Salumi: The Craft of Italian Dry Curing

A long-awaited follow-up to their previous book Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing , this volume is exclusively focused on Italian dry-curing (while mentioned in Charcuterie, that book covered fresh sausages in much more detail). Salumi is a meticulous step-by-step look at the production of both whole-muscle dry-cured products such as prosciutto as well as salami and related products. It covers various technical food-safety details in a clear, easy-to-understand manner, and it cites its sources, a major plus. It also includes information on the curing environment, including advice on curing in refrigerators, wine fridges, and custom-made curing chambers (with the sensible cautionary note that "[those] who have built thriving dry curing businesses are regularly confounded by inconsistencies and failures"... in other words, don't panic!). Salumi contains "classic" recipes for what the authors call "the big eight" of Italian dry-curing (prosciutto, salami, coppa, lardo, spalla, guanciale, lonza, and pancetta) as well a number of other products such as mortadella and bresaola, and variations on the classics. The classic recipes themselves aren't doing any innovation, of course, but they aren't supposed to: what they are is straightforward, well-explained, and thorough. Make sure to read the introductory chapters, however, which is where you'll find the details that are common across all the salumi presented in the recipes section. I only have two minor objections to the book: first, while gorgeous, the photography seems more focused on being pretty than on showing the production of the salumi. Second, while I applaud the book for containing weight measurements for most ingredients (in both metric and English, even), there are a few, such as garlic, that they leave as "number of cloves" etc., which seems to defeat the point of much of the precision. All told though, as long as you've got the salt:meat ratio in weight, each cook will probably want to fiddle with the other stuff anyway, so it's not a huge omission. Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in dry curing, either at home or professionally: it is far and away the best dedicated volume on the market today. Pros: ---- * In-depth coverage of all important aspects of dry-curing * Up-to-date food safety recommendations * Clear, classic recipes for many of the major dry-cured products we are familiar with today Cons: ----- * Photographs aren't that helpful for production purposes (beautiful, though!) * Weights not given for 100% of ingredients

Of the three books on charcuterie I have read this is probably the best for the novice who wants to remain closer to the Italian tradition of salted and cured meats. The first few chapters deal with the what, why and how of charcuterie. There is even a section on how to butcher a hog, if one is so inclined. The instructions for the various preparations are detailed and the two color illustrations are very clear. The book provides tips on which cured meat are more suitable if the space to cure them is limited. The recipes using cured meats are valuable to any cook. Of the books on charcuterie I have read so far it is the only one to provide a recipe for "Zampone" and "Cotechino" The retail price is a hair short of $ 40.00, but the book can be found on amazon both new and used for considerably less. Actually I found a new one for less than the price of a used one. I am thrilled with the book and determined to give charcuterie a serious try. This book provides all I need to do it successfully and almost feel that I know what I'm doing. It would make a splendid gift!

Having started curing meats about 3 years ago, this is another great book to use as a rescource. The book is put together well from start to finish and includes some excellent pictures of finished product. Ruhlman and Polcyn Salumi includes some great new information. They describe the traditional hog breakdown by American and Italian processes. To assist the novice, they explain what to do with the cuts and how to best utilize the cuts according to the style of the breakdown.In this section, they also touch on bone-in and out for Spalla, a quicker way to produce a "prosciutto" type product for example.Next, they describe the dry curing basics describing and suggesting different salts, molds, equipement and drying enviroment. Some of this information will be review for the Salumeria but vital for the novice.Next, they go into whole muscle curing of the big 7 and salami. A great section with explanation and recipes. A new recipe includes the Culatello and an explanation of the Culatello versus the Fiocco. The last section of the book reveals recipes on how to cook and serve the Salumi. A nice way to wrap-up the book and to show off your creations. I really enjoyed the book and I look forward to putting this infrormation to work. I am especially interested in trying my first Lardo recipe inspired by their visit to Italy, I am assuming they went, from the region of Colonnata. In any case, the recipe and information looks to reward the Salumeria with a great product. Of course, it all starts with the hog and the quality of the hog. Thanks again for a great book and I look forward to sharing the finished products with others that enjoy and appreciate the art of Charcuterie! Bartolio Salumeria

While Charcuterie only touched on dry curing, this book deals specifically with it and in the Italian methods. It is even more readable than its predecessor and the details on butchering, meat preparation, and curing are exception. BTW it stands on its own and you It covers the differences in how a hog is cut up to maximized meat for salumi, salting and curing, drying, and safety. The authors start with the big eight - the classic cured cuts - and then move into variation, other meats and using the scraps left over from cutting. Excellent book that takes a lot of the mystery away.

