Rodney Macuja
An old Italian recipe and pedigree breeds make for a primo product.
WHO Kenneth and Sonya Neff have a small farm on the Mornington Peninsula where they raise belted Galloway cattle, black-faced Suffolk sheep and Wessex saddleback pigs in a free-range environment in small herds and flocks.
HOW Kenneth’s heritage is Swiss and as a lad he worked for a Swiss butcher in Melbourne’s east called Joe Wantz, who taught him to make traditional smallgoods. Neff continued curing his own sausages as a hobby and, unable to source free-range pigs, started his own farm. He honed his skills in Italy working with Danillo Parti in San Donato. His Asiago salami is made to a family recipe belonging to an old Italian friend from the Veneto: pork, pork fat, salt, pepper, garlic, chilli with a good splash of grappa, prosecco and red wine, plus green herbs. The pork from the saddlebacks is painstakingly stripped of tough silver muscle lining, then minced, seasoned, fermented and cured by a butcher with a licence to ferment smallgoods.
WHY Neff’s Asiago salami, like all his saucisson sec and chorizo, are, well-seasoned, dense and balance a clean finish with a lovely, lingering savouriness. They slice perfectly and present well, and the Asiago has a lovely herbal note that goes well with Chianti.
WHEREWoolumbi Farm salami weigh about a kilo each and cost $60 per kilo. Suppliers include Woolumbi Farm Produce Store at 233 Coolart Rd, Tyabb; Mornington Craft Market, and Emu Plains Market.
