Having Joe in the family has been a delight in many ways, not the least of which are the new Italian traditions, food, and family that he has introduced us to. On a cold weekend in January, he and Karen came home and they and Fred and Paula participated in an old family tradition--the making of sopressata. We spent Saturday at the home of his 92 year old Aunt Sylvia with various aunts, uncles, and cousins, many of whom we had met at the wedding.
100 pounds of pork is cut from the bone, ground, seasoned, a little cooked and tasted, seasoned again, put into sausage links which has been tied off, tied off again, and then hung to age in Aunt Sylvia's cold room.
One must work one's way up the chain of command--Aunt Sylvia is the matriarch and overseer of the links!! Karen was allowed to be the counter this year and Fred had the honor of tying off some of the links and hanging them to age. Joe made the pork into the right size balls while Paula merely watched!! And ate. And ate. For ten hours we ate.
Here are some pictures of the fun. These are wonderful people and we dearly love them.
4 comments:
They look delicious, fun to make and eat. Mmmmmm What a neat thing to do together! Can the extended family come next year?
Wow - what a cool tradition! Looks like you guys had fun. Karen looks great! Hope she is feeling well.
Came accross you photos on the net. We make sopressata too with my uncle louie in RI. We have been doing it for years. His mother, my grandmother have been doing it for 50+ years.
now my brothers and I get together and make it with my uncle lou and my mother. We use lean pork sirloin and Beef Middles for the casings. (turning them inside out and soaking them in a vinegar and water solution for a bit. Just the pork, salt, cayenne to taste, then some peppercorns.
My uncle used to bring them to Bill Cosby shows and would be brought back stage to share some with Bill.
Email me if you want to compare more. I live in ma.
anthonycardinali@gmail.com
-Tony
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