Nduja
Spreadable Calabrian sausage. The proportion of chilli is so high that it imparts the product's red colour, consistency, and character.
| Pork jowl | 280 g |
| Fatty pork belly | 210 g |
| Pork leaf lard (hard fat) | 140 g |
| Dried Calabrian red chilli, ground (peperoncino) | 300 g |
| Fine salt | 20 g |
| Ground black pepper | 2 g |
| Wide hog casing or caecum (Ø 50–80 mm) | — |
- Preparation: Cut all the meats into 3 cm cubes. Chill hard to −2 °C.
- Mincing: Mince through the 4 to 5 mm plate for a texture that is fine but not pasty.
- Seasoning: Mix the meat intimately with the ground chilli and the salt. The proportion of chilli is very high, about 30 per cent of the total weight. Knead at length (5 to 7 minutes) until a homogeneous red paste is obtained.
- Resting: Cover and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours.
- Stuffing: Stuff into the wide casings. Form sausages 15 to 20 cm long, or use a caecum for a larger size.
- Maturing: Hang in a cool (14–16 °C), humid (75–80 % RH) place for 3 to 6 months. The nduja must remain soft and spreadable.
- Eating: Spread on toasted bread, melt over a pizza, or stir into a tomato sauce at the end of cooking.
The most commonly advanced etymology derives nduja from the French andouille, most sources attaching the contact to the Napoleonic period (Joachim Murat, King of Naples from 1808 to 1815) rather than to the older Angevin rule.
The nduja originates from Spilinga, a village of fewer than 1,500 inhabitants in the province of Vibo Valentia. Its creation belongs to the logic of the pig slaughter in rural Calabria: the noble cuts were destined for long-keeping charcuterie; the remaining pieces (jowl, fatty belly, leaf lard) were mixed with chilli and salt, then set to mature for several months. The result is a spreadable, high-calorie food whose preservation relies chiefly on salt and drying. The chilli's capsaicin contributes marginally through its bacteriostatic properties, but it is the salt that does most of the work.
The red chilli was introduced into Calabria in the sixteenth century by the Spanish, who controlled the Kingdom of Naples. Calabria is today the Italian region that uses it most systematically, as a condiment, a preservative, and an identity marker. In the nduja, chilli accounts for about 30 per cent of the total weight of the forcemeat in the traditional Spilinga recipe, a proportion no other charcuterie in this book reaches. The industrial versions distributed outside Calabria frequently reduce this proportion to suit less accustomed palates, at the expense of authenticity.
The spreadable texture owes nothing to a starch binder or a dairy base. It results solely from the high fat content and the finely ground chilli. Heat liquefies it, which makes it as much a cooking ingredient as a spreading charcuterie. Melted over a pizza, stirred into a tomato sauce at the end of cooking, it colours and perfumes the preparation.
The nduja long remained unknown outside Calabria. In under a decade, from the 2010s, it passed from the stalls of a mountain village to the menus of restaurants in London, New York and Tokyo, and then into mass retail. This visibility prompted industrial imitations. The nduja di Spilinga enjoys geographical recognition in Italy, with an application for a European PGI under examination. Every August, Spilinga holds the Sagra della Nduja, at which local producers present their nduje at different stages of maturity.
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