By John J. Russo, La Nostra Voce 

Raymo Santilli and Doug Sundo — alumni brothers of Alpha Phi Delta, the national Italian American fraternity — continued their annual tradition of making soppressata this past January.

The event was held at the Treesdale Community Center, and more than 50 folks participated. In addition to the usual alumni attendees with friends and family, members of ISDA Lodge 57 in McKeesport, PA, came out to learn the art.  These members included Lodge President Nick Wytiaz, Nick Wytiaz Jr., Vic DeFazio, Daniella Teti, James Teti, and Mya Kosht.  The event attracted a record number of participants, who produced more than 500 pounds of soppressata and sausage, both hot and mild.

This article first appeared in La Nostra Voce, ISDA’s monthly newspaper that chronicles Italian American news, history, culture and traditions. Subscribe today.

This year we spoke to Raymo and Doug, who detailed their commitment in continuing the old tradition of making cured, dried salami. The Duquesne University alums learned part of the process and the tradition from Leon Panella, a fraternity brother who passed away in 2015, and who had been grinding out soppressata for 25 years.

Raymo is a first-generation Italian American and when asked of his interest he replied, “there must be a gene that wants you to keep your heritage and traditions alive. My family did not make soppressata growing up. We made wine, prosciutto, sausage, etc.  I did not start making soppressata until 2013 when Leon invited me to his home for his annual party.”

Raymo added: “The first time I made soppressata with Leon it was like a family. I only knew a few guys there, but the connection with everyone was strong and tangible. Everyone had a role, old guys taught young guys, everyone laughed, told stories there was just an incredible sense of camaraderie.”

Leon’s health declined, and after his passing, Raymo and Doug discussed continuing his tradition. They asked Karen, Leon’s widow, for her permission and she was more than overjoyed to help; she even sold them some of his equipment.

When Raymo was asked what sparked this interest, he said, “there were several factors that made me say ‘we must do this.’  I met Leon in the late ‘80s.  He was a pillar of our fraternity and the community. He was just a guy who always had time for you, and you enjoyed being around. It was natural that we honor him by carrying on this tradition. Besides, when is it not fun to get 50 people together eating, drinking and making sausage?”

Raymo and Doug shared some of their thoughts in preparing the soppressata.

“We continue to learn and refine our process.  We do take some shortcuts that enable us to get more new people involved.  Our recipe was passed down to us from the late Sal Merante of Oakland, whom we affectionately called ‘Uncle Sal.’  We have refined the recipe to use precise percentages of spices for every 25 pounds of pork.  This allows for a consistent product year after year. The spice mix is calculated. A local spice company packages the mix in separate packages for 25 pounds of pork. From there a local butcher will grind the pork, mix the spices and add homemade red wine in 25-pound packages. The next day we use sausage stuffers and meat grinders to fill the casings (where we make both sausage and soppressata). The last few years we transitioned to an air-dried casing, which makes the stuffing process easier and the end product to be uniform which helps in the curing process. We usually have 5-6 lines working to stuff the meat into the casings…The product is tied, netted and the weight of each is recorded on a tag hung on it.”

Most of the participants who assist in the process purchase and take home the sausage and soppressata. The sausage can be cooked and eaten immediately. Having a large group this year allowed for seven grinder lines for stuffing, and one line for netting and weighing. The group spent about four hours from start to finish, not counting setup and cleanup.

Raymo and Doug continued, “Since we make 250-300 pounds of soppressata with many people involved, we use different curing processes. Much of the curing is done the ‘old-world way’ and just hung in a cool place (fruit cellar, coal cellar, wine cellar) with ventilation. Some regulars have made dedicated curing chambers from refrigerators. For the product to be safe and enjoyable, the soppressata needs to achieve about 35% weight loss.” Doug said that he hangs the soppressata in his coal cellar for 8-10 weeks, where the temperature is a constant 55 degrees. Doug also likes to make homemade wine and has been doing so for more than 30 years. He feels wine and soppressata make a nice pairing.

Most attendees brought some food and drink (lots of homemade wine was consumed). The group enjoyed eating throughout the morning, sampling different pastries, appetizers, breads, sandwiches and dips. Many stories were shared, and new friends were made.

Raymo and Doug invite a large group of people to the party each year.

While many are repeat regulars, every year they have at least five new people show up.  It is particularly rewarding when they bring their children.

Our readers might be surprised to find out how popular this old-world tradition is.