How to Make Tuscan Finocchiona Salami

By
Kyle Phillips
Kyle Phillips
Food, wine, and travel writer Kyle Phillips lived in Tuscany and developed his passion and expertise for food and cooking through travel.
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Updated on 05/13/21

 Credit: Flavia Morlachetti

Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Cure Time (4 months or more): 2,880 hrs
Total: 2,880 hrs 30 mins
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
10238 Calories
1,070g Fat
29g Carbs
76g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories 10238
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1070g 1,371%
Saturated Fat 417g 2,084%
Cholesterol 1220mg 407%
Sodium 49959mg 2,172%
Total Carbohydrate 29g 10%
Dietary Fiber 10g 34%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 76g
Vitamin C 2mg 12%
Calcium 307mg 24%
Iron 8mg 47%
Potassium 1870mg 40%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Finocchiona, a Tuscan salami flavored with fennel seeds, allegedly owes its origins to a thief at a fair near the town of Prato, who stole a fresh salami and hid it in a stand of wild fennel.

When he returned for it, he found it had absorbed the aromas of its hiding place and had become quite delicious.

Whether or not the story is apocryphal (it likely is), Finocchiona is indeed a wonderful treat. There are two kinds of Finocchiona, the first being Sbriciolona, which is a very fresh, soft, and crumbly style that can be spread over bread with a butter knife. The other is a cured, aged Finocchiona, which is much firmer.

Ingredients

  • 9 pounds (4 kilograms) lean pork, such as shoulder, loin, ham trimmings, or pork chops

  • 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) pork fat

  • 1 large clove garlic

  • 4 1/2 ounces (125 grams) fine sea salt

  • 1 ounce (25 grams) black peppercorns, divided in half and ground

  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, or 2 teaspoons dried wild fennel seeds

  • 1 cup Chianti wine

  • 1 sausage casing, 3 to 4 inches in diameter

Steps to Make It

  1. Chop the meat quite finely, first the lean meat and then the fat, and combine them in a bowl.

  2. Pound the garlic clove to a fine paste with a mortar and pestle and combine it with the salt, pepper, fennel, and wine.

  3. Mix the seasonings into the meat and work the mixture thoroughly, until it begins to gain a certain degree of cohesion.

  4. Take your casing and fill it, tamping the meat down to keep air pockets from forming.

  5. Press the filling down from the inside and squeeze down from the outside so as to obtain enough free casing at the top to be able to tie it tightly shut with strong string. To keep air from becoming trapped in the middle layers, puncture the casing uniformly with a fine-pointed tool known as a Pettinella (little comb), and continue to press the meat to compact it as much as possible.

    At this point, the casing has to be tightly tied. Using the same string used to close off the end; tie both up, down, and around the salami.

  6. To cure it, place the Finocchino in a cool (65 F/18 C) draft-free place. It's vital that it not draw heat during the process. Ideally, lay it in hardwood ashes of an isolated part of the cellar, far from hot-water pipes. It will be ready in about 4 months.

Tip

This recipe may seem like it requires a lot of salt, but the salami should be about 2 1/2 percent salt by weight.

Curing Meat Warning

Curing meat requires specific expertise and failure to cure meat properly may result in sickness or death. If you have no experience in this area, we advise you to consult an expert to teach you proper techniques and applications.

Great Resources on Curing Meat

Since curing meat requires such a specific skill set, otherwise, it can lead to illness or worse, we highly recommend consulting with an expert to teach you proper techniques. We found that the following four publications are super helpful guides and go in-depth about just such processes, procedures, and techniques: