Fuet

Fuet is a thin Catalan dry sausage of pork that Spain's 2014 quality standard counts among the salchichones. Its defining spice is pepper, not paprika, so the slice is pink rather than red, and its outside is whitish from the mould, or «flor», that forms while it is made. ¹

What the law says. The Spanish standard defines salchichones as sausages of meat and fat, generally pork, coarsely or finely minced, salted, seasoned with pepper as the defining ingredient, stuffed, cured and matured, with or without fermentation or smoke; the group includes salchichón, fuet, Salchichón de Málaga and salami. When the calibre is under 40 mm the product may be sold as fuet, longaniza or salchichonada, but must meet the salchichón values: in the extra category at most 57% fat and at least 30% protein in the dry matter. ¹

The white coat. The standard describes fuet as a thin salchichón whose whitish outer colour comes from the mould formed during production, so the coat is part of the product rather than a flaw. USDA FSIS likewise treats surface mould on hard salami as normal for these shelf-stable products and advises simply scrubbing it off, unlike moist meats, which are thrown away. More on Noble mould on dry sausages. ¹⁵

Vic and its history. Written references to Salchichón de Vic go back to 1456; it was made in farmhouses to keep the best cuts. The newspaper El Porvenir of 29 May 1867 already spoke of «the already famous salchichones de Vic», and King Alfonso XIII was among its fans. «Llonganissa» is the original Catalan name, which became «salchichón» in Spanish, so both names are used. ⁴

The misty plain. The Plain of Vic lies at 400–600 m, ringed by the Guilleries, Montseny, Collsacabra and Lluçanès ranges. In anticyclonic weather the air stagnates and temperature inversions make the plain up to 20 °C colder than its surroundings, and mist hangs over it on about 225 days a year. These conditions favour a local microbial flora that drives the fermentation and gives the sausage its aroma and taste. ⁴

Recipe and method. Salchichón de Vic is made only of lean pork from ham, shoulder and prime cuts, with fat, sugar, salt and pepper as the only seasonings; the permitted additives are ascorbic acid and its sodium salt and potassium or sodium nitrate and nitrite. The mince is mixed with diced fat, sometimes with a sourdough carrying the producer's own flora, pressed into blocks without air pockets and macerated until fermentation starts. It is then stuffed into natural casings, wide, crimped, sewn or reconstituted, and dried in chambers. ⁴

Numbers on the label. Pieces of 200–300 g, 35–75 mm thick, cure at least 30 days, and pieces of 300 g or more, over 40 mm, at least 45 days. The dried sausage has at most 48% fat, at least 38% protein and at most 3% sugars in the dry matter, a water activity below 0.92 and a pH of 5.3–6.2, and may also be sold sliced. The specification was amended by Regulation (EU) 2018/287 and again in 2024, and the label carries the EU PGI symbol and the PGI logo. ²³⁴

Nitrite and storage. Since 9 October 2025 EU rules allow at most 80 mg/kg of added nitrite in meat products that are not heat-treated, down from 150, and up to 110 mg/kg of nitrate in dry sausages made without nitrite. A whole hard or dry sausage keeps 6 weeks in the pantry and, once opened, 3 weeks in the fridge. ⁶⁷

Why it matters to you. A white coat on fuet is a sign of proper drying, not a reason to throw it away, and a Vic label promises 30–45 days in the drying room. Pepper sets fuet apart from Chorizo, which is red with paprika; see also Salami and the family on Dry-cured sausages. ¹⁴ WHO classes processed meat, including cured sausages, as carcinogenic to humans, with risk rising with the amount eaten. ⁸