Forgotten luncheon meats and types of salami

Cafe Society
1

Does anyone even remember when it was called “luncheon meats”? This came up while talking with my son’s girlfriend. I mentioned how it is weird that I like Spam but never liked spiced ham. She was totally confused until I explained that my grandmother used to buy a cold cut called ‘spiced ham’ which was closer to ham than Spam is and spiced differently and I didn’t like it as a kid and haven’t seen it since.

Also purchased by my grandma, a cold cut that greatly resembled baloney but it had little blobs of cheese in it. Never liked baloney and didn’t like this cheesy baloney either and haven’t seen it at the deli since forever.

And, since we are talking about cold cuts, which type salami was it that I loved but grandma rarely bought (which leads me to believe it was much more expensive), it was a hard salami with peppercorns in it. Not as little and hard as those specialty types that hang from the rafters looking all rustic, but very yummy. BTW, she mostly got the kind of salami that was not quite as hard with no peppercorns but was passable. But sometimes she got a type of salami that was soft and seemed more fat than meat and made for terrible sandwiches.

So. . . old time luncheon meats, remember those? And please name the types of salami for me. Thanks!

2

My mother used to make sandwiches with something called “summer sausage spread” or maybe “summer spread” - basically it was this bologna-like summer sausage looking stuff that was turned into a paste and spread onto bread like peanut butter.

I mainly remember it because it was so disgusting it had zero trade value with other classmates’ lunch items, so I was stuck with it. I couldn’t even get a fruit cup out of it.

3

My dad liked Oscar Meyer Pickle & Pimiento Loaf on white bread, with Miracle Whip. I never really acquired a taste for it.

As for mass-market salami, we like Gallo Italian Dry Salame [sic].

Both of those are not actually ‘forgotten’, but the thread reminded me of the pickle & pimiento loaf.

4

That sounds a bit like a “country sausage” product made in this area…it’s sold in bricks, or brick-like packages, and can be sliced (or spread, I think). I’ve never tried the stuff, but I drive by one of the factories on my way home…smells like spicy raw sewage.

We never had any luncheon meats in the house that were more exotic than Oscar Mayer bologna or salami, but I do remember seeing olive loaf in the grocery store. It looked like a typical bologna sprinkled with slices of green olive, complete with pimento.

5

Oh, I’m all about all those weird lunch meats. They still have spiced ham (and at least two or three brands are available here, Hormel being the most well known.)

The salami that has peppercorns can be any of a number of things, it’s going to vary by brand. I think, but I’m not 100% certain, that genoa salamis are more likely to have the peppercorns in them, but I’ve seen it in hard salami, as well.

I like the pimento loaf, the P&P loaf, the ham & cheese loaf (which is what I assume you’re talking about. Google “Oscar Mayer Ham & Cheese Loaf” and you’ll find it), olive loaf, prasky sausage, lebanon bologna (which is almost like an American deli salami), all sorts of weird Eastern Europe shit, love that stuff!

6

Anyhow, there are about a gazillion different kinds of salami, but when it comes to lunch meat at an American deli, you’ll pretty much always find hard and genoa types, and sometime cotto. From what I could find, hard is generally made with more beef than pork, genoa with more pork than beef and also moistened with grape must or wine, and more likely to contain peppercorns. Hard salami also usually goes through a smoking process, whereas Genoa salami is just cured and dried.

Cotto salami is a soft, cooked salami. It’s got more of a baloney-ish texture to it, if I remember right (it’s been awhile since I’ve had it.) Looking at some common brands online, it looks like it also sometimes comes with the peppercorns in it.

7

I like this stuff called Lebanon Bologna. It has the size and shape of a piece of bologna but more the texture and feel of salami. It’s characteristic is the heavy smoked flavor that a campfire produces. Really. Always takes me back to Boy Scouts. Can’t eat a whole lot of it though. Very strong. I can eat a half pound of quality Genoa without choking, for what it’s worth.

8

Olive loaf, mmmmmmmmmm! :o

9

Are you thinking of some variation of liver sausage/liverwurst/braunschweiger? That stuff’s actually pretty good and just about any supermarket will still carry it with all the prepacked deli meats and hot dogs. I think it got less popular in the 90’s when people realized that big sandwich (and maybe more, on some crackers, when you get home) is about half the RDA of fat, cholesterol and sodium. It’s got a lot of protein, but it’s still really bad for you.

