HISTORY OF FERRARA SALAMA DA SUGO


The tradition of the typical pork sausage called salama da sugo (‘sauce salama’ ) dates back to the Renaissance, when the Este family were the lords of Ferrara. Today salama da sugo is still the most famous dish of the Ferrara cuisine.
Salama is a simple sausage made of selected pork, more or less finely chopped and mixed with red wine, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and rum. The proportions of these ingredients are the special secret of every butcher in Ferrara.
The pork mixture is subsequently packed into a pork bladder and seasoned for 6 months. A thick layer of mould grows on the surface during seasoning. The mould is washed away with warm water before cooking. Cooking salama is easy: place salama into cold water, bring to boiling and cook over medium heat for 3 hours minimum. The wine in the pork mixture is slowly released into water through an osmotic process during cooking, thus producing a thick, spicy sauce which will be served with salama. Today salama is also available as ready-to-serve dish, pre-cooked and packaged in single portions.