Pepperoni is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

variety of spicy

salami Salami ( ; : ''salame'') is a ''salume'' consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature fo ...

made from cured

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

and

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

seasoned with

paprika Paprika is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers, traditionally ''capsicum annuum''. It can have varying levels of Pungency, heat, but the peppers used for hot paprika tend to be milder and have thinner flesh than those used to produce ...

and

chili pepper Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli ( ), are varieties of fruit#Berries, berry-fruit plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. They are used as a spice to ...

s. Before cooking, pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red. Sliced pepperoni is one of the most popular pizza toppings in American pizzerias. Traditionally made pepperonis curl into "cups" in the pizza oven's intense heat; commercialization of the production of pepperoni created slices that would lie flat on the pizza. The curled "cup and char" style of pepperoni remained popular in pockets of the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

Etymology

The term ''pepperoni'' is a borrowing of ''peperoni'', the plural of ''peperone'', the Italian word for

bell pepper The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper, paprika, pepper, capsicum or, in some parts of the US midwest, mango) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum Group of the species ''Capsicum annuum''. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in diff ...

. The first use of ''pepperoni'' to refer to a sausage dates to 1916 at the latest. In Italian, the word ''

peperoncino ''Peperoncino'' (; : ''peperoncini'') is the generic Italian name for hot chili peppers, specifically some regional cultivars of the species ''Capsicum annuum'' and '' C. frutescens'' (chili pepper and Tabasco pepper, respectively). The sweet ...

'' refers to

History

In 1919,

Italian immigrants The Italian diaspora (, ) is the large-scale emigration of Italians from Italy. There were two major Italian diasporas in Italian history. The first diaspora began around 1880, two decades after the Unification of Italy, and ended in the 1920s ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

created pepperoni. It is a cured dry sausage, with similarities to the spicy salamis of

southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

on which it is based, such as '' salsiccia'' or ''

soppressata ''Soppressata'' is a ''salume''. Although there are many variations, two principal types are made: a cured dry sausage typical of Basilicata, Apulia, and Calabria, and a very different uncured salami made in Tuscany and Liguria. It is still pa ...

''. The main differences are that pepperoni is less spicy, has a finer grain (akin to spiceless salami from

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

), is usually softer in texture, and is usually produced with the use of an artificial casing.

Production

Pepperoni is made from pork or from a mixture of pork and beef.

Turkey meat Turkey meat, commonly referred to simply as turkey, is the meat from turkeys, typically domesticated turkeys, but also wild turkeys. It is a popular poultry dish, especially in North America and the United Kingdom, where it is traditionally ...

is also commonly used as a substitute, but the use of poultry in pepperoni must be appropriately labeled in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It is typically seasoned with

or other chili pepper. Prior to cooking, pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red. Curing with nitrates or nitrites (usually used in modern curing agents to protect against

botulism Botulism is a rare and potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium ''Clostridium botulinum''. The disease begins with weakness, blurred vision, Fatigue (medical), feeling tired, and trouble speaking. ...

and other forms of microbiological decay) also contributes to pepperoni's reddish color, by reacting with

heme Heme (American English), or haem (Commonwealth English, both pronounced /Help:IPA/English, hi:m/ ), is a ring-shaped iron-containing molecule that commonly serves as a Ligand (biochemistry), ligand of various proteins, more notably as a Prostheti ...

in the

myoglobin Myoglobin (symbol Mb or MB) is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the cardiac and skeletal muscle, skeletal Muscle, muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. Myoglobin is distantly related to hemoglobin. Compar ...

of the

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residue (biochemistry), residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including Enzyme catalysis, catalysing metab ...

aceous components of the meat.

Serving

Sliced pepperoni is one of the most popular pizza toppings in American pizzerias. According to ''Convenience Store Decisions'', in 2009 Americans consumed of pepperoni annually, on 36% of all pizzas produced nationally. Pepperoni is also used as the filling of the

pepperoni roll The pepperoni roll is an Italian-American stuffed bread roll. Originally conceived of as a coal miner's lunch, it is popular in West Virginia and some nearby regions of the Appalachian Mountains most notably Western Pennsylvania, Western Maryl ...

, a popular regional snack in West Virginia and neighboring areas. In the Canadian province of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, deep fried pepperoni served on its own (usually with a

honey mustard Mustard is a condiment made from the seeds of a mustard plant (white/yellow mustard, '' Sinapis alba''; brown mustard, '' Brassica juncea''; or black mustard, '' Brassica nigra''). The whole, ground, cracked, or bruised mustard seeds are mixe ...

dipping sauce) is common

pub food A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

Cup and char

Pepperoni has a tendency to curl up from the edges in the heat of a pizza oven; historically all pepperonis showed at least some of this tendency to curl in the oven because of their natural casings. As commercial suppliers became the main suppliers to pizza shops, they developed a fibrous synthetic casing which is intended to be stripped from the pepperoni before it is sliced. This resulted in a pepperoni that does not curl. An additional benefit of non-curling pepperoni is that it eliminates the small deposits of hot grease that formed in the cupped pepperoni, therefore also eliminating any possible liability for customers who burn themselves on it. The original style became known as "cup and char" pepperoni and remains popular in parts of the

and

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

areas, particularly around

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, and regained popularity in other areas in the 2010s. It is more expensive to produce.

Etymology

History

Production

Serving

Cup and char

See also

References

Further reading