PIG OUT ON DELICIOUS BRITISH SALAMI
It’s tastier than its foreign rivals — and you can even get cider flavour
HEAR the word ‘salami’ and what do you think? German garlic sausage, or fatty French nibbles you have with a beer on the first night of your holiday? not any longer. it’s British, it’s produced from the finest native rare breeds, and it’s never had to cross the Channel.
British charcuterie is sizzling hot right now. And forget trekking to the Carrefour i n Calais — as of this week, you can pick it up at your nearest supermarket.
Cured meat specialist Sean Cannon, of Borough Market-based Cannon & Cannon, says: ‘British charcuterie is undergoing a revolution.
‘People in Britain love cured meats such as salami, Parma ham, lomo and chorizo — we import tonnes of the stuff every year. Yet we have the greatest livestock in the world, and farmers and smallholders who are desperate to nurture slow-growing native breeds.’
he says that in the past few years there has been ‘ an explosion of interest’ in where our food comes from, and in supporting our own breeds and traditions rather than borrowing from the Continent.
Sean says his business has worked to encourage artisan suppliers to move away from imitating continental products, such as prosciutto or coppa, and instead use what is locally available in terms of flora, fauna, game and livestock.
he says: ‘Products such as wild Red Deer salami, seaweed & cider salami, and bath chaps (hot smoked pigs’ cheeks) are great examples of what is becoming a truly British industry.
‘We offer charcuterie that will give the great charcuteries of europe a run for their money.’
hugo Jeffreys, a charcutier who set up Blackhand Food, one of London’s first charcutiers, a year ago in the rather unlikely location of hackney Wick in east London, agrees.
A trained chef with an interest in butchery, hugo, 33, turned to charcuterie when he spotted a gap in the market, and is now described by London deli owner and chef Luke Mackay as ‘one of the industry’s stars — he uses every last bit of a Gloucester Old Spot to make a brilliant fennel salami’.
hugo says: ‘British charcuterie is a very young industry — it’s only really been going for a few years, but it’s a huge trend right now.
‘i think what we produce is a lot better than some of the charcuterie you find on the Continent. For example, we don’t use pigs that are pumped full of drugs to help them get big and fat, like some do over there.
‘Pigs that grow more slowly produce better tasting meat, in my opinion, and the pigs i use are all allowed to grow slowly and naturally.’
hugo buys rare-breed pigs from farms in essex and Yorkshire before
doing all his own butchery, drying and curing on site. His business, which supplies delis, farmers' markets and restaurants around the country, produces a range of cured meats, the most popular of which are a rustic fennel and pepper salami. and a prosciutto - style culatello, said by many to be the finest cut in charcuterie. He says: ‘ People are surprised by how good it tastes and often assume it must be from France — they genuinely don’t expect British-produced meat to taste like that.’ This week the trend is going main-stream with the launch of what Marks & Spencer believes is the first big High Street range of British charcu-terie in their food halls. Its range includes air-dried cumbrian-style ham, similar to prosciutto, and a Cumberland salami, flavoured with black pepper and thyme. Barbara Ross, M&S’ deli expert, says: There’s been a growing trend at food markets for great quality British charcuterie, but this is the first time a retailer has really got behind it. 'We're pleased to be able to offer a great choice of British air-dried hams can do hope will demonstrate the UK charcuterie just as well as our French and Italian counterparts.’
James Swift, of Trealy Farm in Mouthshire, produces the salami M&S is selling. He set up his business ten years ago when the idea of home-grown cured meats was so shocking, banks laughed at him when he asked for help. he ignored them, and took himself off to France, italy, spain and Germany to learn how t he best charcuterie was produced. Now his artisanal salamis, air-dried hams and cured meats are among the best in Britain.
other producers are making spicy chorizo- style sausages and salami from British wild boar.
Luke Mackay, who runs London’s Brompton Food Market, says British charcuterie is flying out of his shop at the moment.
‘We’ve always had the animals to create superb charcuterie in this country — from stunning highland deer to rare-breed suffolk pigs,’ he says.
‘What we haven’t necessarily had are the skills and passion to do it. But we do now, and the best British charcuterie is a match for any in the world.’
THE NEW M&S BRITISH CHARCUTERIE SELECTION
British Air-Dried Cumbrian Style Ham, £4 for 70g. This prosciutto-style ham is hand-cured with rock salt and air- dried to an old f amily recipe. it’s matured f or si x months, giving it a sweet, delicate flavour. British Air-Dried Black Combe Spiced Ham, £4 for 70g. Produced by the Woodall family, who’ve been curing meat in cumbria for eight generations, this aromatic, distinctive ham is hand-rubbed with a spiced dry- cure mix, oak- smoked for five hours before being air-dried for six months. British Cumberland Style Salami, £3 for 70g. Made with British pork at Trealy Farm in Monmouthshire, this salami i s seas oned with black pepper and thyme. British Air-Dried Charcuterie Selection, £5 for 100g. This is perfect if you can’t decide which of the new range to try first, with cumberland salami, air-dried cumbrian ham and spiced air- dried British ham.