The Fresno State Meats Lab is partnering with the American Meat Science Association and North Carolina State University to host the first edition of the “Salumi 101 – Merging the Art and Science of Dried, Cured Meats” workshop Dec. 7 to 9. Fresno State faculty and staff are helping lead the hands-on lab teaching about the production of safe, quality, artisan-style meats such as salami, prosciutto and pancetta. Other topics relate to carcass and cut fabrication, meat science, food safety, dry cured regulations and equipment considerations. The workshop concludes on Friday with a tour of Busetto Foods, a high-end, Italian-style dried meat producer in Fresno since 1997. The curriculum was created by Dr. John Henson, Fresno State Meats Lab director, and Dr. Dana Hanson, North Carolina State associate professor of meat science. “The feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive and exceeded our expectations,” said Jen Persons, American Meat Science Association membership and marketing manager. “We quickly filled our capacity of 22 with people from around the country who range from doing research on potential products to charcuterie enthusiasts or others who are completely new to the process. They have been exposed to a broad range of concepts from meat chemistry to hands-on demonstrations and industry regulations.” INFO: Jen Persons, jpersons@meatscience.org.
