Salami

[hannahjo]

Is salami classed as a processed meat? Does it have bits of snout, ear, eye lid etc chucked into it as with other processed meats or is it all good stuff?

[netibiza]

Well only yesterday here in Ibiza we had a matanza (pig killing) and I can verify that here at least only the good meat goes into it. The offal etc is eaten the same day, cooked up with spices and vegetables, and eaten as a meal for all the helpers. The blood goes into the black sausage (butifara). I can't say for factory salami.

[brachiopod]

The term 'processed' in the modern sense, usually means adding something that would not usually be included in a product or treating in a way that differs from the 'traditional' method.

The fact that a sausage may contain 'snout, ears and eye lids' doesn't in itself mean it is 'processed'. Sausages, by and large, have always included these off-cuts of meat, as historically, it was a way of using them up rather than wasting them. They would be minced, mixed with some fat, a pinch of salt and some herbs/spices and stuffed into a length of pig intestine. A perfectly natural food. Similarly, salamis and the like would be salted and either naturally dry cured or smoked etc.

'Processed food' in the way that we tend to use the term now, is because the meat source is flavourless, intensively reared to start with, or mechanically recovered (MRM) and reformed, and the production methods (whether it be a sausage, salami or meat pie) remove what little flavour remains. All of this requires the addition of and fats and polyphosphates to bind the MRM; artificial colourants to giver it the expected 'meat' colour rather than the grey that MRM/fat mixtures tend to be; artificial flavourings and salt to try and enhance the little natural flavour that remains, and preservatives so that it remains fresh for longer on the supermarket shelf.

In addition, a product like salami that is traditionally cured or smoked etc as a natural method of preserving it, will, in the mass produced version, be treated with heat, brine or chemicals to try to imitate the natural preservation method. Similarly, mass produced kippers are soaked in a chemical solution with a flavouring added that has a 'smoky' taste, likewise those 'smoked' cheeses.

Now that is what "processed" means, not because it contains poorer cuts of meat per se.

[hannahjo]

Well you learn something new everyday eh?! Now you�ve defined �processed foods� branchiopod, it actually seems obvious what it actually is, not my muddled assumptions, thanks!

[Solarjunkie]

I haven't touched the stuff since I was told it is made from donkeys.

[brachiopod]

What's wrong with donkey?

[qapmoc]

For anyone who has not tried it, I have been told from an excellent source that when humans eat donkey meat it gives them the most evil smelling farts known to man, far worse than any other food!!! Apparently if you live in a mosquito infested area it is a good way to kill off the mossies in your tent!!!

[hannahjo]

can't be worse than my fellas stale post pub farts, I actually had to hold my nose whilst walking around our bedroom this morning!

[spaced]

donkey? i think someone was winding u up mate!

[gastwo]

With regard to donkey meat in salami, check out

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2963554.stm

(I think this works...)

[Ausf-A]

This reminds me of the french sausage seller who plies his trade at Greenwich market. He was asked not to sell his equine sausages after complaints by customers. These were clearly labeled, as the french and most other mediterraneans find such meat a staple.