Gallo Italian Dry Salame Chub 32oz

I got acquainted with Gallo Dry Salami chubs over half a century ago in California Gallo country. There's Gallo, and other brands that pretend to have something. Been many years since I had the stuff but my daughter is visiting and she also remembers. We spotted the monster chub on Amazon (!) for a surprisingly good price and pushed the GO button. Wondered if it was still the same thing or in what condition it would arrive.It was delivered bubble envelope via USPS in high 90's weather, baking first in the trucks and finally for a few hours in the mailbox lockbox. Opened it, everything was slightly soggy and greasy and the casing tending to separate from the sausage. I'm mentioning this because this same thing is undoubtedly happening to many other people.Well, we cut it all open and did a slice and dice maneuver sharing a beer to wash it down with. It was the real stuff.THE REST OF THE STORYI buy darn near everything though amazon, I'm disabled and Amazon makes that disability irrelevant.Back in my early 20's I used to go backpacking in wilderness. I took a scientific approach to the food supply. And there was always a chub of Gallo (accept no substitutes) dry salami.You don't want to be hauling unnecessary weight. Foods need to be of the dry kind.The stuff is properly cured. The art and science of making dry salami predates refrigeration, and this is what the Gallo dry salami chub is all about. Stored unrefrigerated in hot weather? not a problem. Now it's even "drier". If you want even lighter and drier NOW, microwave a few sliced for a few tenths of a minute between paper towels.

Nothing like my gallo salami! Nothing compares - made with wine so it does contain sulfites though.

It is just like i remember from when i was a kid. My Dad was in USAF and we stayed on the west coast majority of the time. So I grew up with this. I live on the east coast now and can not get the dry Italian salami like we did in California. It brought back alot of great memories with that 1st bite. Will be ordering more in the future.The seller is amazing. The original one I ordered must had been delivered to the wrong location since i never received it. Seller worked with me and sent a replacement right away. Great customer service.

I cant' tell you this is the absolute best salami I have ever had. What I can tell you is it is good and it is a reasonable price. Contrary to some other reviewers I would maintain the moldy paper the salami is encased in is normal enough. These salami 'sleeves' appear to be intended to be easily removed. For some more old world style salami the mold is really a part of the casing and really cannot be removed. Anyway, once the sleeve is pulled back, the salami underneath is fine. I will concede the sleeve looks a bit unsettling. But try to keep in mind that salami is a cured meat and was never cooked or brought to a high temperature. Meaning it is aged and dried in a damp cool cave like environment along with curing salt and starter culture. Molds naturally develop on the surface during the process. This is fine and normal. Thankfully the mold in this case is on the sleeve and can just be removed as needed. Not that the white mold is bad for you but I do not care for the flavor of it personally. I would also suggest that this salami will continue to dry out some in your fridge if you do not have it hermetically sealed. I believe that the flavor will enhance and deepen over time. It is such a big chub this is already happening for me to an extent.

My dad shared this with me and my cousin when we were 6 or 7. We "hid" under the kitchen table and pretended we were mice. He'd put slices of salami and cheese out for us and always acted suprised when it disappeared:). I haven't had it since. After 60 years that memory still warms my heart. It's as good as ever! Cut it as thin as you can and savor the flavor.

The shipping package smelled musty when I first cut it open (bubble envelope). Then I pulled out the chub, and the Gallo paper bag wrapper was damp. This salami was either frozen or refrigerated prior to shipping. Then we opened the bag, and it smelled even worse -- like mold. The sausage was encased in the old fashioned paper wrapper with the white powder coating, as we had hoped. But it was definitely no good. It was very soft, and there was a split in the casing in the center of the salami. We cut it open, peeled back some of the paper, and saw more mold. We literally could not smell the salami because of the mold odor. For those who have been eating Gallo salami for many years (for us it's been 40 years or so), this is NOT the salami you remember. It's soft and pink inside, not hard and a dark reddish color like it used to be. We had tried buying the smaller sizes at our local store, but they are cased in plastic now, and we had already determined that the recipe had changed when we tried those. They were not a dry hard salami. When we learned the large chub was still wrapped in the paper casing with the white powder, we hoped it was going to be the wonderful Gallo dry salami we remembered. Alas, not. At least the seller was good to work with and immediately gave us a full refund. And we learned that we will no longer buy Gallo salami -- ever.

3 ea 32oz for the price paid was great. I read a review that someone had a bad experience, due to shipping in hot weather it sounded, what a shame when they said they would never buy Gallo again. Grew up with this stuff, when we could afford it, it was always a special treat, and still is. I recommend the larger ones, the smaller ones from a grocery store were not nearly as good. The "paper" casing with white mold on it is normal and how it's made. Peel it and discard, slice thin as paper and enjoy!

I must admit that I don't know what "warmth" refers to, but the salami was delicious. Sometimes it can be a little on the old side so that the wrapping doesn't come off easily, but this one was just right. IMHO, it's also not nearly as good if it's too soft or too squeezable, but this salami was terrific.