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Nduja (Italian spreadable salami from Spilinga) is available at Borough Market

Nudga spreadable salamiI had never heard of spreadable salami until I visited Borough Market in London last weekend. This is an Italian speciality originating from Spilinga, a village in the Calabria region in the toe of Italy. Nduja is a bit of a firecracker. I was given the teeniest sample on the end of a hefty kitchen knife. It was tasty and after a few seconds there was a small explosion of fiery chilli heat. My mind raced, this could be used in sandwiches, pasta sauces, on pizzas and under toasted cheese. I love salami and I love chilli. I was in heaven.

We bought a slab to take home and on Monday I decided to make rolls for lunch (French artisan crusty rolls bought cheap at the end of the day from Waitrose on Sunday). Luckily I sampled a bit before I spread it lavishly on our rolls. Half a teaspoonful nearly blew my head off. Having cleared my head of ten years of cobwebs I had a brain wave.

I slit the roll open. Dressing the bottom half only, I spread the left-hand side with a thin film of Nduja and the other side with a lovely soft pesto alla Genovese that we had bought from another stall at the market. Then I added a layer of thinly sliced goat’s cheddar and topped this with a handful of watercress. The result was great; taking bites from one end and then the other in turn. A fiery mouthful followed by a smooth cool pesto infused one. For the first time in my life I had made an exciting sandwich.

Nduja is created from mixing ground pork with salt and lots of calabrian chili pepper. The mixture is encased in animal intestine, lightly smoked and seasoned for a few months. It is claimed that Nduja is good for the heart and is an aphrodisiac.

Giuseppe Mele’s stall, De Calabria, specialises in Calabrian produce. He sells Nduja for £20 a kilo (at time of writing). It’s  in the Green Market section of Borough Market


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7 Comments

  1. I actually managed to track down Nduja 🙂 So here how it goes.

    Borough Market – Store name – Gastronomica. Stoney street actually they have 2 stores one inside the market. Also on Saturdays, there is another dude sell Ndjua in the Green Market, don’t remember his name but its the 4th store from the entrance 😀 He also sell some other interesting stuff from Calabria.

    Cheers

  2. Hi!

    Could you email me the contcat details to buy Nduja! I tried in Calabria last year and am addicted to it! Thanks!

  3. Hi,

    I been looking for Nduja in London for a long time as a matter of fact I even tried Borough Market without any luck. However this was October 2008. Can you please provide me some contact? Cos I really love some nduja 🙂

    Thanks for your help.

  4. Fiona Nevile

    Hi Chris,

    I’ve just emailed you the address. The Nduja is wonderful.

  5. cHRIS cLARKE

    Giuseppe Mele™s stall specialises in Calabrian produce. He sells Nduja for £20 a kilo at his stall in the Green Market section of Borough Market. If you would like his contact details email me. WOULD YOU SEND TO MY EMAIL ABOVE ?

    mANY MANY THANKS….LIKE YOU I LOVE SALAMI AND CHILLIS WHAT A GREAT COMBO….A REAL FIND.

  6. Fiona Nevile

    Hi ASMO, thanks for dropping by. I used to live in London but now live in the country so a visit to London is always a cosmopolitan foodie treat…

  7. Ah, nduja! I bought some with my mum, visiting from France, last weekend at Borough Market. I first tasted it at Taste of London at Giorgio Locatelli, and then foolishly bought A WHOLE ONE when we were in Florence for our honeymoon. I ended up giving it away, as we would never have been able to finish it in this lifetime 🙂

    Just discovered your great blog through LobsterSquad. Finally a fellow London food-blogger, wehe!

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