Tag: Soft spicy Salame

‘NDUJA, was considered peasant food in Calabria

I am not Calabrese, and not being Calabrese means that I only discovered ’nduja late in life, as it was very much a regional and local food originally considered peasant food. I may have been late, but I did discover ’nduja much earlier than those living in Australia, who are now celebrating its use in a big way. Better late than never, because ’nduja is a fabulous salume (smallgood).

It was first made by contadini (farmers/ workers on the land) who raised and butchered pigs and being poor, would sell the prime cuts of pork to upper-class families who could afford them.  as is the way of the frugal, offal, excess fat, and off- cuts of meat were blended together, seasoned intensely with chilli, stuffed in a casing and transformed into a soft salame that tasted good and did not spoil easily.

These days ’nduja is probably made with better fats and cuts of meat and with its popularity, the price has also risen. ’Nduja originated in the Vibo Valentia province in Calabria, and much of it still comes from the town of Spilinga but it is now showing up as an ingredient all over Italy and in many restaurants in UK, US and in Australia – imparting a chilli kick on pizza, in pasta dishes, seafood dishes, burgers and even with Burrata; I would have thought that fresh cheeses are far too delicate to go with the strongly flavoured and spicy ’nduja. However each to their own. ’Nduja is no longer just found in specialist supermarkets and specialty butchers, but also in some fairly ordinary supermarkets. I have liked some varieties much more than others, so it is worth experimenting.

Featured photo is Tropea, Calabria.

So what is ’nduja?

RICHARD CORNISH:

We can thank Richard Cornish for his full-flavoured description of it in his Brain Food column in The Age on 10 November: A fermented sausage, originally from Calabria in Italy, that has a texture like sticky pate and a spicy kick on it like an angry mule. Pronounced en-doo-ya, it is a mixture of pork fat (up to 70 per cent), pork, salt, spices, culture and chilli peppers, which are ground together until smooth, wet, unctuous and deep red. It is stuffed into large-sized natural animal skins and slowly fermented and air-dried. The lactic acid bacteria in the culture ferments the sugars in the mix, making the ’nduja acidic enough to keep it safe from bad bugs. The name is Calabrian slang and is said to derive from the word for the smoked French sausage andouille.

Is it nduja or ’nduja? You will find that in certain references the spelling will be without an apostrophe.

The apostrophe before the nd (as in ’nduja), does not appear in the Italian language and I spent some time looking for the why it is spelt that way. It appears that in Calabrese, nd is proceeded by an apostrophe. Think of ‘Ndrangheta, as the mafia is referred to in Calabria, and ‘ndrina, the different families or clans, usually made up of blood relatives that are part of the ‘Ndrangheta.

Like most Calabresi, I usually spread ’nduja on fresh bread (like pâté) or I have used it as an ingredient in pasta sauces – it can fire up a tame ragù (a meat-based tomato sauce). I have also added ’nduja to sautéed cime di rape and Italian pork sausages, and to squid or octopus for a pasta sauce or on their own to be mopped up with bread.

MY EARLY EXPERIENCES WITH ‘NDUJA

I first encountered this spicy, spreadable sausage about forty years ago in the home of a Calabrese family who used to slaughter a pig and make smallgoods. They covered all of the smallgoods with chili. To their taste, food without chilli seemed flavourless, but also that the coating of chilli acts as a barrier, repelling flies (and bad bugs as Richard says) and is therefore a powerful and natural preservative. It’s the chili that gives this soft spreadable ’nduja salame its distinctive red colour.

Years later (about 23 years ago), I had some ‘nduja in the Sila mountains in Calabria, but I did not know then, that this peasant food product was to become the taste-sensation outside of Calabria that it is now.

My addition of ’nduja to seafood came much later in my cooking after I tasted a pasta dish of squid and fried breadcrumbs spiced with ’nduja, in a restaurant in Marin County, in California in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S).  Years later, I had a similar dish in a London restaurant. Both blew me away.

Probably the first dish I tasted with ’nduja in a Melbourne restaurant (Baby octopus with ’nduja) was at Tipo 00 when it first opened and later at Osteria Ilaria.

For those who like chillies, recipes that include ’nduja on my blog:

‘NDUJA, a spreadable and spicy pork salame from Calabria

PASTA with ‘NDUJA, CIME DI RAPA and PORK SAUSAGES

‘NDUJA with SQUID, very simple

‘NDUJA and CALAMARI as a pasta sauce

‘NDUJA, SQUID, VONGOLE AND PAN GRATTATO with Spaghetti

 

‘NDUJA and CALAMARI as a pasta sauce

‘Nduja is a spicy, spreadable, pork salame originating from Calabria and is appearing on just as many menus and recipes as chorizo as an ingredient.

Chorizo and ’nduja do play similar culinary roles — adding heat, depth, richness and a lovely red hue to dishes — but they come from different traditions and behave differently in cooking. Here’s what they have in common:

What chorizo and ’nduja share

1. Pork-based, chilli-driven cured products

Both are made primarily from pork, and both rely on chilli for flavour, colour and gentle (or not-so-gentle!) heat.

2. Paprika/pepper–rich seasoning

Spanish chorizo uses pimentón (sweet, hot, or smoked paprika), while Calabrian ’nduja uses peperoncino.
Different chillies, but both produce: a deep brick-red colour, a smoky or fruity heat, a rich aroma when heated.

