Mustard Seed - Ground or whole in pepperoni?

[Skyhawk]

I'm going to be attempting this pepperoni recipe: Dry-Cured Pepperoni

The recipe doesn't say if the mustard seed should be ground or used whole. It also doesn't mention if the fennel and anise should be ground.

While I've seen salami with whole mustard seed and even pepper corns before, I don't remember ever seeing pepperoni with visible seeds in it (I think?). I want to make a traditional product. What to do?

[spatzle]

I've seen traditional & artisan meats made both ways. But I'd hazard a guess that ground mustard is more common, just based on the pepperoni that I have seen in my life.

Pepperoni is a spicy variant of southern Italian salami & the regional style favours coarser ground spices. So to me a traditional pepperoni would imply coarsely ground mustard. I'd do the same for the fennel & anise unless you have a preference otherwise or someone gives you a convincing argument not to grind them.

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[vinner]

I suppose it depends on what tradition you are trying to follow. Len's recipe uses the whole spices, (it looks great cutand placed on a charcuterie platter) but if you are trying to make more of a "pizza" pepperoni, then you can grind them, use smaller casings and drying times would be less.

[Skyhawk]

I'm using 35mm natural hog casings, about the size of Italian sausage. And I'm not interested in the soft larger pizza type pepperoni. I want to replicate the very expensive commercial pepperoni available, which happens to be much dryer and contains bacterial culture as an ingredient. I have used it on home made pizza before, but I'm not a big pizza eater.

[vinner]

Go for the whole spices, then,and enjoy the character they give the pepperoni.

[Skyhawk]

Thanks vinner, it's done!

Actually, I did grind the fennel seeds. I find those stick in my teeth otherwise and are a bit fibrous. I think the whole mustard seed will give it a bit of character, texture, and look cool when sliced.