In this week’s Straight To The Source column, Tawnya and Lucy catch up with Massimo Scalas, co-founder of Salumi Australia to chat about curing, fermentation and Italian-style small goods, including their new-to-market coriander and chilli coppiette.
Based in the Byron Bay hinterland, Salumi Australia has been crafting cured meats and fermented small goods for the past ten years. Founded by Massimo Scalas and Rebecca McEwan, the focus for the business has always been on creating artisan-style products using meticulous technique and quality ingredients from Australian farmers.
Scalas says, “We have consciously returned to the traditional curing and fermentation techniques that our Italian ancestors developed centuries ago. Using slow food techniques, free-range pork and locally sourced ingredients wherever we can, we believe you really can taste the difference.”
For Scalas, Salumi Australia has been a way to pay homage to “the wonderful salumi of my native homeland”. And since launching, it has only been a matter of fine-tuning the traditional methods that he and his team use to cure, ferment and slow-age their product range.
Scalas says, “We produce pork sausages using native ingredients such as lemon myrtle and mountain pepper and traditional flavours like fennel, chilli and garlic. We also produce chorizo, slow fermented and aged salami of all shapes and sizes, cured and slow aged meats like pancetta and speck and our latest all-natural prosciutto cotto (ham).”
The team has recently released a new coriander and chilli coppiette: long, thin strips of salt-cured and dried pork tenderloin coated in coriander and chilli. Distinguished by a reddish hue and a chewy texture, this specialty is generally served with other salumi varieties or on its own as a salty snack with a cold beer. It’s a perfect addition to Club bar menus!
Salumi Australia offers an extensive and versatile range that’s been well-received by foodservice, with both ready-to-eat offerings for grazing boards and whole products suitable for cooking.
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