Only a handful of cities in the United States can boast a delicatessen of such extraordinary richness and variety as what is available in Caputo’s Deli. Much as Zingerman’s has marked the Ann Arbor, Michigan commercial scene along with the exclusive selection of shops in Berkeley, Seattle, and New York City, Tony Caputo and his son, Matt, have brought to Salt Lake City shoppers culinary treasures that would excite even the most jaded foodie – including chocolate confections of heirloom cocoa varietals (a/k/a “wine nerd chocolate”); unpasteurized luxurious, creamy cheeses from sheep’s and goat’s milk that have just recently been allowed to be imported into the states, and previously unavailable Umbrian estate truffles and truffle products.

To those firsts add a salumificio, the first American shop of Italian salamis, sausages, and other pork meats handcrafted on site by Cristiano Creminelli, whose family is one of Italy’s most storied fine meat producers.

And this is no ordinary salami. The Creminellis have been in business since 1906, working in Italy’s Piedmont region, the birthplace of the International Slow Food Movement. Just one small sign of the care taken to create exceptional meats is Cristiano’s dedicated schedule of checking on the 160 pounds of salami that have just been placed in one of two curing cells in the basement of Caputo’s store. At the beginning of the four-week curing period Creminelli stays at the store, checking on air and humidity conditions in the cell seven times a day, including four times during the night. Awkward as it may seem, “sleeping with the salami” is essential to ensuring a product that befits the family name.

The venture has been fully realized after five years of negotiation – which started during the 2002 Winter Olympics – and painstaking research for products and a process that would replicate exactly the standards at the family’s legendary Salumificio Vigliano in the Piedmont town of Biella.

The significance of an American-based salumificio of authentic standards cannot be overlooked. Only those Italian meat products, which have been cured for 400 days or more, can be imported into the United States. “With prosciutto, the issue with quality is no problem because of the lengthy curing process,” Matt explains. “However, salami would be dust in 400 days.” That is why genuine (my emphasis added) Italian salami is not available unless it has been made in a salumificio.

While it seemed comparatively easy to find eager investors for the project, the challenge of sourcing ingredients – especially the pork – involved a fair number of potential dead ends for Cristiano, Tony, and Matt. In Italy – where gastronomical dialects rival the numbers of linguistic ones – the art of salami making is as highly regarded as the academic preparation for becoming a doctor, teacher, or lawyer. The culinary DNA of the Creminelli family was seeded centuries ago so Cristiano knew by natural instinct what would work – and, definitely, what wouldn’t work.

Finding the right pork was the most difficult part. And, Cristiano decided that the best way to find the ideal source was to work backwards – the chef’s version of reverse engineering. It took two years to succeed.

Italian pigs are bred to have squat legs (ideal for their distinctive meats), not the long broadside bodies of the American pigs valued for their ample strips of streaky bacon. Also, most American pork – which runs 50 cents per pound wholesale – is grown at an accelerated pace thanks to the use of growth stimulants, hormones, and antibiotics. And even pork from organic farms might include a finisher for lactic acid in the muscle – recommended but not required by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Therefore, even organic pork will taste a little acidic as Cristiano found in even highly regarded farms from the Midwest and along the West Coast, especially in California and Oregon.

The search actually ended quite close to home – at a farm in Logan, just a little more than 80 miles to the north of Salt Lake City. “It was perfect,” Matt recalls. “No hormones. No antibiotics. No growth stimulants. Farmers took three times as long to allow pigs to get to their slaughtering weight. They were given all-organic feed and they lived in immaculate conditions.” Hence, the top dollar paid for pork that typically goes to exclusive shops and restaurants, most of which are located on both coasts of the nation.

Although Cristiano found a local pork source, he still relies on organic herbs shipped from Biella because they have such unique aromatic and taste properties that are impossible to find in stateside sources.

The first salami samples lived up to everybody’s expectations. “We released a sample batch of 50 pounds last holiday season and it was gone like that,” Matt says, adding that the 160-pound batches this summer have been selling out just as quickly. Adding a second curing cell, capable of holding another 160 pounds, just made sense. The meats, which include sausages and cutlets, are made at a USDA North Salt Lake plant by Cristiano. And a handful of markets in Salt Lake City and Park City now carry Creminelli’s fresh meats.

Cristiano, impressed by the enthusiastic reception of Salt Lake City residents, is now considering relocating his family from Biella. As for the Caputos, Matt says that he and his family continue to be impressed and to be gratified for the wonderful open-minded and open-hearted enthusiasm they have seen in local shoppers. Indeed, any city would be proud to have the enterprising caliber of what the Caputos and Creminellis have brought to Salt Lake City.