Pepperoni


Pepperoni is an American variety of salami, made from a cured mixture of pork and beef seasoned with paprika or other chili pepper.
Pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red in color. Thinly sliced pepperoni is a popular pizza topping in American pizzerias.

Etymology

The term "pepperoni" is a borrowing of peperoni, the plural of peperone, the Italian word for bell pepper. The first use of "pepperoni" to refer to a sausage dates to 1919. In Italian, the word peperoncino refers to hot and spicy peppers.

History

Pepperoni, an Italian-American creation, is a cured dry sausage, with similarities to the spicy salamis of southern Italy, such as salsiccia Napoletana piccante, a spicy dry sausage from Naples, or the soppressata from Calabria. The main differences are that pepperoni has a finer grain, is usually softer, and is usually produced with the use of an artificial casing. Pepperoni is mass-produced to meet the demand for the sausage. In the United States, pepperoni has become a widespread topping on pizza.

Production

Pepperoni is usually made from a mixture of pork and beef. Turkey meat is also commonly used as a substitute, but the use of poultry in pepperoni must be appropriately labeled in the United States.
Curing, with nitrates or nitrites also contributes to pepperoni's reddish colour, by reacting with heme in the myoglobin of the proteinaceous components of the meat.

Serving

According to Convenience Store Decisions, Americans consume 251.7 million pounds of pepperoni annually, on 36% of all pizzas produced nationally. Pepperoni has a tendency to curl up from the edges in the heat of a pizza oven. Some pepperoni is produced in thicker slices, so that the edges curl intentionally.
Pepperoni is also used as the filling of the pepperoni roll, a popular regional snack in West Virginia and neighboring areas.
In the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, deep fried pepperoni served on its own is common pub food.