Every family has its own special traditions that are treasured rituals that bring everyone together year after year. For our family, that tradition is Salami Weekend which is what we have come to call it which is a celebration of heritage, hard work and mouth watering cacciatore salami. This weekend, as we do every June, we’ll gather in the garage, roll up our sleeves, and carry out a cultural practice that has been passed down through generations. Although this year we were sick with COVID so we made a smaller batch and in the kitchen.
Cacciatore salami named after the Italian word for “hunter” is a rustic, flavourful dry cured sausage traditionally taken on long hunting trips. Long gone are those days and for us it’s more a symbol of our ability to be self sufficient and old world knowledge. In our household, it’s a symbol of pride also.
We begin our salami weekend with carefully sourced pork. The meat is minced and seasoned with my famous less is more motto. People can over complicate things with garlic, wine fennal but all these things increase risk and not always turn out the way as intended. I stick to basics Capsicum salsa which I make myself, Salt, Pepper and Chilli. Sometimes less is more! And these Flavours don’t just come from a recipe they come from years of refinement, with each generation adjusting the ratios ever so slightly until the mixture feels just right.
I remember watching my grandparents making the mix and I would always ask how do you know how much salsa and salt and other things to put in. They'd always say "you'll just know". I never thought I would be able to do it, but here I am doing it. Each year getting better at it.
I keep everything the same as it was even using real natural pig intestines. This traditional method has been used for centuries and continues to be a hallmark of quality. There’s something deeply authentic about using natural casings. They allow the salami to breathe, to cure properly and to develop that firm texture and rich flavour that artificial casings just can’t replicate.
The filling process is hands on and intensive and this year we took a step back in time and did it with a hand mincer. Probably not the best idea with COVID as it took a lot out of me but it was fun. I did use a manual sausage stuffer for the first time instead of the blender attachment.
The curing process takes weeks, but the initial hanging is a highlight of the weekend. It’s when the whole family steps back to admire the fruits of their labor, take photos, and share stories of previous years’ batches. We just hang them in the garage as we always have to the awe of many visitors.
One of the most beautiful parts of Salami Weekend is how involved the kids are. What started as them just watching from the sidelines to now rolling up their sleeves and working on the entire process.
We could buy salami at any deli. But nothing compares to the flavour of a cacciatore salami that we’ve made ourselves, from scratch, with our own hands. The taste is not comparable plus it’s a process the whole family is involved and creates shared memories. The kind we created despite the world being different there are some things that cross generations.
