Cold Cuts for Everybody

[GadgetGuy]

Yup, my wife loves it, smeared on a cracker with raw onion.

Yeah, it can be chopped up, onions added & eaten as a spread for crackers. Like sardines!!

 

[MypinchofItaly]

A good tip. I don't recall tasting speck although I've traveled in Germany and the Tyrol region. We're more used to Parma ham and Serrano ham. According to internet sources, Tyrolean speck is usually flavored with juniper. Speck is originally from Italy where 29 contemporary producers hold a Speck Alto Adige IGP certificate. Below is a German version which is currently sold in a Finnish wholesale market.
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Photo source

Here are two German salami favorites of mine (Parmesan-coated and garlic-flavored beef Salamis by Bille brand):
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Photo source I Photo source II

Senfter Speck is my fave. My SIL lives in South-Tyrol and when we go to visit her, oh well, we cannot visiting Speck ham too

 

[MypinchofItaly]

This is a salame from Lazio, not a specific name if not a standard “dried salamella”
Pretty good especially paired along with a glass of chilled Prosecco (red wine works perfect too) taralli and some aged-cheese

 

[GadgetGuy]

Salami, I never liked. Too salty!!

 

[Windigo]

This is a salame from Lazio, not a specific name if not a standard “dried salamella”
Pretty good especially paired along with a glass of chilled Prosecco (red wine works perfect too) taralli and some aged-cheese

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I love salami, especially the one with fennel. Lovely.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

I love salami, especially the one with fennel. Lovely.

And salame with fennel in a panino...mmmmm

 

[Morning Glory]

Salami, I never liked. Too salty!!

It can vary. A good salami is not over salty.

 

[flyinglentris]

Another alternative for Cold Cuts is home made Pressed Meats.

Many Cold Cuts are Pressed Meats. And so are many Sausages.

The thing about Pressed Meats is that they may include a wide variety of ingredients, not common to traditional Cold Cuts and Sausages.

This thread has not mentioned for example, Summer Sausage, which typically contains Pepper Corns.

Ingredients which may be included in Pressed Meats may be the combination of two or more meat types, fruit, spices, garlic, onion, peppers, vegetables, nuts, syrups, pastes, cheeses and many others. Given that much, the types of Cold Cuts which may be produced may be an endless variety.

Meats may include Beef, Pork, Chicken, Duck, Turkey, Lamb, Venison, Buffalo, Fish, Shellfish and so forth.

One of the most immediate questions regard how to get a Pressed Meat preparation to coalesce into a cohesive solid loaf. This can be done in large part, simply by baking the loaf. While that's happening, the loaf may also be smoked. But the real trick to getting things to solidify together is a sticky protein exudate called Myosin which is produced by the meats themselves.

 

[Morning Glory]

This thread has not mentioned for example, Summer Sausage

Never heard of that. In fact I'm not 100% sure what you mean by pressed meats. We don't tend to use that term in the UK although pressed tongue used to be popular. Would a firm pâté come into that category? Like an Ardennes Pâté:

 

[Yorky]

Like an Ardennes Pâté:

I love Ardennes pâté. I've not seen it here. Maybe I'll have a go at making some.

 

[Morning Glory]

I love Ardennes pâté. I've not seen it here. Maybe I'll have a go at making some.

I was thinking the same. Minced pork, pork liver, pork fat, peppercorns, brandy etc...

 

[flyinglentris]

Never heard of that. In fact I'm not 100% sure what you mean by pressed meats. We don't tend to use that term in the UK although pressed tongue used to be popular. Would a firm pâté come into that category? Like an Ardennes Pâté:

Pressed Meats are any product produced by pressing together meats into a loaf or sausage whereby the natural protein of the meats (or other technique) binds the materials together into a solid form. Many Cold Cuts are produced this way.

I mentioned it in this thread to show how the diversity of Cold Cuts can be expanded upon by making your own Pressed Meats.

Some examples online ...

Pressed Meat Slices
Formed ham is made up of many meat cuts

The second link shows the use of pressed meat molds to press the meats.

 

[flyinglentris]

Morning Glory,

Pâté, Quenelles, Terrines and Gallatines are what are called Forcedmeats. This is different than Pressed Meats.

Forcedmeats trace their roots back to the Romans, 4th or 5th century AD or earlier.

Some Cold Cuts are Forcedmeat, Bologna, for example. Hot Dogs are also Forcedmeat.

Forcemeats — The Culinary Pro

 

[Morning Glory]

Pâté, Quenelles, Terrines and Gallatines are what are called Forcedmeats.

You mean forcemeat? As I understand it pâtés etc are made using forcemeat rather than being forcemeats. It could be that American/UK definitions vary. Forcemeat is a generic term for a chopped or minced mixture of raw or cooked meat and/or vegetables and/or fish which can then be used to make a variety of produce such as pâtés, stuffings for ravioli, sausages, vol-au-vents etc.

I'm using the classical definition from Larrouse Gastronomique which is the definition used in the UK.

 

[Burt Blank]

I concur, Forcemeat (derived from the French farcir, "to stuff") is a uniform mixture of lean meat with fat made by grinding, sieving, or puréeing the ingredients. The result may either be smooth or coarse. ... Pork fatback is preferred as a fat, as it has a somewhat neutral flavor.
A Farce " In cooking a “farce” is a type of stuffing made with meat or fish. ... This dramatic genre had its origins in the 13th century practice of interlarding or “stuffing” Latin liturgical texts with explanatory passages in the vernacular.