Recipe: Salame Toscano -- Tuscan Salami , Sopresetta for Hector, Chicago

Hi Hector :-) I found these recipes on the internet. I have not tried either one. I hope they are what you are looking for.

Salame Toscano -- Tuscan Salami

This recipe is drawn from a fascinating book written a number of years ago by Giuseppe Alessi, entitled Etruschi il Mito a Tavola. He begins by observing that it's very difficult to find organically raised pork nowadays, and also difficult to find somebody who knows how to work it properly. This said, he presents the recipe he uses, which is drawn from a manuscript dated to 1772:

To make salami proceed as follows: take the leanest meat, and for every 25 pounds season it with a pound of salt, an ounce of pepper, and a half-ounce of spices, by which we mean cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg. Then take a head of garlic, grind it in a mortar with an ounce of wine, and squeeze it through a strainer and into the meat. Add a pound and a half of diced fat, and put it in the casings.

"Here it is,"he says, observing that the 18th century author assumed the cook would then know how to season the salami, a process that's crucial to the success of the endeavor (these kinds of assumptions were common in recipes of the time, and also correct, because the authors were professionals, as was their audience).

"I therefore feel it best to add,"he continues, "these instructions based on my experience, which though based on traditional sources could differ from what was common practice then."

Once the meat is going into the casings (coarsely ground, salted, and spiced, with a long period of hand mixing to guarantee that the salting and spicing is uniform), it should be tamped down, layer by layer as it's added, until the casings are almost completely filled.

Press the filling down from the inside and squeeze down from the outside so as to obtain enough free casing at the top to be able to tie it tightly shut with strong string. To keep air from becoming trapped in the middle layers, puncture the casing uniformly with a fine-pointed tool known as a pettinella (little comb), and continue to press the meat to compact it as much as possible. At this point the casing has to be tightly tied, using the same string used to close off the end, tying both up and down and around.

Now begins the delicate and difficult aging of the sausage, which must dry uniformly both within and without. At one time, to favor this process, butchers would include up to 8-10% lean Chianina beef in the mix, because its firm, dry, compact texture facilitated the ripening process considerably.

The process must take place in a cool (18 C, 65 F) place with neither drafts nor heat sources, because a window that's occasionally opened or the radiation of a hot water pipe will be sufficient to ruin everything: the casing will pull away from the filling, the fat will become rancid and everything else will oxidize. The perfect spot is the cellar of an old fashioned farm house.

One can check the progress of the ripening visually:

After a month the salamis should be lightly covered by a soft greenish mold;
After a month and a half, the filling should begin to shrink, and as a result the strings will loosen;
After two months the mold will be more evident and begin to turn gray;
After four months the shrinkage will be more evident, as will the mold: the salami is now ready;
After 5 months the mold is thick, dry and uniform; the salami is at its best.
Don't let it age more than 9 months, because it will become too dry, too hard, and loose its aromas.

Sopresetta is usually made from fresh hams or pork butt... this is the traditional way. It can be made with beef.

Sopresetta
8 pounds lean pork or beef
2 pounds fat back
7 Tsp salt
3 Tsp powdered dextrose *
2 Tbsp black pepper (whole)
2 Tbsp black pepper (ground)
1 Tbsp ground white pepper
1/2 cup corn syrup solids *
2 level tsp Praque Powder #2
1 Tbsp hot cayenne pepper (optional)

*For these two ingredients, You may use Dark Karo syrup, and it is HEAVY 1/2 cup maybe even a 3/4 cup addition

Chill meat until almost frozen, the grind the meat and fat through 1/2 or 3/4 plate. Mix in all other ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate fo 48 hours, then regrind though 1/4" plate and stuff into hog middles 8 to 10 inch long.

Place sausage in a preheated smoke house of 1005 degrees, and should be held there until completely dry on the surface. Raise temperature to 120, and smoke until you get the color you want.

Remove from the smoker, and allow to cool, then keep the sausage between 50 and 60 degrees with a humidity of about 70 to 80 % and hold about 8 to 10 weeks (when 39% weight loss is achieved...)