Pepperoni is a cured-sausage product that became popular in
the United States even before the establishment of the nation's leading
producer of pepperoni, Hormel Foods, in 1891. The origins of pepperoni are in
Italy, but the name "pepperoni" does not refer to the same food in
Italian as it does in English.
Ingredients
Pepperoni typically is made from a combination of pork and
beef trim, spices and cultures. Pork and beef pieces might be blended with
salt, paprika, white pepper, cayenne pepper, anise seed and allspice. Cured
sausages may also be made from a combination of other meats, including turkey
and chicken. Meat, spices and preservatives are combined through grinding,
chopping and mixing. Another option is to inject spices and preservatives in a
water solution into the meat that will be cured.
Hormel Pepperoni
Established in 1891 by George A. Hormel in Austin,
Minnesota, Hormel Foods produces the nation's top-selling pepperoni. Hormel
produces a variety of pepperoni products for direct consumption and for
inclusion in other products, such as calzones, pizzas, sandwiches and salads.
According to Hormel, its pepperoni sausage is "medium-chopped and seasoned
with red pepper and fine spices."
Curing Pepperoni
Pepperoni is a cured sausage that is not actually cooked.
Sodium nitrite is most often used to cure meat because it "greatly delays
development of botulinal toxin (botulism), develops cured meat flavor and
color, [and] retards development of rancidity and off-odors and off-flavors
during storage." Table salt and other spices are also used in curing meat.
Fermenting and Drying Pepperoni
After the meat mixture is cured, the meat is also fermented
and dried to reduce the moisture inside the mixture, making it more difficult
for bacteria to grow and spoil the meat. Fermentation involves converting
carbohydrates in meat into alcohols or acids. In pepperoni production,
fermentation offers another way to protect against bacterial growth. In the
final step, the pepperoni is dried.
Meat Safety and Regulation
Curing pork is safe when proper safety standards are followed,
according to the American Meat Science Association (AMSA). In the U.S., meat
packers and processors follow the standards of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture for curing meat.
Roots in Ancient Italy
The history of the pepperoni dates to ancient Roman times.
The Roman civilization was notably the first society to regulate pork
production, and they cured pork products into useful forms of salami and
sausage because they couldn't refrigerate meat.
Pepperoni lovers would have to ask for a spicy salami in Italy
to come close to the taste of American pepperoni.
