Philly's salumi masters step it up

Philly has always had great Italian dining. Now, a couple of accomplished chefs have stepped up our salumi game with restaurant-grade products available for retail, too.

Fans of Le Virtù and Brigantessa on East Passyunk Avenue have long appreciated chef Joe Cicala's talent with cured pig. His new side venture, Salumeficio Cicala, recently debuted its first product, Felino Salame, and it is an exceptional link available for $16 at all Green Aisle Groceries. The all-natural and local Country Time Farm pork is fermented according to the traditional Felino style with red wine, garlic, and celery extract -- with no added nitrates or sulfites. After three months of curing,  it has full, natural flavor and just the right firmness that's genuinely hard to stop eating.  A larger Tuscan-style Finocchiona link infused with fennel should be ready by the end of the month. Meanwhile, Cicala has been collaborating with 1732 Meats in Lansdowne to slow-age some larger products -- Zibello-style culatello, Pugliese capocollo, and even a prosciutto (not ready until Christmas) -- that can be ordered directly through the Salumeficio website for pickup within 24 hours at Le Virtù.

-- Craig LaBan

Felino Salame, $16 for an 8-ounce link at Green Aisle Groceries (greenaislegrocery.com), or  visit salumificio-cicala.com

It's been a few years since Nick Macri made the transition from restaurant chef to charcuterie master at La Divisa, where he specializes in outstanding terrines (try the lamb-pistachio), lightly aged salami (loved a recent experiment rolled in za'atar), as well as fresh grass-fed meats from Wyebrook Farms.  My favorite La Divisa product, though, is an essential ingredient in my all'amatriciana sauce -- guanciale, a fatty product similar to pancetta, but cut from the pig's jowl. Macri uses top-quality local pork from Wyebrook and Country Time and gives them a traditionally minimalist, slow-motion process, letting them cure in salt and sugar, rinsing with white wine, and then letting them age with seasonings (lots of black pepper; or crushed chilies and fennel) for about five months. In the end, it's like the world's best unsmoked bacon. Render it slowly in the pan, and then use that gorgeous fat to saute onions before adding your tomatoes to simmer into a zestful sauce.

-- C.L.

Guanciale, $26, La Divisa Meats, Reading Terminal Market, 215-627-2100;   ladivisameats.com