How and how long to store a Catalan fuet?

Much appreciated for its unique flavours, Catalan fuet nonetheless requires care when it comes to storage. Discover with Directos.eu how and how long to store a Catalan fuet.

How to store a Catalan fuet?

Generally, it is recommended to store Catalan fuet in a ventilated, cool and dark place. The ideal storage temperature should be between 12 and 18 °C. You must absolutely protect your dry sausage from sunlight. The first way to store Catalan fuet is a saucisson box.

Make sure, however, that the container is not completely closed. A wooden saucisson box with holes is therefore recommended. You can also opt for a saucisson cloth that offers optimal ventilation. If you are a fan of Espetec Catalan fuet, you can keep it cool in your fridge.

However, be careful: being a confined, humid appliance, the fridge may strip the saucisson's aromas and make it taste acidic. This is why it is recommended to first wrap your Catalan fuet in a cotton cloth. You can then slip it into your fridge's vegetable drawer.

This way of storing Catalan fuet also lets you keep it for a long time. Although it may not seem like it, the freezer is an excellent way to store dry sausages. Simply put them in a freezer bag before placing them in the freezer. Be sure to take them out of the freezer 24 hours before eating them.

How long does Catalan fuet keep?

How long you can keep your dry saucisson mainly depends on the storage conditions. At room temperature, you can keep Catalan fuet for 4 to 6 weeks and even longer. When stored in the fridge, dry saucisson can be kept for 6 months.

If you want to keep it for a longer period (8 to 10 months), consider the freezer. Your cured meat will keep all its quality throughout this period. Beyond this period, it will nonetheless remain fit to eat. You now know the storage times for dry sausages of Spanish origin.

However, it is not always easy to know whether your sausage is still fit to eat or not. You then need to refer to the best-before date or the use-by date. The best-before date is the day your fuet has lost its consistency. From that date, the dry sausage has less taste and fewer vitamins.

It does not, however, pose a danger to your health and can still be eaten. So, beyond this date, dry saucisson can still be sold commercially. The best-before date is identifiable on Catalan cured meats by the phrase « Best before ».

The use-by date is recognisable on a dry saucisson by the phrase « Use by ». This is the expiry date from which the product is considered unfit to eat. Germs and all sorts of bacteria may indeed have developed in it. Eating a Catalan fuet after this date then carries many risks for your health.

What are the different types of Catalan fuets and how to eat them?

The base of Catalan fuet stays the same, whatever the variety. It is pork. Only the taste varies depending on the origin of the meat, the spices and the fermentation process. These are then more varieties and versions of dry sausages. In cured meat shops you can find Iberian fuet, which is a high-quality saucisson.

It is made with lean meat and fat from carefully seasoned Iberian pork. There is also the peppered fuet, a popular variant that is one of the most sought after. Prepared the same way as Iberian fuet, this variety of dry saucisson stands out through the addition of pepper.

This gives it a unique and very original taste. Directos.eu also recommends other varieties of Catalan fuet, such as garlic, olive, duck and roquefort ones. Garlic dry saucisson, for example, is made with lean meat and little fat. The olive variant, on the other hand, contains pieces of green olives.

Roquefort fuet is a sausage made with a blend of pork and roquefort cheese. Besides the different types of Catalan fuets, it is also useful to know how to eat this dry saucisson. Should it be eaten with or without its skin?

It is possible to eat Catalan fuet with its skin. It depends on everyone's taste. Dry saucisson is also eaten on its own or as an aperitif. You can also work it into tapas recipes or use it as an accompaniment to a raclette or a salad.