309834 Mon Jul 17 01:57:55 -0700 2006 10 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 1748341 Yesterday I went to my favorite Fra'mani supplier in Berkeley (Coffee Market at 1578 Hopkins St.) in search of "Salametto". In the past I have bought "Salametto" there and it was always fine ($12.99/lb)...sometimes more soft or dry but always fine flavor. Well, yesterday since they were out of Salametto I decided to try the "Gentile" which is much larger both in length (20"+) and diameter (~2") but only a buck more ($13.99/lb). I got almost a pound and the owner gave me a nice, thick slice to try. My first impression was that the flavor was a bit off but I was told that it's due to the wine cure. Also, the texture was very soft but again I thought it might be due to the unusaly hot temperature in the shop. Not thinking much more about it I went home where I tried it again (after about 3 hours in the fridge to firm it up) with my wife and we both agree that the flavor is definitively off (texture did not improve much either). There was a definitive taste of the wine cure but the fat had a distinctive stale/rancid off flavor/smell. Also, another thing we noticed after taking all the wrapers off is that the mold on the outside had a orange hues to it unlike the past products which were covered in pure white mold. I do not want to sound overly critical since I like Fra'mani products (at least the ones I tried so far) but I have a feeling that they might be rushing the aging process in order to meet the demand. I have seen this before with some of the products I bought form "Fatted Calve" but in these cases it was more of a texture/appearance issue. My suggestion is to try the product before purchase in order to avoid my kind of experience. The Coffee Market will be getting more of the Fra'mani products in the next weeks including the larger diameter salame which will be sold sliced. For anyone interested (and to get the best selection) new shippments of Fra'mani products arive on Wednesdays after 2 PM. Pollo Mon Jul 17 01:57:55 -0700 2006 19117 Pollo 1 1748354 I bought some of both the gentile and nostrano from the Pasta Shop in Berkeley and was distinctly unimpressed. The Nostrano I sort of liked, but did not impress me the way that recent salumo from either Cav or (especially) Le Cicchia did. The gentile definitely had an unpleasant acidic after taste. I would not purchase either again, especially the the very high premium price (over $21. pound at Pasta Shop) Mon Jul 17 02:07:28 -0700 2006 1748341 15879 Joan Kureczka 2 1750497 Pasta Shop does definitively mark-up their products more than other places (Salametto is $16.99/lb). By the way where did you purchase the Cav and/or Le Cicchia products? Furthermore, considering that the cuts of meat going into the Salami are not exactly expensive and it does not appear that Fra'mani is using organic meats the prices are definitively on the high side....will have to wait to see if the taste warants the cost. I had similar experience with products from the Salumi shop in Seattle (http://www.salumicuredmeats.com)...way over priced....they sell some of them at Dean&Deluca in Napa. Tue Jul 18 01:38:43 -0700 2006 1748354 19117 Pollo 1 1748516 You were sold some bad salami. I bought some this week end from Colusa Market for $14.99 a pound and it was delicious. Not knock my socks off great, but very good. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/309476 Wow, that pasta shop is robbing people blind. Everything I buy there is almost twice what I'd pay elsewhere. Go to Colusa Market. The prices are reasonable and the owner knows how to take good care of meat. If I was buying salami again, I'd buy this rather than some of the Italian salami ... and certainly I'd select it over domestic. I only tried Fatted Calf salami once, and whatever it was I tried, seemed about the same as this. Mon Jul 17 04:12:54 -0700 2006 1748341 10264 rworange 1 1748572 The Gentile salami was definitely released before it should have been. If you get to the center of the salami you'll notice that it is actually moist. I also noticed an acidic aftertaste. It should have cured for another two or three months. Fortunately, I was able to try a small amount before purchasing one whole. I'm going to wait a few months a before I consider purchasing one. rw, do you recall if you had the Gentile? Some of the other Fra'manis may be better. Mon Jul 17 05:15:17 -0700 2006 1748341 10793 Morton the Mousse 2 1748622 I bought both the gentile and nostrano. I just tried a piece of the gintile to double-check. Really chewing on it and concentrating on the flavor, by acrid do you mean like the taste of a rind of ripe brie? Looking for it I got the slightest taste of that. I also had it sliced thin, rather than a piece, so maybe that's why I'm not picking up any objectionalbe taste. By middle do you mean middle of each slice or middle of the whole salami. Mine was cut from the end, and again, fine. However, I'm not that much of a cold cut person ... yeah, I know ... but it still boils down to cold cuts no matter what you call them. So take my opinion for what it's worth, keeping in mind the only Fatted Calf product so far that has bowled me over was the mortadella and nothing has REALLY caught my attention at Cafe Rouge cold cut-wise. I recognize the quality, appreciate the effort, but only the Fatted Calf mortedella is calling me back. Nice catch on the flavor of that gentile, Morton. Mon Jul 17 06:15:20 -0700 2006 1748572 10264 rworange 3 1748626 By center I mean the middle of the actual salami. IF you got your cut from the end that might explain the difference. It's also very possible that the quality differs from salami to salami. Hopefully, with time the product will become more consistent Mon Jul 17 06:18:06 -0700 2006 1748622 10793 Morton the Mousse 1 1756726 I was at the Berkeley Bowl a few weeks ago and spotted a Fra'Mani Salametto and purchased it for a party I was giving. Some people were put off by the coarse chunks of fat (I LOVE that) but mostly I was surprised when I tried a slice towards the end and YUCK, rancid! I thought might be just the skin? Nope the whole last third was not edible. I had noticed that the mold didn't seem quite right (very wet). I don't know if this was a storage/shipping problem or a production one but I was rather disappointed. Thu Jul 20 18:12:55 -0700 2006 1748341 20478 Swarthog 1 1897446 I picked up a hot salumetto at the Pasta Shop on Fourth Street yesterday. $5 and change for a small. Very good, nice gamy flavor, perfect texture. Sat Sep 23 20:54:32 -0700 2006 1748341 11369 Robert Lauriston 1 1897589 I tried the salametto a few weeks ago directly from a Bay Area distributor, The Cheese Works in Alameda, through work connections. I believe CW is selling it for around $7 a piece in a case of 12. Each salametto weighs around 12 oz. which (if my basic math skills are still intact) is just under $10/lb. I've heard that a place in Santa Cruz is selling it for $14 a piece, so the Pasta Shop's markup seems pretty high. Here's a link to stores that carry Fra'Mani products, although I don't think it's comprehensive: http://www.framani.com/stores_restaurants.htm Here's a photo of half the log (my boss got the other half) depicting the exterior mold and the interior marbling: http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/btdoan/IMG_5504.jpg It arrived in pristine condition. I was initially surprised by the large globules of fat, but it grew on me. At first, I thought it was good but wasn't that wowed. But after it had sat at room temp. for a while, the flavor really bloomed. Winey, rich, a little, I dunno...yeasty. The aroma was really nice. It was a little more moist than I like since I prefer a really dry hard salami. Sorry to hear about the varying quality out there. Like cheese or anything artisanal that's distributed to stores, it's hard for me to know at what point in the chain things went awry. BTW, Fra'mani was given a small mention in the Oct. issue of Gourmet. Sat Sep 23 22:28:25 -0700 2006 1748341 10371 Carb Lover 2 1898593 The hot salumetto I got was smaller, maybe 5-6 oz.? The Pasta Shop prices them indvidually by weight, I think $16 or $17 a pound. The varying quality's most likely due to startup issues. They've got fancy equipment for ensuring consistency. Sun Sep 24 16:56:38 -0700 2006 1897589 11369 Robert Lauriston