SippitySup

Pairing Exotically Flavored Artisanal Salume with a Raw Milk Gouda

Salumi

Today I have brought in Barrie Lynn– The Cheese Impresario to do a cheese and artisanal salume pairing for us. Whenever Barrie Lynn stops by you know it’s going to be delicious. But today we also want to bring your attention to an organization called Slow Money, it’s affiliated with Slow Food, USA.

Slow Money was “inspired by the vision of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing As If Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered, published in 2009, the Slow Money Alliance is bringing people together around a new conversation about money that is too fast, about finance that is disconnected from people and place, about how we can begin fixing our economy from the ground up… starting with food.” 

To help raise awareness (and money) for the small food producers who adhere to the fundamentals shared by both Slow Food and Slow Money there’s is a contest underway to choose a like-minded Mamma Chia Entrepreneur of the Year via a Facebook contest. You can help by voting. There is more information below. 

To do my part, I’ve brought Barrie Lynn in to introduce us to Salume Beddu a finalist in this Entrepreneur of the Year contest. The winner will be awarded $50,000 at the Slow Money National Gathering in Boulder, April 29–30th.  GREG 

For me, flavored cheese used to be something to pass on by in the stores. Now, artisan cheesemakers are using all kinds of spices and herbs like chefs use seasoning in their dishes. One cheesemaker who stands out for me is Marieke Penterman. Her company, Holland’s Family Cheese has become well known for their stunning Raw Milk Goudas. She and her husband Rolf have their own herd of cows that graze the pristine green rolling hills of rural Wisconsin. Marieke chose raw milk for the depth of flavors. Raw milk cheeses in our country have to be aged a minimum of 60 days to be legally sold. Marieke’s Goudas have been winning a plethora of awards. Just recently she won Best of Show for her Mature Gouda competing with over 1,700 fine cheeses at the US Cheese Championship Cheese Contest. Her Goudas are aged on pine planks that also impart a special flavor.

I recently moved from Hollywood to St. Louis. It was my good fortune to meet the team at Salume Beddu in my first month of “The Relocation Blues.” This meeting and tasting of Salumi Beddu’s offerings certainly helped lift up my spirits. I wanted to pair an exotically spiced salumi with one of Marieke’s spiced cheeses. I chose her Cumin Raw Milk Gouda to pair with Salumi Beddu’s Soppressa da Veneto. Veneto is a lean, Venetian-style salume made with Eastern spices including cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper. Cumin’s aromatics and slight earthy heat is delicious combined in her creamy and nutty raw mink Gouda. Use your Snozz with this cheese and start enjoying the flavors with your nose. Now take a whiff of the Salume Beddu Soppressa da Veneto. Okay, here you go with The Cheese Highway. Take a bite of the Gouda and coat your tongue, make a Cheese Highway.   Now, take a bite of the salume and chew them up together. You will be in for a flavor supercharge rush. Enjoy! BARRIE LYNN

Salumi and Cheese

Salume Beddu is a small, artisan company, dedicated to the craft of fine cured meats, fresh sausages.  We pride ourselves on using only the highest quality natural, local and fresh ingredients in all of our products. Each salume is artisanally spiced, hand-tied, and perfectly cured to produce traditional style salumi with a New-World twist.

Mark Sanfilippo opened Salume Beddu in the spring of 2008, with a vision of creating the finest Italian-style Salumi and Fresh Salsiccia. Salume Beddu has been a dream of Mark Sanfilippo’s for several years. Originally from St. Louis, Mark traveled to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and worked for one of the famed local bakeries to support himself during his graduate studies. After learning many skills from two local pastry chefs, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in writing. Although his career focus changed his passion for food never ceased. “My perfect career would involve cooking and writing”. After pursuing writing for several years, Mark jumped at the opportunity to work for the famed Chefs Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton at the restaurant, MOZZA in Los Angeles. “I learned so much from the executive chef, Matt Molina, chef/owner, Nancy Silverton and Salumiere, Armandino Batali, it was truly an amazing opportunity.”

After living in the West for a decade, Mark felt it was a perfect time to return to St. Louis and continue his work as a Salumiere.

Salume Beddu began selling to the local Tower Grove Farmers’ Market with an incubator loan and space from the market.  A brick-and-mortar was soon established that allowed for USDA certification and wholesale distribution. The company has grown conservatively and organically over the last few years. Salume Beddu’s cure room is now at capacity and the demand continues to grow.

What You Can Do So More People Can Enjoy Salume Beddu

Mark and the Salume Beddu team are headed to the Slow Money National Gathering in Boulder.  Slow Money is a partner of Slow Foods that helps facilitate relationships between businesses that believe in the Slow Money and Slow Foods principles with lenders who believe in the same.  In addition to presenting in the Entrepreneur Showcase, Salume Beddu is also up for the Mamma Chia Entrepreneur of the Year award but needs votes to secure it.  This is of course where you come in.  They have to secure votes online through Facebook. 

Here are the details for voting:

The competition will run until midnight Eastern on Tuesday, April 16th. During that time, we’d like to get as many votes as possible, not only to put us in the top running for the award going into the gathering but also to engage our community and build awareness around our goal of raising capital with the support of the Slow Money network. You can vote once every 24 hours.

Below is the link to the voting page:

https://​www​.facebook​.com/​S​l​o​w​M​o​n​e​y​/​a​p​p​_​1​7​7​9​1​4​4​9​5​5​8​0​579

Thank you in advance for supporting a family-owned artisan business.