10

This girl from a German family loves braunschweiger. And yes, it is incredibly rich and bad for you, but so so tasty. Like fois gras, it is something I indulge in on rare occasions in small amounts.

Of those old time lunch meats, I liked olive loaf the best, followed by P&P loaf. My favorite processed meat, though, was ring bologna. I think Eckrich made it.

11

Mortadella? Except that’s not cheese, it’s pork fat.

12

Sadly, about the time i noticed all neighborhood butcher shops becoming faded memories, i saw a lot of luncheon meats vanish from existence.
The big box stores will only carry what sells in mass quantity.

The local butcher had no problems ordering a small amount of something for one or two customers.

Used to be quite a few hard sandwich salamis that were good, that dont exist any more.
You can not get any corned beef worth eating unless you go to new york, and go find a little jewish butcher or deli in brooklyn or the bronx or something.
There used to be this great processed chicken loaf that i loved i can never find anyplace any more, was made from boiled chicken, milk some kind of spices, had a texture that was a cross between canned corned beef and spam sliced easy, made great sandwiches, spoiled fast though.

Used to call or walk down to the butcher shop, tell him what we were going to need, he would call later, it would be all cut wrapped labeled and ready to go.

fresh vegetables, used to always get those from the produce market

Dairy, the milk man brought.
Milk, eggs, butter, cheeses, cream, even ice cream (if you got ice cream you better be awake when he comes)
All delivered to your front door in an insulated aluminum box.

The general grocer was were you got your boxed canned and packaged things, stuff with a shelf life longer than you can remember why you bought it

And now i am off topic, but yes, a lot of things seem to have faded away with the take over of the big power stores like walmart publix etc.

Seems like its either a case of if it wont sell 10,000 cases a month we wont order any, or younger people just dont like those things now days so no one makes them?

btw you can still get bolgna with cheese chunks in it, but its packaged stuff, have not seen any butcher fresh. but that i never liked anyway, just plain or garlic bologna tossed on a hot skillet is fine.

13

I love braunschweiger. My gf gives me a nasty look if she notices I’ve bought it, though.

I always order 1/4 or 1/2 pound “sliced thick”. One time I failed to specify “thick”, and the woman sliced it tissue paper thin, interleaved and all!

14

Absolutely it has to be thick sliced. I totally agree.

15

I was actually going to describe it as mortadella but with cheese but I couldn’t remember the name and didn’t feel like looking it up. All this processed meat makes one fat and lazy.

16

Ham and cheese loaf. Oscar Mayer also has one, square shaped. Which reminds me, there’s also Oscar Mayer’s liver cheese that I enjoy. It’s basically liver sausage in deli slice form.

17

why is it “bad for you?”

18

You really can’t beat Lebanon Bologna. That’s the best tasting stuff in the world! As you say, it’s a lot more like salami than bologna, but it tastes so much better! It has something of a smoked flavor but also a certain sweetness and seasoning that is unique.

I’ve always felt that if everyone knew what Lebanon tasted like it would become American’s favorite lunch meat overnight. Seriously. Unfortunately it is pretty much impossible to find in the Bay Area anymore. There was a noticeable disappearance pattern that happened here within the last 10 years:

It started out being available at 6 or 7 stores. Then one day you’d notice the price going up at the place you buy it by about a dollar a pound every 6 months or so (starting at about $7.00/lb.). Then once it hit about $12.00/lb it would suddenly disappear, never to come back. Eventually this happened at each one of the stores that carried it. Now it’s gone and I only get my jones in when I visit back east.

Anyone here who lives in the East or Midwest who has never tried it, I beseech you to taste it right away. Some might not go crazy over it, but for those of you that do, you’ll have a new food love for life!

19

I have gout and it is on the “avoid” list (along with beer, heh).

20

Interesting. Here in Chicago, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. I’ve only had while visiting my brother- and sister-in-law in Pennsylvania. Apparently, it is sold nationally, but that’s the only part of the world I personally had seen it. It is pretty good stuff, and there’s really nothing “bologna”-like about it. Like you said, it’s more like a salami or summer sausage. It’s smoked, cured, and fermented for that light tang (as are salamis), but usually with a kick of sweetness (they actually sell “sweet lebanon bologna” in addition to the regular kind), as you noted. If you showed someone a slice of Lebanon bologna and they were unfamiliar with it, they’d say it’s a slice of salami.