Finocchiona Italian Salami

O Tuscan Salami is typical of Italy and is also known as finacchiona. Tuscan Italian Salami Finocchiona originates in the Middle Ages, between the 14th and 15th centuries. It is a salami that contains fennel, or finacchio in Italian, which is why it is also known as fenocchiona. It is a salami that is generally thick and has medium or long maturation. Fennel was initially used to replace black pepper, which was a much more expensive ingredient. The product became popular and is now produced in several regions of Italy.

The salami Finocchiona It was registered, in 2015, as a product of controlled origin and can only have this name when produced in the Tuscany region.

There is a variation of this salami called sbriciolone, which consists of the same recipe with shorter aging and thicker pieces of meat.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 kg Pork shank with fat;
• 17g Salt;
• 5g Fennel seed – 5g;
• 3g Black pepper – 3g;
• 5g Garlic powder – 5g;
• 5g Sugar – 5g;
• 3g Type 2 Curing Salt*; (6% of nitrite, 3% of nitrate and 93,75% of salt)
• 0.1g Starter culture; (lactic acid bacteria)
• 0.1g White mold culture; (penicilium nalgiovense)
• 50mm caliber collagen casing or larger in 30cm segments.

* read the post Curing salt what it is and how much to use

Preparation of Tuscan Italian Salami

• Cut the meat and fat into medium pieces and pass through the grinder. If you don't have a grinder, cut it into very small pieces with a very sharp knife;
• Dilute the starter culture in half a glass of filtered water;
• Dilute the mold penicilium nalgiovense culture in 500ml of filtered water;
• Immerse the collagen casing in the mold penicilium culture dilution, leave for 10 minutes;
• Mix all the ingredients well until you get a good mix and the meat is sticky;
• Fill the casing with the meat, tie the ends tightly and make holes where there are visible air bubbles;
• Hang at room temperature for 72 hours for starter culture to ferment;
• After 72 hours, hang in a cool, humid place with air circulation. Ideal 12ºC and 80% humidity;
• Keep until the salamis have lost between 40% and 45% of their initial weight.