Italy Panorama

Ask a sampling of Calabrians what one food item they are most proud of and chances are you’ll hear the word ‘nduja more than once. It’s true. No culinary tour of Calabria would be complete without taste-testing this intense treat at least once … but it’s not for the faint of heart-or stomach.

‘Nduja, pronounced, ndoooya, is a soft, super spicy spreadable sausage from Spilinga, a small mountain village of around 1500 people located near Tropea in southern Calabria.

Originally thought to have been introduced to the region in the 16^th Century by the Spaniards, it is more likely ‘nduja, closely resembling the French andouille, was imported during the Napoleonic period in the early 1800s.

The sausage is made with pork fat and mixed with potent amounts of red chile pepper and is then bagged, smoked and cured and sold in stores throughout the country. Many Calabrians keep it in their homes so they can whip up a last-minute bruschetta , smear a little across their panino or add a spoon-or two!-to their pasta dishes.

In restaurants, you’ll find ‘nduja mixed into Sicilian arancini rice balls, dropped on pizza or tossed with homemade pasta or gnocchi potato dumplings.

It’s quite possible southern Italians are so infamously loud when they talk because the nerves reaching from the back of their tongues upward to their ears are scorched, from years of inflicting this sausage on their senses.

Still, they can’t get enough of it.

Every summer the villagers of Spilinga gather for the Sagra della ‘Nduja to celebrate their now world-famous creation. One of the most interesting events is the “camejuzzu i focu,” literally meaning “fire camel,” where their symbol, the camel, is propped onto a stick and led through a tarantella dance as fireworks shoot upward from his burning body … much like many non-Calabrians feel after having a go with this flaming sausage.

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Cherrye Moore is a Calabria travel consultant and freelance writer living in Calabria, Italy. For more information on traveling in southern Italy, you can visit her site, My Bella Vita or see her writing on expat life on AffordableCallingCards.net.

Photo credit: Saporevero