Tag: authentic

New Life of ‘Nduja in the Kitchen

18.11.2018

A SLOW EVOLUTION 

From its beginning, a poor street salami, to the symbol of Calabrian gastronomy,  ‘nduja has become an almost international product, known not only in Spilinga, in the province of Vibo Valentia, but all over Italy and Europe, crossing regional borders in the last twenty years.

It is a food with a long history, so much so that the first traces lead to the nineteenth century. Very poor origin, even the etymology could date back to that period, with possible derivation from “andouille”; the hypothesis is based on the presence of the Napoleonic army in Calabria. That “andouille” was a French sausage based on tripe (and not only) pork.

Nowadays, ‘nduja is a sausage based on pork entrails which, once seasoned, is cut into slices, boiled, cut into small pieces and used to flavor soups (wild fennel, cabbage, beans).

Today the ‘nduja is produced throughout all the region of Calabria, is a spreadable salami demonized by dieticians for its fat content, unsuitable for palates not prone to spicy, loved by everyone else. Indeed, one of its basic ingredient is chilli pepper, which in Calabria is cultivated, especially, on the plateau of Monte Poro, where Spilinga stands.

 

THE RECIPE

The “recipe” of the ‘ndujais simple. Its realization is however complex: the play of balance between lean and fat meat, between sweet and spicy pepper and between meat, hot pepper and salt is made complicated by the degree of spiciness, which varies significantly even among fruits born from the same plant. The artisan can not follow precise doses and therefore to help him, more than the balance, are the experience and the taste.

It is its advantage the uselessness of adding preservatives of any kind: it is just the bactericidal function of the pepper to guarantee food safety.

At the contrary, certain excesses are an eventual defect of ‘nduja. Indeed, a very unbalanced portion  of salami or the amount of capsaicin (the substance that determines the degree of spiciness) can be often capable to cover the taste of meat and to anesthetize the palate throughout the meal.

It is not, as you might think, a choice made to reduce costs: the chilli, in fact, is much more expensive than meat. Therefore, the secret of a good ‘nduja lies in the correct balance between its components.

However, this is a necessary but not sufficient condition to obtain a perfect salami: in fact, another important role is played by duration of meat processing, which is used to prevent fat rancidity (a rather common defect in low-level products).

Then comes the time of packaging inside the “orba” (the small intestine of the pig, used for the larger size sausages, which are considered the best). Alternatively, is used the “crespone”, a thinner casing, suitable for small-cut nduja.

The bagging phase is completely manual.

The aging lasts from 45 to 90 days and is mainly used to dry the dough which, thanks to the high percentage of fat, is always soft. Some artisans add a further organoleptic note through a slight smoking that contributes to the roundness of taste.

The ‘nduja is not produced only in Spilinga, even if it is right here that a good number of quality craftsmen is concentrated there. In Acri, at the foot of the Sila, is indeed present a certain amount of companies; theirs is a small-scale activity and for this reason it can afford a very short supply chain: Calabrian black pigs reared at home and fed with cereals produced on the farm, sweet and spicy pepper grown in the land owned, small machines (al maximum 60 kg of dough at a time, to prevent it from heating up during preparation). The production phase is rapid: no more than a week passes from the time of slaughter to maturing.

 

THE NEW LIFE OF ‘NDUJA IN THE KITCHEN

The success of the ‘nduja also passes for its rediscovery by the chefs. ‘Nduja, bread and red wine are a typical combination which enriches plates of pasta with sauce of tomatoes and onions, taken at the market, adding also the perfume of mint and bay leaf.

‘Nduja shall be melt over a low flame, mixing it with the pasta in the sauce and at the end sprinkling it with smoked ricotta or semi-seasoned pecorino, being also recommends to never cook the salami but only to heat it, in such a way to facilitate its break-up.

These dishes are the reinterpretation of a traditional Sunday dish, the macaroni with underwire with pork sauce and ‘nduja.

In the home cooking, moreover, ‘nduja has many other uses: in bean soup, spread on bruschetta, mixed with sheep’s ricotta, in the salad of ripe tomatoes enriched by two other products symbol of Calabrian gardens like oregano and onion Tropea.

 

IN THE STREET FOOD

The decided taste of ‘nduja is also a protagonist in the street food world: calzoni, panzerotti, potato croquettes, arancini, supplì, pizzas.

