Our stapline, "Crafted with Salt, Smoke & Time" covers much of what we do here at London Smoke & Cure.
These three ancient techniques evolved primarily as a way of extending the lifetime of precious food in a time thousands of years before the advent of refrigeration.
All three processes inhibit the development of bacteria that spoil unpreserved meat and fish and, as a very convenient and pleasing side-effect, all three also greatly enhance the flavour, adding subtlety and depth to the product.
All of our preserved meats use at least two of these three techniques, and some (such as our bacon) use all three, but in the case of our salamis we have a fourth trick up our sleeves: fermentation.
Between the curing and the ageing steps, our salamis go through a fermentation stage whereby the cured salami mix is held at a slightly elevated temperature to allow a culture of bateria to activate, producing lactic acid in the process.
This reduces the pH of the salami mix, again making it a challenging environment for the bacteria to form in, greatly extending the lifetime of the meat and lending it the characteristic tanginess that make salamis so delicious.
If you want to learn more about this special process then we have an entire Smoke School workshop dedicated to it where you will learn all of the techniques needed to make your very own aged salami.
We have three more Salami Sessions workshops scheduled for 2025. The June workshop is sold out but there are still some places left in September and November.