By his reaction when opening this gift, I knew I was gonna love this book - I was personally going to get to enjoy all the wonderful information in this book for not much effort on my part except for the eating! And he thought he was lucky! Because my grandfather was a sausage maker from Switzerland I appreciate very much that my brother-in-law is sooo into old country style food preparation . . . and he's good at it. He will read this book like it's a text book all the way through (he started on Christmas Day) and then he will follow it like a bible for a few recipes and then start using them for basic ideas on which to base his own inventions. Then, I'll ask him to review it at Amazon.

Having delighted in Charcuterie by the same authors, I waited eagerly for this book's release, received it just hours ago, and have read about half of it already. The first long, non-introductory chapter is entirely about butchering a hog, which is entirely appropriate here; they even give the economic breakdown of buying a whole or half hog, but of course you can approach the process more timidly if you prefer. But I'm more of a "damn the torpedos" type, so I turned to the prosciutto chapter ... and stopped short: the short preamble is great, but the following recipe is two pages long. It certainly touches all the basic bases - breed, diet, butchering, draining, packing, weighing, larding on the strutto, hanging - but a chapter that opens with: "This is the most demanding cut to cure..." should, honestly, go into more detail than that. For instance, the chapter ends with: "Depending on the conditions of your drying chamber, you may be able to leave it there for up to two years. The danger in letting it dry too long, though, is that it can be come [sic] dry, leathery, and tough." Which conditons are most desirable for prosciutto? How about best temperature/humidity? There is a long, excellent chapter on general curing, but before I invest a year or two making a prosciutto, I want a more detailed treatment of its specific requirements. [Update: Somebody wrote, then deleted, a comment about the above. I think what he had to say was informative, so I'm pasting it here, verbatim. ============== I really am not trying to bust your chops, but I feel that the book gives as much detail on curing prosciutto as is possible, without going into esoteric meat science-speak. "The Environment: Creating a Place to Dry Cure Meat" [p. 76] gives very straightforward instructions for how to dry any salumi. Professionals hang their hams in the same chamber as their salamis, and so can we. As someone who has screwed up MANY a prosciutto, I can attest to the fact that they are indeed the most demanding cut to cure. They are so demanding not because there is a highly specific set of actions and environmental factors that are difficult to execute, but because they are massive, convoluted things, and there IS NO foolproof way to make them perfectly. ============== I hope he is wrong, but I suspect he is right. In the meantime I'm perfectly willing to delve into "esoteric meat-science-speak" if it will lead to more reliable results. ] The other, less-daunting preparations seem to get the detail they need, though: the two pancetta recipes are simplicity themselves (to the point where I'm already calling around looking for a pastured pork belly), and the many salami recipes all seem within reach. But the above gripes are minor: like Charcuterie before it, this is a cookbook, not a recipe book. In order to properly make some of these recipes, the whole subject needs to be studied in depth, and this book seems an excellent starting point.

This book has a well-deserved outstanding reputation. On top of that, it’s well written and fun to read.

The authors of the definitive book on Charcuterie, have gone even deeper into the world of curing with this new book Salumi. If you are a serious cook, a gourmet, or a culinary professional, you will discover how the best of dry cured meats are produced, and how you can produce them yourself. Their coppa recipe is incredibly good. My customers love it! I've been using it for all sorts of sandwiches and appetizers. Also it makes an extremely tasty topping on pizza! I just had to share my experience with everyone!! Like many other chefs, I am making my own Charcuterie for my restaurant now, and really enjoy the experience. Thank you Michael and Brian for these two wonderful books!