Melbourne Salami Festa 2015

Another year, another Melbourne Salami Festa. One of our contributors, Amelia Harris, who attended this year’s event said “I’d definitely go again, one of the best things I’ve been to”. Now in it’s fourth year, this year’s Festa expanded from it’s traditional one day event to a weekend of salami related activities including a night market. As a result this year’s festa drew a crowd of 6000 to the Northcote Town Hall.

Salumi Australia’s delicacies

The new format also saw a new style of winner for the Judge’s Choice Award which went to Team HomeGrown with their unique duck and pork salami trumping the traditional pork variety. Doreen Duck breeder, Barbara Marshall, was the first woman to captain a winning team and led a cross-cultural group of foodies who met on Facebook and share their love of different cultural curing and preserving traditions. The duck was cross-bred specifically for salami and the team of seven from across Victoria made the salami with mentoring from Kilmore butcher, James Mele.

Second prize went to the 2013 winners, the Palermo Family from Greenvale, whose salami also won second place in this year’s People’s Choice Award, while third place went to Watsonia North father-and-son team, Puglia and Son.

For the second year running, the 2015 People’s Choice Award went to the De Fazio Brothers from Pascoe Vale South. The Salami Suburb of Origin title, awarded to the suburb that accumulates the most points in the official judging, went to Creighton’s Creek – the first time that the prize left suburban Melbourne.

Salami in the sunshine

The 2015 winners were selected by a six-member jury of salami aficionados who tasted a record 84 salami entries during a three-hour closed door judging session. The judging panel comprised Festa patron Guy Grossi, chefs Dom Marzano and Rosa Mitchell, Massimo Scalas (Salumi Australia), Pina Busa (Home Make It) and guest nonna Rocchina Catoggio.

Already looking forward to next year’s Festa! In the meantime, here is a round up from the main Festa event on Sunday. All images shot exclusively for us by the supremely talented, David Shen.

JC x

Corners at the Festa