92 ITALIA! November 2016BUY ITALIA!
VERDICT ★★★★
Serve with a few leaves
of crisply bitter radicchio,
hazelnuts and slices of
fresh apple and you’ve got
a delicious winter salad.VERDICT ★★★★
Top your crostini with
slices of this salume and
serve alongside fresh
tomatoes for a appetising
pre-supper snack.The Italia! taste team get their teeth into an extremely varied
selection of the fi nest Italian salumi to help you fi nd the perfect
slice to add to your antipasti platters, panini and more...ITALIAN CURED MEAT
N
ow, if there’s one thing that completes any antipasti selection,
it’s a slice or two of delicious cured meat, and even if you can’t
be in Italy all the time (we can dream...), you can still prepare
an authentic Italian platter to transport your taste buds to il
bel paese whenever you feel like it. Traditionally, making use of
every part of an animal was a way of life, as well as ensuring a source of protein
throughout the lean winter months. Italy is famed for its variety of curing and
preserving methods, and besides the various different recipes and processes that
provide Italy’s wide selection of cold cuts, you can also expect to fi nd tempting
regional variations of all kinds. Our selection this month comes from all over
the country, with savoury delights ranging from Alto Adige’s speck to Tuscan
fi nocchiona and a peppy spianata romana from Lazio. Our search for the best salume
includes some excellent fresh fi nds from online delis and other choices available
in UK supermarkets, so you don’t have to look too far to create your own antipasti
selection – just add olives, crusty bread and a glass of red...LARDO AROMATIZZATO
DI CINTA SENESE
From The Tuscan Farm
http://www.tuscanfarmshop.com
Price £3.95 for 100gIn case you haven’t come
across it before, Italian lardo
is nothing like those blocks
of white rendered animal fat
that you can buy from your
local supermarket. Not that
there’s anything wrong with
lard, but lardo is altogether a
more refi ned and fl avoursome
delicacy. It is the cured fat from
the back of the Cinta Senese pig,
a traditional Tuscan breed, often
sold in a thick chunk or in fi ne
slices like this. Cured in salt,
pepper and a mixture of herbs
which impart a subtle fl avour, it
can be made into tasty crostini,
served as part of an antipasti
platter in wafer-thin strips or as
a topping to season hot dishes.
Creamy and buttery in texture, this
lardo has hints of hazelnut alongside
its slightly sweet, herby fl avour.(^2) BASTARDO AL
VINO BIANCO
From Tuscan Farm Shop
http://www.tuscanfarmshop.com
Price £3.25 for 100g
So-called as it is not a ‘true’
salume, but it holds its own
against the genuine article.
Nicely fl ecked with fat, it has
a satisfying meatiness and
depth of fl avour (we loved the
hint of fennel) that you expect
from a richly cured meat.
VERDICT ★★★★★
Get over the fact that this is fat, and enjoy it in moderation, because its savoury
fl avour really is a revelation. You’ll love the way it tastes in hot and cold dishes.
1
(^1) SAINSBURY’S
FINOCCHIONA
SALAMI
From Sainsbury’s
http://www.sainsburys.co.uk
Price £3.00 for 70g
Finocchiona is a meaty
Tuscan salame for the ‘Taste
the Difference’ range – we
loved its fi ne texture and the
faintly aniseed fl avour added
by the fennel seeds which
complemented the rich pork.
http://www.tuscanfarmshop.com
lardo
is nothing like those blocks
of white rendered animal fat
that you can buy from your
local supermarket. Not that
there’s anything wrong with
lard, but lardo is altogether a
more refi ned and fl avoursome
delicacy. It is the cured fat from
the back of the Cinta Senese pig,
a traditional Tuscan breed, often
sold in a thick chunk or in fi ne
slices like this. Cured in salt,
pepper and a mixture of herbs
which impart a subtle fl avour, it
can be made into tasty crostini,
served as part of an antipasti
platter in wafer-thin strips or as
a topping to season hot dishes.
Creamy and buttery in texture, this
lardo has hints of hazelnut alongside
its slightly sweet, herby fl avour.
SALAMI
From Sainsbury’s
http://www.sainsburys.co.uk
Price £3.00 for 70g
Tuscan salame for the ‘Taste
the Difference’ range – we
loved its fi ne texture and the
faintly aniseed fl avour added
by the fennel seeds which
complemented the rich pork.
E
DI
TOR’
S
C
H
O
CI
ATI E
IL
A
!^ NOV
2016
IT144.BuyItalia.sg5.indd 92 29/09/2016 12:10pm