Cured Meats Category

This a dry sausage from the abruzzo region of central Italy.

This is an Italian-style salami.

This is a spicy smoked Cajun sausage that's used in jambalaya and gumbo. Don't confuse it with andouillette, a French sausage that's made from tripe.

This tripe sausage has an unpleasant aroma and an assertive flavor, but while it's definitely not a crowd-pleaser, it's acquired something of a cult following. Larger sausages are called French andouille.

This is an air-dried ham that's similar to prosciutto.

Bacon is a very fatty slab taken from the underside of a pig. The bacon sold in markets is usually cured and smoked, but it's also possible to buy uncured fresh bacon = pork belly = side pork. Smoked bacon is often fried and served with eggs or in sandwiches, or it's sometimes wrapped around lean meats to keep them moist while they're cooking.

This is soy protein that's flavored to taste like bacon. It's cheaper and lower in fat than real bacon.

Bangers are a mild British pork sausage.

This Armenian specialty consists of beef that's marinated in spices and air-dried.

The name means farmer's ham.

This is a chunky German farmer's sausage that's often grilled and served on a bun or cooked with sauerkraut.

This boneless French ham is similar to prosciutto.

This is a chunky, tubular German sausage that's usually sliced and served cold in sandwiches. It's made with pork and beef.

This moist German ham is smoked over pine and fir, and coated with beef blood to give it a black exterior.

This is a spicy German pork sausage that's usually served in sandwiches. It comes ready-to-eat.

These eggplant-colored sausages are made of pig's blood mixed with fat, a filler like bread crumbs, and other flavorings that vary from region to region. They're usually sold precooked, but most people heat them before serving. Regional varieties include Germany's blutwurst, Louisiana's boudin rouge, and Spanish morcilla.

This is a spicy and salty German blood sausage made from pork, beef, and beef blood. Germans like to snack on it, or mix it with sauerkraut. It comes already cooked, but it's usually heated before being served.

This is a mild German sausage made with veal, pork, milk, and eggs, and seasoned with chives and parsley. You need to cook it before serving. Use it soon after you buy it--it's very perishable.

This is a spicy South African farmer's sausage, made with beef, pork, and pork fat, and seasoned with coriander. You need to cook it before serving.

This soft, mild sausage is a sandwich staple. It's made from beef and/or pork and usually smoked. It's usually sold sliced and ready-to-eat.

This is a white sausage made of meat (pork, chicken, or veal) and rice. France produces a very delicate milk-based version, while the Cajun version includes a lot of rice as a filler, making it chewier and more flavorful.

This Cajun specialty is similar to boudin blanc, except that it also includes pork blood. Use it soon after you buy it.

This is made with pork and sometimes veal, and seasoned with subtle spices. It usually needs to be cooked before eating, though some markets carry precooked bratwurst.

These pork patties are heavily seasoned. They're usually fried before serving.

This spicy dry Italian salami is made out of pork and hot chile peppers.

Canadian bacon tastes like ham and is much leaner than American bacon. It's made from pork loin that's been smoked and cured. Note that Irish bacon is also sometimes called back bacon.

These are boneless hams that are sealed in a can and then cooked. They're not as flavorful as other kinds of ham, and they have a higher moisture content, which makes them more perishable. Store the unopened can in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it, and use leftovers within a week.

Italian in origin, this is a sometimes spicy dry-cured pork shoulder.

This spicy pork sausage is used in jambalaya and other Creole and Cajun dishes. It's available either in links or patties, but it's hard to find outside of Louisiana.

This category includes the well-regarded Yunnan ham = Xuanwei ham. Chinese hams are dry-cured and resemble American country hams.

This spicy pork sausage is used in jambalaya and other Creole and Cajun dishes. It's available either in links or patties, but it's hard to find outside of Louisiana.

This is fresh pork mixed with lots of spices. Don't confuse Mexican chorizo, which needs to be cooked, with Spanish chorizo, which is dry-cured. To make your own: See the Homemade Chorizo recipe posted on RecipeSource.com.

Don't confuse Mexican chorizo, which is moist and needs to be cooked, with the Spanish version, which is dry-cured and ready-to-eat. Spanish chorizo is made from pork, and it's very hot and spicy.

This is a heavily seasoned Portuguese pork sausage. Look for it in Portuguese markets.

This is America's most popular ham, the kind that's pink, moist, and sweet. Fresh hams are soaked in brine (or injected with it) and then boiled or lightly smoked. Boneless hams = boned hams are easier to carve, but they're not as flavorful or attractive as bone-in hams. A good compromise is to buy a bone-in spiral-sliced ham, which combines good flavor and convenience, or a ham steak (pictured at right). City hams usually come fully cooked (check the label), but most people reheat them before serving.

These are smaller than hot dogs, but larger than Vienna sausages.

These are precooked sausages or meat loaves that are usually served cold in sandwiches or on party trays. You can buy them already sliced in vacuum packs, or have them sliced to order at a deli counter. Most cold cuts are high in fat and sodium.

This has bits of ham in it.

This is cut from a beef brisket that's been cured with salt and spices and then simmered in water. It's traditionally served hot on rye bread.