Salumi: The Craft of Italian Dry Curing

by Michael Ruhlman, Brian Polcyn

Overview

The craft of Italian salumi, now accessible to the American cook, from the authors of the best-selling Charcuterie.

Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn inspired a revival of artisanal sausage making and bacon curing with their surprise hit, Charcuterie. Now they delve deep into the Italian side of the craft with Salumi, a book that explores and simplifies the recipes and techniques of dry curing meats. As the sources and methods of making our food have become a national discussion, an increasing number of cooks and professional chefs long to learn fundamental methods of preparing meats in the traditional way. Ruhlman and Polcyn give recipes for the eight basic products in Italy’s pork salumi repertoire: guanciale, coppa, spalla, lardo, lonza, pancetta, prosciutto, and salami, and they even show us how to butcher a hog in the Italian and American ways. This book provides a thorough understanding of salumi, with 100 recipes and illustrations of the art of ancient methods made modern and new.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393084160
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	08/20/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Michael Ruhlman is one of the most highly regarded food writers today, having written and coauthored many bestsellers, including The Soul of a Chef, The French Laundry Cookbook, Ratio, The Book of Cocktail Ratios, and a series of cookbooks on the art of charcuterie, including Charcuterie; Salumi; and Pâté, Confit, Rillette. He lives in New York City and Providence, Rhode Island, with his wife, Ann Hood.
Brian Polcyn has owned and operated many of Detroit’s finest restaurants, namely Forest Grill and Five Lakes Grill. From 1997 to 2024, he served on the full-time faculty of the Culinary Arts program at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan, where he taught butchery and charcuterie. He is the co-author of a series of cookbooks on the art of charcuterie, including Charcuterie; Salumi; and Pâté, Confit, Rillette.

Editorial Reviews

As a follow-up to their excellent Charcuterie, these two Midwestern cured-meat aficionados focus on the skills and ingredients needed for creating a variety of Italian classics. Proponents of nose-to-tail cookery, they not only advise going whole hog, in the most literal sense, they also provide detailed instructions on butchering a pig Italian-style with “minimal sawing of bone” and leaving intact the “whole muscles prized for curing.” The accompanying illustrations are highly detailed and as beautiful as they are macabre. The basics of using salt are spelled out, as are the vital roles played by mold and bacteria. Then it is on to the “big eight,” the top cuts and how to prepare them for their sausagey destiny. They include the guanciale (jowl), coppa (neck/shoulder/loin), spalla (shoulder), lardo (back fat), lonza (loin), pancetta (belly), prosciutto (ham, back leg), and salami. For each, there is an appropriate cure—a mix of salts, peppercorns and other spices—which, once applied to the meat, requires drying times ranging from a few weeks to a year. Among the nearly three dozen salami recipes, there are options like orange and walnut salami, and a spicy salami diablo. And for those who have both a strong stomach and access to a pig bladder, there is culatello: 10 pounds of salted ham stuffed into the bladder, sewn shut, and left to dry for at least four months. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Good food writing, like good travel writing, ought to be interesting enough to be enjoyed for its own sake, even if the subject turns out not to be some misty romantic destination or some fabulously exotic cuisine. ...Thus anyone who has ever enjoyed a really good slice of salami, prosciutto, sopressata, mortadella or capocola will thoroughly appreciate Salumi, Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn's comprehensive guide to the ancient Italian art of dry-curing meat. ...The authors unravel... many...culinary mysteries and—along with giving detailed, from-scratch recipes for more 100 varieties of salumi—include helpful information on equipment, prep techniques and ingredient sources."

Wall Street Journal - Aram Bakshian Jr.