Szeged Szalámi
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Before we even knew what Mangalitsa was, much less thought of importing them to the USA, we had a chance encounter in Hungary, at the Pick Museum.
The Pick Group has produced sausage and paprika since 1869. Their products are famous in Central Europe, but much less elsewhere. Their museum has a store nearby selling their products.
The most expensive salami in Pick's store was their mangalica szalámi.
Language difficulties prevented the staff from explaining what was so special about it, but we figured we would never get another chance to buy it at the source, so we took the plunge and bought some.
When we ate it, we were astounded. It was incredibly meaty and sweet. The salami's fat was soft and moist, without oozing in a nasty way. It was also clear that the meat and fat in the salami were of much higher quality than normal. It was in an entirely different class from what one finds in America.
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Taste Test: American Brand vs. Pick Mangalitsa
In order to check our assessment of the Mangalitsa salami, we later did a side-by-side taste test with the best American salami ($15/lb) we could buy.
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The results were completely one-sided: the American salami was too sour, salty and spiced with fennel, and most importantly, it didn't taste meaty enough.
We figured we needed about five times as much of the American stuff to equal the "meatiness" of Pick's Mangalitsa. Just a slice or two of the Mangalitsa was satisfying, but the weak flavor of the American stuff and its copious salt required us to eat a lot more, chasing the hint of meatiness.
It really seemed that the American salami company was hiding their inferior meat behind the salt and fennel. Irritating, but understandable - what else could they do, if they wanted to charge $15 per pound? If they didn't add a lot of fennel, it would just be slightly better than typical salami.
In retrospect, it is hard to see how the test could have gone any other way. The quality of cured products is highly dependent on the breed of the animal, and how they are fed.
Until we imported our pigs, America didn't have any of the European unimproved lard-type breeds, nor does America have much of a tradition of raising hogs to control fat composition - so it isn't even easy to find books on how to do it properly.
Later investigation revealed that the American salami was made from one of the meat-type breeds. As a result, it had no chance to equal the Mangalitsa.
In contrast to America's small and nascent gourmet pork market, the European gourmet pork market is extremely competitive and efficient. Competitors in the high-end market systematically attempt to optimize breed and feed in order to get the best product.
Next: air-cured products and meat quality
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