What I offer you today is a prize of Italian style salami. Made in Salt Lake City, UT by a multi-generation Salumi maker, Cristiano Creminelli,
Creminelli brand salami is outstanding. Each batch of salami is carefully handcrafted to the utmost. Its overall quality is the best I've tasted in domestically made artisan meats. Should you be lucky enough to live where they distribute do yourself a favor and get you some.
Today's salami is the Casalingo. This is far from that most basic of deli salami, the ubiquitous "Genoa". A delightfully simple cured meat spiced with salt and pepper. Cristiano has a finesse for drawing out all of the complexities of flavor in the meat with just the right amount of both spices. Aged for three months in a process that results in a salami that is all but bursting from its natural casing. Rich and complex it leaves just a wisp of flavor at the finish. Casalingo's light chewiness, its silky, fatty texture all give this salami top notch marks.
