BUENOS AIRES – Argentina now holds the record for making the longest salami in the Americas, after presenting a spicy sausage 16 meters (52 feet) long and weighing 45 kilos (100 pounds) at a festival in the town of Tandil in Buenos Aires province, the organizers told Efe.
The salami was presented Friday evening by the Council of the Guarantee of Quality “Salame de Tandil” at the Sierra Festival in that town some 350 kilometers (220 miles) south of the Argentine capital, council spokesman Mariano Frias told Efe.
“The work began approximately 1 1/2 months ago because the factories aren’t equipped to make a salami of that size,” he said.
At the Sierra Festival, dozens of people held up the salami along its length to show it off to the crowd, and later some pieces were raffled among the public.
Salame de Tandil is made with raw materials from this mountainous region, located some 350 kilometers (220 miles) south of Buenos Aires, and is between 54 and 60 percent pork, between 18 and 21 percent beef, and 20-25 percent pork fat.
“It was very hard work by a lot of people, but it was beautiful to tackle the challenge. We achieved our goal and today it will be certified onstage at the festival,” Frias said.
Salame de Tandil has, after 15 years of study, been granted the very first guarantee of quality known as the “denominacion de origen” for an agroindustrial food product in Argentina.