I’m all about the meat.

I’m all about the meat sometimes. But this time… this time is different. This meat I speak of is perfectly cured in a well-monitored facility. That doesn’t sound very sexy, does it? Well, it turned me on.

Il Mondo Vecchio is the one and only USDA-inspected (thus approved) salumeria in Colorado. It’s good to know your cured meats are being processed in a squeaky clean facility. See, it’s getting sexier.

What Il Mondo Vecchio offers isn’t just your typical salumis (no, not salami but that is a type of salumi – here the SF Gate explains it best). My favorite, a must try really, is the Lop Chong. It’s an Asian salumi – sweet and spicy and so unique. My second and third favorites are undoubtedly the duck prosciutto and the pancetta respectively.

These meats are delicious eaten on their own… paired with a nice wine or even beer make them even better. I paired the Lop Chong with Left Hand Brewing Company’s JuJu beer. Salumis work well as a first course with some good cheeses, olives or tapenade and crusty bread. Now, let me be clear: these meats do NOT need to be cooked, even the pancetta (aka fancy bacon), because they’re cured.

Curing is a process in which salt and other herbs/spices are used on the meats then hung (or not) in a temperture controlled environment for a specific period of time. The spices and time may vary but they are monitored closely because molds essentially grow on the meats as part of the preservation prcoess. That sounds wrong, doesn’t it? Well maybe it is but that’s how I understood it. Readers, I’m up for some further education (or correction) so speak up!

Regardless, they have no nitrates so that’s another sexy thing about these meats. I don’t know about you but I try to avoid those pesky nitrates whenever possible. Granted my deli sandwich is likely chalk full of them but I try to forget about that when layered with cheese and a fancy spread on delicious bread. I digress.

Now’s the time I tell you why I’m luckier than you. I got a personal tour (with my supper club) of the facility and an intimate tasting of a variety of the salumis from one of the owners, Adam Sacks. Also, his wife shares my first name so I know they’re good folks.

Now don’t worry, you can have salumis too. Likely you won’t get the royal treatment I got, but if you go to their dock… yes, dock, on Friday afternoons you can snag your fill of cured meats. It’s appropriately called Loading Dock Friday. Of course you can order online as well but it’s more fun to go there and get your meat right from the men that are curing it. That’s how I like my meat.