Levoni Salami with Fennel Seeds

This cured meat is also called Salami Finocchio, with finocchio meaning “fennel.” It has a deep red color with a medium grain, and a soft, smooth texture. It has a wonderful balance between fat and lean. This Levoni Salami has rounded aromas, accented with fennel. It has a mature taste, pronounced with the unique flavors of fennel.

The Salami with Fennel Seeds from Levoni is very versatile. It’s great to use for appetizers, with cheeses like Pecorino. It’s also great to use in pastas and sandwiches. For drinks, the perfect pairing for salami is a good red wine.

The Levoni story began with Ezechiello Levoni, a former butcher’s apprentice. He realized his lifelong dream of opening up his own curing plant in 1911, in the outskirts of Milan. He put in practice all that he had learned with the Milanese master butchers throughout the years. In 1913, he got his first major recognition. Proud of his new brand, he entered the “Modern Arts & Industry” International Exhibition in London, winning a gold medal for his Salame Ungherese. This win was particularly sweet as the competition famously declared a newcomer like him would only win “when pigs fly.”

Levoni moved the flagship production to a small province in Mantua called Castellucchio in 1923, and in the succeeding years, would also put up their own slaughterhouse and curing plant. In 2014, they opened their first subsidiary in the United States, opening up a whole new wave of opportunities for Ezechiello’s dream. The company is still a family business, now on its fourth generation, and still producing high quality meats.

This type of sausage may be stored for up to 6 weeks (if whole) in your pantry and indefinitely in the refrigerator (whole or in vacuum-packed slices). After opening, they should be used within 3 weeks.