Bellitalia – Hot Salami Sticks

In 1957, Freshouse Founder, Joseph Belli, landed in Canada and opened his first Butcher shop in the meatpacking district of Toronto. The business has grown to what it is today from those humble beginnings. Freshouse Foods is a privately owned company operating with two facilities in Southern Ontario. At Freshouse, they create custom protein items with the help and direction of you, their partners. They want to build their creations to meet and exceed your needs.

With over 60 years of major retail and foodservice experience, their expertise in product development has enabled the company to react swiftly to customer wants and expectations, where larger manufacturers often lag. Their flexibility and versatility on our production floors allow us to offer an array of retail, food service, and healthcare products. The one thing that has remained constant from that first day in 1957… “Quality keeps them coming back.” This Bellitalia brand is distributed under the name of Freshouse Foods, and it is based out of Georgetown, Ontario, Canada.

The first review on Bellitalia will focus on a 1.76 ounce/225 gram bag of their hot flavoured salami sticks. This bag was purchased at a Metro grocery store in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Ingredient Review

Ingredients: Pork, Water, Cane Sugar, Vinegar, Sea Salt, Spices (Including Red Pepper), Chili Pepper, Garlic, Cultured Celery Powder, Lactic Acid Starter Culture, Smoke.

The pork sourced from Ontario-based farms is ethically raised, meaning it is guaranteed to be free of growth hormones and additional antibiotics. As a result, the highest ingredient rating awarded is a Very Good (9/10) rating.

There are some healthy ingredients added, such as spices, red pepper, chili pepper, and garlic.

The sugar level is excellent at 0 grams of sugar per 30 grams of jerky. The salt level is high at 570mg of salt per 25 grams of jerky. However, the salt level is ignored because healthy, minimally processed sea salt is used.

This jerky does qualify to have no sodium nitrite. Instead, cultured celery powder is the main preservative apart from sea salt. Admirably, these meat sticks do qualify to have no MSG added.

Very Good (9/10) – Ingredient Rating

Taste Review

BELLITALIA – HOT SALAMI STICKS

Written by guest jerky reviewer Paul Rekker

When I open the bag I smell absolutely nothing. The meat sticks appear both smaller and lighter than most meat sticks, not quite sure why. When I say lighter, I am referring to the colour of the meat sticks and not the weight. Other than that, they are similar to other meat sticks. The meat sticks are somewhat soft and semi-moist, but no oily residue is left on your fingers.

When I bite into these meat sticks, I am both surprised and very pleased to encounter a most noticeable “snap”. The collagen casing is above and beyond most other meat sticks. This casing is quite rigid, a most definite plus. I also encounter salt, pepper, garlic, natural beef, and a distinctive kick in every bite into these meat sticks.

Gentlemen, these meat sticks are incredibly and supremely addictive, they taste most ridiculously like “more” and “more” and “more”. A most mind numbing 10/10, or 20/10, or 3000/10, pick a number, any number, these meat sticks are like “crack in a bag”.

Back that truck up, I’ll take a trailer load of Bellitalia’s hot salami meat sticks. Make sure another trailer load’s on its way.

Written by guest jerky reviewer Stéphane Leclerc

The Bellitalia Hot Salami Stick is absolutely incredible. It is full of flavour, and the texture is outstanding. The flavour profile has a wide range of flavours while remaining well balanced. The spiciness is rather light and extremely tasty.

This salami stick has the ideal fattiness to enhance the flavour and texture of the product. The light sweetness and the taste of vinegar is a game changer, as it elevates the depth and richness to another level while cutting through the fattiness. The hint of smoke in the background further charms my taste buds as it catapults this salami stick into the Stratosphere of deliciousness.

I am amazed by the Bellitalia Hot Salami Stick. The casing has the rare snap that we all enjoy and longs each time we bite into a new meat stick. This simply adds in a huge way to the texture while reminiscing of the lost and forgotten times when profits did not cast a shadow over quality and pride.
This quality meat stick is amazing; it is evident that a lot of time, knowledge, and effort went into creating and developing this flavourful masterpiece. I look forward to more of this delicious meaty treat, and it truly deserves 10/10 Taste Rating.

Here is what Mark had to say about this hot pork salami sticks flavour from Bellitalia: “Thanks Paul for the comprehensive taste reviews. Hard to disagree with anything stated as you guys covered it all. Yes, there is a kick to these salami sticks but no higher than a 2/5 on a heat scale at best. Also true that the texture of these salami sticks has a great ‘snap’. Again true that there is a well-balanced taste profile leaving you wanting more. The fattiness was certainly present but tasted too good to dock a rating. It is unanimous, an Excellent (10/10) taste rating is well-deserved.”

This 7.9 ounce/225 gram bag was purchased for $7.99. That equates to $1.00 an ounce, which rates as a cheap price.

Excellent (10/10) – Taste Rating

Bag Review

This professional looking resealable plastic bag has everything imprinted on the bag itself, both on the front and back. There is a high resolution picture of the salami sticks and other foods on the front.

A slogan printed on this bag is “Circa 1935”. Some facts printed are “Authentic Dry Cured Salami Sticks” and “Made With Natural Ingredients”.

There are no bag categories missing. There is a good blurb printed on the back about Bellitalia As per Canadian law, French translations are provided. To the credit of Bellitalia a toll-free number is provided for customer inquiries.

Excellent (10/10) – Bag Rating