Know Your Specialty Meats?

Dry cured meats such as Prosciutto di Parma, Jamon Serrano, European dried sausages, pancetta, pastrami and European-style salame, are gaining appreciation at the deli counter.  

Prosciutto, the Italian word for ham, is a term broadly used when describing meats that have been seasoned, salt-cured and air-dried. With creations such as wild boar and lamb prosciutto, the term can mean much more than pork. A lot of people think all prosciutto is from Italy, but domestic and Canadian prosciutti do exist. Jamon Serrano, Spanish ham, has become a favorite with those who do not care for the saltiness of prosciutto. French ham, or jambon, is even less salty. Chorizo, is another Spanish cured meat that has quickly gained popularity across the country. Or, some shoppers seek out trendier combinations like spicy cured pork with ancho chiles and hints of chocolate.

Use this glossary to know what you’re shopping for at the specialty meat counter:

Andouille: Spicy, smoky-tasting pork sausages used in Cajun cooking. Said to have originated in France.

Bratwurst: German sausage made with beef, pork and sometimes veal. Typically pan fried and eaten with sauerkraut.

Bresaola: Lean, air-cured beef made from the loin. Ruby red in color with a sweet aromatic flavor. Serve in an antipasto, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, lemon wedges or shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

Canadian bacon: Also known as back or peameal bacon (because the center cut loin used to be rolled and coated in ground yellow peas). Comes from the meatier loin rather than the belly.

Copa: Dry cured pork-butt. Sliced thin; a regular on an antipasto platter.

Chorizo: Spanish-style cured, ready-to-eat smoked pork and pork spiced with garlic and paprika. Can be eaten alone or with Manchego cheese. Use in recipes such as paella. Mexican chorizo is served raw.

Culatello: Called “the heart of the prosciutto,” this specialty of Emilia-Romagna is made from the heart of the boned hind muscle of a pig’s thigh usually reserved for prosciutto.

Finocchiona: Tuscan-style hard salami that takes its name from the fennel seeds that are added to the pork mixture. 

Guanciale: Made with the cheeks (guancia) or jowls of hogs; seasoned with salt and pepper, then dry cured for up to three months. Used in central Italy.

Irish bacon and English bacon: Made from a cured pork loin. Originally, the term referred to where the animal was raised: Wiltshire in England or Galway in Ireland. Leaner than American bacon.

Jambon: French for ham. Pair with Dijon mustard, French Comté cheese or make a sandwich on a buttered baguette.

Jamón Serrano: Silky, intensely flavorful ham made from mountain-raised, acorn-fed Iberian hogs and traditionally dry cured. It is served either thinly sliced or added in small pieces to soups, omelets and vegetable dishes.

Kielbasa: Large U-shaped sausage; a staple of Polish cooking, where it is most frequently made with pork and sometimes veal. Often smoked, some sausages are flavored with caraway seeds, others with pepper and garlic or marjoram.

Lardo: Cured pork back fat with a nutty aroma. Render down and use like olive oil or melt on toast for a snack.

Loukanika: Fresh Greek or Cypriot sausages made with chopped lamb and beef; often seasoned with orange zest.

Merguez: Spicy small lamb and beef sausages found in Tunisian, Algerian and Moroccan cooking. Seasoned with harissa, a spicy red pepper paste. Usually sun dried.

Mortadella: Where Americas get the name bologna, mortadella is made with beef and pork, cubes of pork fat and seasoning. Some Italian-style and German varieties contain pistachios. Great on a sandwich or an addition to an antipasto platter.

Prosciutto di Parma: Made strictly in the Italian province of Parma, ham is salt- and air-cured, but not smoked. Hams are cured in total for at least 400 days and some for as long as 30 months. Only salt may be used as a treatment. Branded with a five-point ducal crown or a PDO seal, the European Union’s assurance of authenticity. Sweet salty flavor with a slightly chewy consistency, longer aged hams will have a more intense meatier flavor. Best sliced paper thin with the fat untrimmed.

Pancetta: Italian pork bellies that are cured with salt, pepper and other seasonings, but not smoked; rolled into wide logs.

Pastirma: Highly seasoned, dried meat product frequently made with beef and used in Turkish cooking. The term derives from meat that is pressed to remove the moisture, then spread with a spicy red pepper and herb paste and air dried.

Pastrami: Highly seasoned beef made from the brisket or round that is dry-cured, smoked and cooked. Serve hot or cold in a sandwich on rye bread.

Pick salami: Dry, smoked salami originally from the town of Pick in Hungary. Available as either mild or mildly spicy when seasoned with Szeged paprika from the same area.

Prosciutto di San Daniele: Made in the region of Friuli, this salt-cured ham is protected by the San Daniele Consorzio. Aged a minimum of 14 months, it is air-cured and has a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth flavor.

Salaison: In French, a salt mixture used in curing foods. Often it is nutrient- and mineral-rich sea salt.

Salami: Boldly seasoned, air-dried cured meat often made from mixtures of beef and pork and sometimes veal. The best salame are hang-dried and aged to form a mold around the casing, essential to the maturation of the meat. The mold along with the casing is peeled off and the meat inside is consumed. Salami is best eaten at room temperature sliced thick or thin.

Saucisson: French for a large sausage. Saucisson de sanglier, is a French air-dried salami-like sausage made from wild boar meat sometimes with the addition of pork.

Speck: Cured, lightly smoked and spiced ham of northern Italy.

Ventrèche: French cured but unsmoked pork bellies made and used like Italian pancetta.

Additional Source: Food Lover’s Companion