Boccalone Salumeria Meats | San Francisco,CA

The salumeria's latest addition to the meaty family

Boccalone Salumeria's impressive product line showcases a wide variety of Italian-style cured meats, from dried to fresh to everything in between.

The latest addition to its family of "tasty salted pig parts" is ciauscolo (pronounced cha-USE-cool-oh), an all-pork specialty of Italy's hilly Le Marche region. The texture falls into more of a semisoft realm–not quite spreadable, but much softer than its well-aged counterparts.

The pork is more finely ground than in Boccalone's coarse soppressata, which lends the salami a silky mouthfeel, yet the meat and fat remain distinct.

Since it began developing the product at the beginning of the year, the company produced nine batches of ciauscolo, adjusting the texture, the flavor and the aging time with each iteration until it was perfect.

The ciauscolo (8 ounces for $12) comes in a nonedible casing covered in a white, bloomy mold. When it emerges from its cocoon-like covering, the time spent waiting has integrated the flavors so well that every bite flutters with rich pork, garlic and porcini mushroom  flavors.

While the final product isn't precisely what you would find in Italy (adding porcini is not traditional), we welcome the innovation.

Boccalone Salumeria, Ferry Building Marketplace; 415-433-6500 or boccalone.com