Stories from the shop
How to slice a sopressa
The knife, the skin, how thick to cut the slices and how to keep it once opened: advice from our counter for anyone taking home a whole sopressa.
Salumeria Miatto
A whole sopressa at home is a small celebration, and also a small commitment: it needs to be sliced well and kept well, so that it stays good to the last slice. Here's what we recommend to anyone who takes one home.
The knife and the board
You need a long knife with a smooth, sharp blade: each slice is made with a long movement, back and forth, without squashing. A serrated knife tears the meat and crumbles the fat. Underneath, a wooden board that doesn't slip.
The skin first
The skin of the sopressa is the casing it was stuffed into and cured in, tied with string: you don't eat it. Cut the string, then with the tip of the knife score the skin all the way round, a few centimetres from the end, and slide it off. Only for the piece you need: the rest of the sopressa stays covered and dries out less.
Thick slices
Sopressa is cut into thick slices. It's soft, and a slice as thin as prosciutto breaks; a thick slice holds together, and in your mouth you can taste how it's made. The Prosecco Consortium, too, when it describes home-made sopressa, talks about thick slices.
Straight or at an angle? Cut straight, the slice comes out round, and in the sopressa investida you can clearly see the heart of fillet in the middle. Cut at an angle, it comes out wider: handy for bread.
How to keep it once opened
Once opened, sopressa goes in the fridge, but well covered, so that it doesn't dry out:
- cover the cut end with cling film, pressed close;
- wrap the rest in a clean tea towel;
- put it in the bottom of the fridge;
- take it out a little before eating it: at room temperature it turns soft and fragrant again.
The first slice, the one left exposed to the air, may be darker and drier: cut it off and carry on.
If you're not opening it straight away, keep it whole in a cool, dry place. How long it can wait depends on how long it has already cured: ask us when you buy it.
Hot, with polenta
Sopressa is also eaten seared on the grill, with toasted polenta: a thick slice on the griddle, just long enough for the fat to turn glossy.
Or we'll slice it for you
If you prefer, we'll slice the sopressa for you at the counter: just tell us when you book. The same goes for the sopressa all'aglio, our sopressa with garlic, which is sliced and kept in the same way.
