We have been enjoying the latest addition to our salami lineup, a sliced lunchmeat style fennel salami.  The Italian name for this salami is finocchiona, but since its name just means that it is made with fennel, we opted for the less intimidating descriptive title.  For the flavor profile, think of generic Genoa salami, then amp up the taste of the meat and the fat (because we’re using legit pasture raised pork), then shift the experience ever so subtly with the bright, sweet taste of fennel seeds.

The salami is lacto-fermented, using a lactic acid bacteria culture and some turbinado sugar to feed the bacteria.  After consuming the sugar as fuel, the bacteria naturally sour the sausage with lactic acid, giving the salami its distinctive pungency.  After initial fermentation, this sausage takes about four months to dry to the correct moisture level before it is sliced and packaged.  The ingredients are (as with all our meats) straightforward:  pork, salt, celery extract, turbinado sugar, black pepper, fennel, oregano extract, minced garlic, and lactic acid starter culture.

I love those big pieces of black peppercorns scattered through the slices!

We’ve been eating it on sandwiches, rolled up with cheese, shredded on pasta, and in any other occasion for which we can invent a justification for opening a new package.  Enjoy!