鈥淔ood is joy,鈥 says Claudio Perazzo. Hailing from Liguria on the northwest coast of Italy, Perazzo is a 4th generation butcher and salumist now based in 黑料社入口. From his small and efficient home-based production facility, founded in 2017, he creates an astonishing and joyous array of fresh sausages and cured meats under the Italian Meat Master brand.
The Perazzo family moved to the region in 2015 to pursue their dreams. 鈥淐anada is the only place I dreamed that I would live,鈥 says Perazzo. 鈥淎nd if we didn鈥檛 do it now [in 2015], we never would.鈥
It was through a chance meeting at a food conference in Parma, that his dreams became a reality. Expressing his goals to Joe Valoroso, from the celebrated Italian food importer Valoroso Foods in 黑料社入口, Joe became Claudio鈥檚 sponsor. Perazzo worked at the Valoroso shop for a year-and-a-half before launching his own business. He started slowly, hand making all the sausages with his wife Stefania, successfully selling them to great aplomb at the 黑料社入口 Farmers鈥 Market. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a great food culture in 黑料社入口,鈥 Perazzo explains. 鈥淭hey appreciate food traditions.鈥
While strictly a wholesale business 鈥 which he prefers 鈥 Perazzo cites the area's farmers鈥 markets as the secret to his success. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a better way to connect with more people this way. I see people from the east coast and the west coast,鈥 he says. 鈥淚n a store you don鈥檛 have that kind of exposure.鈥
Now with state-of-the-art equipment, and two assistants, the growing business sees his products at many grocers and delis, reputable restaurants, including those at wineries, where he often creates custom cured meats.
Great food always starts with great ingredients, and the Italian Meat Master is no different, sourcing the best, the same way he did in Italy where he had his own butcher shop. Johnston's in Chilliwack supplies him with the best pork sourced from small area farms, along with bison from Big Valley Bison Ranch in Kamloops.
There are no fillers in the sausages, no binders, no nitrates 鈥 just pure flavour. Offering 17 varieties to date, from traditional to creative 鈥 鈥淚 could make more but there鈥檚 no space!鈥, Perazzo admits 鈥 including seasonal specialties such as peach and chipotle. Using his grandmother鈥檚 recipe, the Cinque Terre is a classic entry-level sausage 鈥 and best seller 鈥 using garlic, white wine, extra virgin olive oil, Italian parsley and black pepper. A super versatile and low-fat link, it would equally be at home on the grill for dinner, on the breakfast table or folded into pasta. Other nods to his deep Italian roots are: basil pesto, using organic locally-grown basil; spicy Italian; black truffle using Umbrian summer truffles; balsamic and fennel, and; Caprese using San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, a delicious riff on the salad of the same name. With tradition comes innovation too, so find a Canadian maple syrup and mustard, an apple and sage using Oyama-sourced orchard apples, and bacon and smoked garlic.
There鈥檚 even more joy to be discovered in his line of cured meats. Using recipes passed down through generations, find mild and spicy versions of Genoa salumi, black truffle, bison salumi, prosciuttino from the cured loin, guanciale, and bresaola, an air-dried and cured beef prosciutto. For the undecided, there are charcuterie board packs with three of his signature-cured meats, sliced and ready to eat.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Perazzo actively preaches the gospel of fine salumi with 鈥渟ensorial experiences鈥 at 黑料社入口-area wineries. Pairing five meats with wines that have been incorporated into custom salumi using a particular winery鈥檚 red wines, he instructs participants on how to fully experience the joys of food. 鈥淪mell is the most important,鈥 he explains, instructing participants to nose a slice of salami just like nosing a wine. As an example, he guided me through a salumi tasting at this production facility. Slices of Genoa salami came first. He instructed me to use all my senses. By simply bending the slice, he points out, you expose the fiber of the meat and its aromas. It released hints of nutmeg and cloves and produced a delicate sweetness from the fat on the palate, a savoury-ness with a lovely mouthfeel 鈥 exquisite! Perazzo only uses the pork leg for his salumi, making it leaner than the most, so it doesn鈥檛 leave a lingering fatty aftertaste. Then I tried the Genoa again 鈥 as his family would traditionally eat it 鈥 thick cut, or as his grandfather would say, 鈥渓ike a bistecca鈥 or steak, which was more intense but more delicious, more flavourful. The spicy Genoa provided the right note of dry heat, distinct but not overpowering, and the black truffle made from imported truffles was dark burgundy in appearance and had the classic 'mushroomy umami' but again delicately sweet with just the right amount of moisture in appearance and taste, perfectly in balance. As Perazzo masterfully pointed out, salami 鈥渟hould be on the softer side instead of dry or too wet.鈥 One's senses also encompass sight, and I鈥檒l never look at a cold cut the same way again!
Next came Genoa salami infused with Barbera from Sandhill Wines, aged three months, with notes of cinnamon with enjoyable wine aftertaste.
It鈥檚 this art of sharing 鈥 and in particular sharing food 鈥 that is at the heart of Perazzo鈥檚 passion as he imparts his infectious thrill of good food. As he proclaims, 鈥測ou can enjoy it every season of your life.鈥
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