Every year Jim Fiala and Adam Gnau embark on a pilgrimage to the country they love so much. As they weave their way through the Italian countryside, from Tuscany to Sicily, they get to sample some of the finest cuisine the country has to offer. Each enoteca they visit brings a new experience, with the chefs utilizing locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients to create exquisite traditional dishes.
During the trip, the pair get to savor numerous varieties of flavorful salume. The deeply savory, tantalizingly and aromatic flavor of salumi are one of the pillars of the Italian dining experience. Each salume has a unique flavor, which has been cultivated through centuries of regional traditions. With the countless regional variations, it’s easy to confuse a pancetta with a capocollo, and a bresaola with a mortadella. But don’t worry, we’ve used our travels in Italy to come up with our five favorite salumi: