Nine different kinds of salami. Now that’s a tasting.

My most favorite food place in all the world, C’est Cheese, had another tasting tonight. But rather than cheese, the tasting was salami. Cured, smoked, dried, salted, and seasoned; thin, thick, narrow, or long; Itallian, Spanish, French; shoulder, belly, ham, or back; but all pork. And all delicious.
One of the things I like most about Kathryn and Michael’s presentations is that they give a lot of information along with a good variety of flavors. So, I have the list with the names of all nine salamis (on which I scribbled my tasting notes), but I’m only going to mention the ones that stand out.

My favorite spiced salami was the chorizo. I’ve eaten a lot of chorizo in my life, and this was the best chorizo I’ve had. Delicious on its own, this would be fabulous cooked in any dish.

I think my favorite non-spicy salami was the Columbus Artisan Finocchiona. It’s an Itallian style salami seasoned with fennel. Very tasty.

The biggest disappointment for me was the Salumi Mole, which was flavored with the spices you’d find in a mexican mole. I don’t think it worked in the salami. It was a lot of heat without the sweetness of a good mole.

The other salamis I enjoyed were: Niman Ranch Napoletani, a small, spicy salami that will sadly be discontinued; Fra’mani Toscano which is flavored with garlic and wine; Salumi Salame with a hint of ginger; and Prosciutto di San Daniele, which isn’t really a salami, but is a very tasty cured ham.

All of these are available at C’est Cheese, and I plan on staying stocked up around here, too.