# The black spots in salami - dried blood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003 "2015-01-16T18:27:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/1 "2015-01-16T18:27:47Z")
I’m not talking about pepers. Pepers are round, hard and, well, taste like pepers. I’m talking about the black spots of irregular shapes and varying sizes (some barely visible, some as bis as my pinkie’s nail). They look like dried blood to me. I am right? My daughters refuse to eat them. My wife doesn’t like their look either. I eat them all right. They feel and taste exactly like “normal” salami. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/2 "2015-01-16T19:43:18Z")
Using google image search for salami, I can’t see any black spots in any of the salami on there, except for the occasional peppercorn embedded within some of them (“internal garnish” is the term, BTW). Typically, salami’s not made from blood; salt, pork meat and fat are the big 3, along with some spices, and followed by a curing and drying process. If I had to guess, I’d think you’re seeing a larger than usual chunk of relatively lean meat that’s darker than the rest. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/3 "2015-01-16T19:49:14Z")
Something black as large as your pinkie fingernail? You’ll need to be more specific than “salami” because the traditional salamis that I know (like Genoa salami or Finochiona) don’t even have chunks of meat that are that large. Everything has been ground up much finer. The things I think of that have pieces that large are more like Sopresata, and there’s nothing black in anything that I’ve tried ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/4 "2015-01-16T19:56:49Z")
Are you talking about the black peppercorns that are in some types of salami? When you bite into the black spot, does it taste strongly if black pepper? ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/5 "2015-01-16T20:08:17Z")
OP, could you post a pick of a slick of this salami with the black spots you’re referring to? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/6 "2015-01-16T20:21:33Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > My daughters refuse to eat them. My wife doesn’t like their look either. I eat them all right. They feel and taste exactly like “normal” salami. The same daughter who happily ate a bowl of day old cereal with milk? Turning her nose up at some dried blood? Isn’t she fancy now. Seriously though, unless you’re buying blood sausage, which is pretty unmistakable, there’s no chunks of blood in salami. Blood is drained from animals immediately after they’re slaughtered - it rots much more quickly than muscle tissue does, so removing it is a safety/health issue. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/7 "2015-01-16T22:08:29Z")
There are many different variations on salami, so you’d have to tell us what this one is called. But I’ve never heard of salami made with blood. You may wish to shop elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/8 "2015-01-16T22:50:39Z")
Are you getting kosher salami? If so, there really, really shouldn’t be any visible blood - the beef carcass will have been drained of blood at slaughter, and the resulting cuts of meat would have been salted to draw out much of the remaining blood and fluid before being ground up to make the salami. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/9 "2015-01-16T22:56:32Z")
Maybe it was a [dead mouse](http://blogs.app.com/saywhat/2009/03/23/dead-mouse-found-in-half-eaten-salami/)? ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/10 "2015-01-16T23:21:03Z")
The only black spots I can think of in Salami are the Peppercorns you discounted, and truffle pieces which are something you would be fairly unlikely to just stumble across, as truffle Salami is a usually fairly expensive artisan product, loudly advertised and purposefully bought. Plus it has a distinctive taste. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/11 "2015-01-17T00:22:17Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > Are you getting kosher salami? If so, there really, really shouldn’t be any visible blood - the beef carcass will have been drained of blood at slaughter, and the resulting cuts of meat would have been salted to draw out much of the remaining blood and fluid before being ground up to make the salami. there’s practically never blood in store bought meat anyway. the red liquid you see sometimes is just protein-laden water. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/12 "2015-01-17T00:55:48Z")
Without looking at it, I can’t tell. (I envision you scanning a slice of salami) Could this be a very dark purple, not black? Heart meat is quite dark when ground and cured. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/13 "2015-01-17T05:52:14Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > I’m not talking about pepers. Pepers are round, hard and, well, taste like pepers… That’s… that’s just horrifying. > **[Bram Peper](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Peper)** > > Abraham "Bram" Peper (13 February 1940 – 20 August 2022) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). > After finishing the Hogere Burgerschool, Peper studied social sciences at the University of Amsterdam until 1965, and economy and sociology at the University of Oslo (1963–1964) and got his PhD at the Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool (Currently Erasmus University Rotterdam) in 1972. > Peper became a researcher, and fulfilled several academic functions, including professor at the Erasmus... ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/14 "2015-01-17T07:18:29Z")
😃 > [@muldoonthief](#): > > The same daughter who happily ate a bowl of day old cereal with milk? Turning her nose up at some dried blood? Isn’t she fancy now. Yes! I told you she was a picky eater 🆒. > [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](#): > > Without looking at it, I can’t tell. (I envision you scanning a slice of salami) Could this be a very dark purple, not black? Heart meat is quite dark when ground and cured. It could be a very, very dark purple indeed. Texture and taste are exactly the same as the normal-looking bits. It’s Turkish salami, by the way: [http://66.181.218.168/images/productimg/1.jpg](http://66.181.218.168/images/productimg/1.jpg). I’ve bought this for years and have never had problems with it but the black spots are a frequent occurance. 2-3 consecutive slices in perhaps 1 out of 4 packs. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/15 "2015-01-17T07:41:35Z")
I help a guy make quite a bit of pork and/or deer sausage every year and one of the other older fellas that helps trim and cut the meat for the grinder ‘misses’ those little dark blood spots, according to the guy we’re helping. He gets a little miffed about it and usually goes through the meat a second time if he can do it without hurting the other older fellas feelings. Anyway, they guy we’re helping has explained to me that those coagulated blood spots don’t disappear and will show up quite often as a dark spot that you can see through the casing. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-black-spots-in-salami-dried-blood/710003/16 "2015-01-17T15:35:37Z")
Since this is about food, let’s move it to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator