Salchichon is a Spanish variety of dry-cured and smoked summer sausage. It’s traditionally made with a mix of coarsely chopped fatty and lean cuts of pork, the correct ratio a requirement to achieve its signature smooth and slightly creamy texture.
Salchichon is heavily spiced, with the spice blend unique to each producer but always involving some kind of pepper. Despite the use of pepper, Salchichon isn’t spicy (though it does have a bit of a bite), but rather pepper adds to the deepness of the smoky, earthy flavor.
The spices play a prominent role in determining the sausage’s flavor profile, but overall, Salchichon is supposed to be robust and complex, balancing slightly spicy, savory, and sweet notes.
Popular spice options include black and white pepper, rosemary, cloves, nutmeg, coriander, garlic, and rosemary, with regional varieties adding their unique touches. Salchichon de Aragon, for example, includes marjoram, while Salchichon Cular is flavored with Basque spices.