3. High-fat mixtures that melt beautifully

Both rely on a good amount of pork fat: Chorizo releases seasoned fat when cooked, ’Nduja essentially is a spicy, spreadable fat
Either way, they enrich sauces, soups and braises.

4. Versatile “flavour builders”

In cooking, both act almost like a seasoning: Melt into pasta sauces, Flavour beans, lentils, stews,Work with seafood (especially prawns, mussels, cuttlefish), Pair well with potatoes, eggs, and greens.

5. Traditional, regional farmhouse products

Both originate as rustic, home-cured, regional foods: Chorizo: Spain (with Portuguese chouriço as a cousin), ’Nduja: Calabria, especially Spilinga.

Each reflects local ingredients — paprika in Iberia, peperoncino in Calabria.

The main difference is texture: chorizo is firm and sliceable, while ’nduja is soft, spreadable and melts almost instantly into sauces. Chorizo gives you bites of seasoned meat; ’nduja gives you a silky, smoky warmth that flavours a whole dish. Different personalities, but the same family — and both guaranteed to make food taste bigger, bolder and more interesting.

Chorizo is a firm, sliceable sausage, while ’nduja is a soft, spreadable, intensely spicy fermented paste — but both deliver pork, chilli and smoky depth to whatever you cook and both guaranteed to make food taste bigger, bolder and more interesting.

A recipe for Calamari and ‘Nduja or chorizo

 CALABRIA and INTRODUCTION

Calabria, the rugged toe of Italy’s boot, has always been defined by the sea. With nearly 780 kilometres of coastline — from the Tyrrhenian to the Ionian — the region’s cooking draws deeply on fishing, preserving, and coastal trade that have shaped Calabrian life for more than two thousand years.

Along the coasts, small fishing villages such as Scilla, Pizzo, Tropea, Soverato, and Chianalea lived by the catch: swordfish, anchovies, sardines, octopus, calamari, prawns, and mussels. Much of this seafood was eaten fresh, but equally important were the ancient preserving traditions — salting, drying, fermenting, and bottling — which allowed communities to survive winter scarcity and seasonal storms. Calabrians became masters of stretching simple ingredients into deeply flavoured dishes.

Throughout history, Calabria sat on key Mediterranean trade routes. Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Spanish brought spices, citrus, wheat, and new techniques. The most revolutionary arrival was the chilli pepper, introduced from the Americas in the 16th century. Calabrians adopted it with enthusiasm, using it to season and preserve everything from seafood to pork. Over time it became a defining flavour of the region, giving birth to iconic foods such as ’nduja, the fiery, spreadable salume of Spilinga, often combined with seafood to create rich, coastal dishes full of heat and depth.

Seafood today remains central to Calabrian cooking. Families still prepare traditional dishes such as Calamari with ‘nduja.

If you don’t have ’nduja on hand, Spanish chorizo makes an excellent alternative. It brings the same paprika-rich warmth and savoury depth, just with a firmer texture. Either way, this dish is quick, rustic, and full of personality — the kind of simple coastal cooking you’d find in a trattoria overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea.

CALABRESE Calamari with ’Nduja (or Chorizo) and Tomato

INGREDIENTS 

Calabrese Pasta with Calamari, ’Nduja & Tomato

Calamarata ’nduja e calamari — spicy, rich and deeply southern Italian.

Calamarata (sometimes misspelled calamata) is a short, thick, ring-shaped pasta that looks like slices of calamari(squid rings).
It is a traditional pasta shape from Campania, especially around Naples, but it is now popular throughout southern Italy — including Calabria — for pairing with seafood.

Ingredients (4 servings)

  • 400 g pasta
    Traditional: calamarata
    Alternatives: paccheri, mezze maniche, or spaghetti
  • 500–600 g calamari, cleaned and cut into rings (tentacles included)
  • 2–3 tsp ’nduja
    (Adjust depending on heat level and strength of your ’nduja) OR (or 100g chorizo, diced small)
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 small red onion or shallot, finely chopped
  • 200–250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
    or 1 cup tomato passata
  • ½ glass dry white wine
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional but deepens flavour)
  • Salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • Pinch of Calabrian peperoncino (optional extra heat)
  • Fresh parsley, chopped
  • Optional:
    • A few capers (very Calabrian)
    • Lemon zest

Method

  1. Prepare the calamari

Clean well, pat dry and cut into 1–1.5 cm rings.
Leave tentacles whole or halve them.

  1. Sauté the aromatics

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan.
Add onion and cook gently until soft and translucent.
Add garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.

  1. Add the ’nduja or chorizo

    • If using ’nduja: let it melt into the onions, stirring until it becomes a rich red paste. If using chorizo: fry the diced pieces until they release their paprika-coloured oil into the onion mixture until you have a deep red, fragrant base.

  1. Add the calamari

Increase heat slightly and add the calamari.
Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Cook for 2–3 minutes until opaque.
Add the white wine and let it evaporate.

  1. Build the sauce Add:
  • tomatoes or passata
  • tomato paste (optional)
  • capers (if using)
  • a pinch of Calabrian chilli
  • Simmer gently for 20–25 minutes.

Calamari should be soft and tender, not rubbery.
Add a splash of water if the sauce thickens too much.

I have already written a post about ‘NDUJA and a recipe for ‘Nduja and Squid as a pasta sauce  – SPAGHETTI with ‘NDUJA, SQUID, VONGOLE AND PAN GRATTATO. If you enjoy spicy food, it is worth doing.

See vegetable: CIME DI RAPE