Spilinga, · Vibo · Valentia, · Calabria Techniques

Calabria's spreadable fire salume — a soft, intensely spiced pork paste of shoulder, fatback, and throat fat combined with up to 40% by weight of dried Calabrian red chilli (peperoncino), packed into natural casings and air-cured for 1-3 months. Originally from the municipality of Spilinga (Vibo Valentia province), now protected by a PGI application. The high fat content keeps it spreadable even at room temperature; the chilli is so abundant it turns the entire salume brilliant red. Smeared on bruschetta, melted into pasta sauces, or used as a flavouring fat throughout Calabrian cooking.

The nduja (pronounced 'n-doo-ya') of Spilinga is a spreadable, fermented, and air-cured pork and Calabrian chilli sausage — distinguished from other spiced pork products by its extremely high fat content (60%) and its use of Calabrian chilli (Capellone and Piccante varieties) at 30–40% of total weight. At room temperature it is spreadable; heated, it dissolves completely into a spiced pork fat. This entry focuses on its application as a soffritto base: a spoonful of nduja dissolved in warm olive oil creates an instant spiced, umami-rich cooking fat that transforms any pasta sauce.