In the last month I’ve read many articles about ‘nduja. I am happy to see that people are finally discovering it.
‘Nduja is a fiery, spreadable sausage of smoked pork that is unique to Calabria. The most famous is ‘Nduja di Spilinga, which gets it name from the town in Vibo Valentia that has the largest production of this delicacy. It is now also produced by salumifici (salumi factories) in other areas of Calabria, but the people of Spilinga and all around the Monte Poro area will argue that their ‘nduja is special. Why? Because the ingredients include the sweet and hot peppers grown only in the area.
‘Nduja is prepared with the parts of the pig that will produce 40 to 50% fat. The meat is ground very fine and then all that is added is salt, ground sweet pepper and ground hot pepper. It is well mixed and stuffed inside a natural hog casing of the large intestine. It is smoked for about a week and then dried for three weeks or longer, depending on the size of the casing.
This is what ‘nduja from Calabria looks like:
It is one the most famous foods Calabria has to offer and can’t be purchased as yet in this country.
Boccalone has started selling its own ‘nduja as of last month. It is different from ‘nduja from Calabria, but is very good. It resembles the French rillette, with the texture of a pâté, and has a lot more ingredients, like orange peel, wine, sugar, and vinegar. In contrast, Calabrian ‘nduja has only pork, sweet pepper, hot pepper, and salt. Simple but heavenly! Also, the Calabrian ‘nduja is coarser in texture, more intense in pepper flavor, and tastes much smokier.
So how do you eat it? I enjoy it just spread on bread or on a plate of fusilli (homemade pasta shaped around a knitting needle). ‘Nduja is wonderful on top of pizza, added to beans and soups, or inside a pitta (the stuffed Calabrian pizza).
Here is a plate of homemade filei, as fusilli are called in the Monte Poro area, tossed with ‘nduja and tomato sauce. I got to eat it last month right in the town of Spilinga:
If you want to try Calabrian ‘nduja in America you can come to my cooking class in September, when we will toss it with homemade pasta. You can also join me this fall in my culinary tour to Calabria; we will use ‘nduja in one of the cooking class held right in the area where it is made.
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One of the many problems with any government that wishes to “protect” us from ourselves, is overregulation.
In the old country (any old country) there are always cured, dried or smoked meats, but here the words “raw meat” and “room temperature” aren’t allowed in the same sentence!
The Canadians seem to be a little more reasonable.
‘Nduja on bread! That’ a fire hazard.
I love our homemade version of this Calabrian treat on pasta (and occasionally stir in a little to the pizza sauce) but don’t think I could eat it (especially the style I’ve had in San Giorgio Morgeto) as a spread.
Lovely article.
I love ‘nduja calabrese, I’m from Lamezia Terme, Catanzaro and we make it very good, just wish one day we can buy it in Canada.
Great with fileja calabrese, and pizza!
I’ve gone 55 years and never heard about nduja until a few weeks ago and now it’s one of those things I have to have :=)
Mike
Mike,
You will need to go to Calabria to find the real ‘nduja. I haven’t tasted one close to the real stuff here yet … hopefully someone will start making it soon just as they do in Spilinga.
Hi Rosetta!
I know, I’ve heard the domestic versions are not quite there yet but it’ll have to do in the meantime for me. I want to try making my own one of these days.
Hi Rosetta,
It is a pleasure reading your recipes, brings me back to when we did them all with my mom. I keep alot of the traditions make my own pasta, pizza, sausage, roasted peppers
and so on. I really have to say, that us Calabrese really give alot of taste to our foods and anyone that tastes our cooking really enjoys it. Will be looking forward to reading up on more of your specialties
Antonio Mozzarella Factory in Springfield, New Jersey, has been making nduja for years. The owners are from Spilinga. Northern New Jersey has a large Spilinghesi community.
Patrick,
Thanks for letting me know that they make and sell nduja in New Jersey.
Rosetta,
Love your book and blog!
I’m planning to make ‘nduja and have found many online resources to help with ingredients and proportions, including this post. However, I am unable to identify the wood used in the smoking phase. Can you help?
Grazie mille.
James,
For smoking they recommend oak, olive wood or any other type of hardwood. I used apple wood, I am sure almond wood would work also.
I recently bought some ‘nduja at The Calabria Pork store in the Bronx. It is very good, but it is dryer and not as spreadable as the ‘nduja I had in Calabria. Has anyone tried the ‘nduja from Murray’s cheese shop (online) or from Boccolone (online)? If so, how are these?
Nick
The Calabria Pork Store on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx also makes and sells their own version of nduja. Your book is great by the way!
Thanks for letting me know that The Calabria Pork Store sells the nduja.
Nick,
You can buy the real stuff that comes from Calabria from The Sausage Debauchery, here is the link for the nduja:
http://www.sausagedebauchery.com/products/?category=Peperoncini%20Products
I make it and got the recipe growing up in northern NJ from relatives. I’ll take some pictures and post them on my blog the next time I make it. I had nduja in Calabria and it was great, mine is pretty damn close to it I must say!