In the street it is a truly extraordinary dish, tasting ‘nduja in combination with a glass of “Pecorello”, an indigenous white vine, or with another local wine, Abbruzzino, accompanying it with an excellent bread kneaded with ‘nduja and, in the autumn, with an emulsion of porcini mushrooms.

How can olive oil be genuine?

16.11.2018

SAFETY OF OLIVE OIL AND TESTS

Nowadays, the Italian newspapers report that there are “perfect” chemical analysis but defective olive oil. How is it possible?

Too often laboratories limit themselves to the basic parameters: acidity, peroxides and spectrophotometry. Instead, very low values ​​of these analytical tests do not guarantee that the oil is extra virgin olive oil. A bit of chemistry and biochemistry can help us to understand what can happen inside the olive and not ruin the work of an entire year.

Acidity, peroxides and spectrophotometry are not reliable indices of anaerobic fermentations of olives from which the oil was obtained, but only of processes of “oxidative degeneration” of fat acids.

What does it mean?

The parameter that is mostly taken into consideration, usually, is acidity. The olive growers were taught, in the 1980s and 1990s, that by picking the olives off the ground or leaving them too much in the boxes (not to mention the sacks) fermentations were triggered, which then caused the acidity to rise.

This is an over-simplification that, resisting over time, it is now creating some misunderstanding.

Fermentations are not directly responsible for the increase in acidity. Fermentations are the result of microbial activity of fungi and bacteria that can break the cells of the olive. With this rupture the enzyme lipase is released and the phenomenon called hydrolytic rancidity is triggered, i.e. the triglycerides (three fatty acids + glycerin) are chemically degraded leading to the release of fatty acids, which will be called free fatty acids.

The peroxides, then, are only a direct index of oxidation. Instead, it can be present a rancidity due to the free radicals of unsaturated acids in contact with oxygen in the air. In this case we speak of the different phenomenon of oxidative rancidity. This factor is an important parameters because they indicate if the olives worked were healthy, that is not attacked by the fly of the olive. In fact, in the event of a strong attack of the fly, the larva damages the cells, freeing up lipase, but also favors the oxidation of the pulp, through the entry and exit hole of the larva.

 

Further, in the overripe olives, the cells naturally tend to degrade, releasing lipase, hence the increase in acidity. Worse for the olives harvested from the ground, where phenomena of cellular degradation and oxidation are triggered, due to the breaking of the olive due to mold and bacteria.

Without getting to such excesses, for which we risk that the parameters of acidity and peroxides no longer meet the requirements of the extra virgin olive category, even in olives at the right degree of ripeness and healthy, phenomena of anaerobic fermentation can happen.

But is there a chemical analysis that “measures” the anaerobic fermentations?

The analysis in question exists and is that of ethyl esters (formerly alkyl esters). In fact, the common characteristic of the anaerobic fermentations borne by the olives is that of producing a certain quantity of ethanol. This ethanol combines with free fatty acids, producing ethyl esters. Therefore, an increase in ethyl esters can only be due to anaerobic fermentation that has compromised the olives since the beginning.

It is therefore possible that an oil with relatively low acidity, even below 0.3, and equally low peroxides, may be defective, such that it can not be allowed to be classified as extra virgin olive oil. The paths that lead to the formation of acidity of the oil and those that lead to the formation of heating and rancid defects, despite having points in common, are absolutely different from the biochemical point of view.

It is no coincidence that low quality oils, which have been involved in judicial investigations over the last few years, have had the basic parameters (acidity, peroxides and spectrophotometry) low and more than responding to the extra virgin category, but higher ethyl ester values (or border line, when not openly beyond threshold) and more or less marked organoleptic defects.

Beyond the legal issues, it is clear that the basic parameters are insufficient to guarantee not only that the oil is of quality but also that it is extra virgin olive oil.

 

OUR ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM

SMAF LTD is an intermediary of Calabrian olive oil corresponding to the trade names provided for in Directive 136/6623 / EEC, Reg. EC 2568/91 and Reg. EC 1989/03.

The types we guarantee are:

  • Extra virgin olive oil with an acidity of less than 0.8%
  • Virgin olive oil with an acidity up to 2%
  • Olive oil composed of fine oils and oils of virgin olives with an acidity not exceeding 1%.

In all cases, the anaerobic fermentation of these genuine is prevented by the cold press squeeze of Calabria olives, and by the care of our producers in collection of olives.