'Nduja from Calabria
Spilinga, Calabria - Another one of those mind-boggling Italian culinary creations, just the thought of 'nduja (pronounced n-doo-ya, from the French andouille) makes my mouth water. Let me preface this by saying that anything with peperoncino (small, spicy red peppers) in it, the spicier the better, is fine by me, and that I have the most wonderful and decadent food relationship with anything pork. 'Nduja is the ultimate expression of both these things. A soft and spreadable, completely red-pepper soaked (and hence super-spicy) smoked and then cured sausage from Calabria, the toe of the boot, it is usually eaten with bread or used in pasta by melting it into the sauce. Food heaven! Must be that old pleasure-pain thing!
Image courtesy of the Pugliese brothers of Spilinga, Calabria, owners of the Azienda 'Nduja "San Donato", snc.