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Calabrian pancetta and salami workshop

We welcomed Angela Villella, co-author of Mangia!Mangia!, to the kitchen at the Learning Centre on 23 June. Angela led a fascinating workshop on creating Calabrian pancetta and salami in the home kitchen. The session was attended by an enthusiastic group who were treated to a hands-on workshop where sleeves were rolled up from the word go!

The group worked together to create capacollo (cured pork neck), pancetta (cured pork belly), salami and soppressate. The session began with cutting the meat before mincing and mixing. Most of the group had red hands from the capsicum conserva, traditionally used by Calabrians to give a rich red colour and wonderful flavour to the salamis. Capsicum conserva is a dark red capsicum paste made at the end of summer when capsicums are at their best. It is then preserved and used for salami making during winter. The use of the conserva led to an interesting discussion on using in-season produce and the importance of being prepared with each season’s preserving to be ready for the next.

In addition to demonstrating how to cure meats and salamis,, Angela discussed how the bones and skin can be used as well. She described how the bones from the meat can be used to create a delicious sugo to be served with pasta. ‘Nothing is wasted when cutting the meat.’

As the meats created on the day take some time to cure Angela, brought a selection of pre-made salamis, pancetta, capricolo and catchetore to enjoy for lunch. The meats were accompanied by preserved green olives, provolone cheese, fennel salad, green salad, Phillippa’s breads and Tarrawarra Estate wine. The shared lunch is a time for participants to relax after a busy morning and discuss their learnings. This is reflective of the shared meal at the end of Kitchen Garden School kitchen classes and is a very important part of the Kitchen Garden Foundation philosophy.

The workshop was full of laughter, music, sharing of knowledge, stories and most importantly food! Angela proved to be very popular with the participants and we had lots of great feedback about the workshops.

• ‘Great hands on participation. Loved the facilitators style it felt really genuine.’
• ‘I learnt everything I had hoped to and more! Fab session, a great presenter’.

Once again we were joined by the team from Liberty Casings who generously donated the natural casings used by the participants to create their sausages. We are grateful for their generosity!

Find out more about our upcoming public workshops here.