Bread and salami

Salami is undoubtedly one of the tastiest cold cured meats : it is basically a rustic preparation, characterized by a distinct genuine taste.
"Eating bread and salami" means looking for a simple and immediate food, with no further claims other than a genuine good taste provided by the quality of the raw materials used.

Salami is produced in most areas of Italy, and its ingredients are influenced by what the area has to offer and the eating habits of the zone.
You can find:
- Salami which are sweeter in the North such as Varzi Salame (sweet and medium mince), Felino Salame (sweeter and finer mince), Cremonese Salame and Mantovano Salame (with garlic and finer mince), Milano Salame (fine mince), and Salsiccione (considered to be the most prestigious salami, produced in large sizes);
- More spicy salami are found in Central regions such as Salami Toscani with plenty of pepper (like all meats produced in this area);
- The hot spicy salami are found in the South, where chilli pepper is usually added.

Here are some tips for matching "bread and salami" choosing from the variety of products that Peck has to offer and the typical types of bread available in the bakery corner in the store in via Spadari in Milan.

Peck salami is a pure pork salami, the result of a careful selection of meats. The mince is similar to a Varzi Salame (fairly lean, with only 20% fat), and slightly sweet. It is produced in three different sizes: Cacciatorini mignon, Salametto gr. 450, and Salame 1.2 kg after curing. It is delicately spiced, has a coarse mince with a good distribution of fat, stuffed into natural casing, and tied by hand; it is cured for up to ninety days to complete the production process.
It is quite fresh and soft and goes perfectly with Mantua or Ferrara type bread, more seasoned salami are best with a plain bread like a ciabatta.

Finocchiona originates in the city of Prato and is derived from the processing of belly pork that is minced with a mixture of fennel seeds, crushed garlic, pepper, salt and spices.
The finocchiona salami is perfect with biscuit bread or toasted Tuscan bread.

Felino Salami comes from a small village nestled in the Parma hills which became famous for the processing of this salami, produced and marketed for over two centuries. The Felino salami proposed by Peck is prepared using carefully selected pure pork meat, with natural casing and peppercorns, according to the traditional recipe that some historians date back to 1200. The mince is coarse and is mixed with pepper and garlic which are crushed in a mortar and dissolved in dry white wine; they are tied by hand and the curing period that lasts between 60 and 70 days produces salami with no acidity at all.
The taste is sweet and delicate in clear contrast with the typical flavours of industrially produced salami, due to the quality of the raw materials and the use of prestigious fatty ingredients.
It is ideal when served with French bread.

Abruzzo Salami is perfect served with Altamura bread.

Hungarian salami has a finely minced mixture, consisting in one third lean pork, one third lean beef and one third selected pork fat.
The meat is expertly blended with salt and ground pepper, garlic macerated in white wine and delicate spices; it is then stuffed into casings and lightly smoked.
It is served sliced very finely and is excellent for filling Michetta or Rosetta bread rolls.

Tuscan salami is not cured for very long and is excellent served with hot crusty bread.

A good rule might be to combine the salami with the type of bread produced in the same area, because tradition has cleverly shaped local flavours, making them blend exquisitely. The fine mince salami, which are large sized or cured for longer, are suitable for light, crisp and rather unsalted bread. The well seasoned or soft mince salami find their match in rye or wholemeal type breads. The very flavoursome salami are perfect with biscuit bread or bread rolls made with olive oil. The hot spicy salami are excellent when matched with dried products - bread sticks, taralli etc - or large rustic wheat loaves