Salami
By Shannon Langan
An Italian-born sausage cured, rolled and thinly sliced. A pride of many butchers, be wary of confusing it with its mass produced derivative, the pepperoni, if you're a slow cleaver dodger.
Fine salami is raw, or salame crudo and formed from either pure pork or a pork/beef combination for the die-hard carnivore. It owes its sharper taste to an array of seasonings like garlic or peppercorn, and salami from southern Italy has a trademark spiciness.
Cooked or cotto salami is the inferior step-cousin of this delicacy, but it can take heart in the fact that the largest sausage on the books, the mortadella, is a noteworthy example. When the roll is sliced, it reveals a pretty pink or reddish tinge speckled with pure, unadulterated fat. Tasty. No wonder Joey Tribianni was a fan.