Get out the crackers and cheese, and uncork a nice bottle of red wine, because ‘Soupy Fest’ is returning to Westerly.
What’s soupy, you might be asking? Westerly soupy maker Joe Lombardo has your answer:
“In simplest terms, it’s cured pork with spices,” Lombardo said in a recent interview.
You could think of soupy as Westerly’s way of saying soppressata – the Italian sausage. And it’s something you can make at home if you know the process and what you need to work with.
“The key ingredient to any curing process is salt, and it has to be cured in the absence of air,” Lombardo said. “So thus, you’re mixing the other spices in, which varies, but it’s typically red pepper, hot pepper, and some paprika. They’re mixed in with the ground pork, and then they’re stuffed into a beef casing. Then they have to cure. Curing means they hang in a cool or cold environment – in our case, it’s a basement – for about 10 weeks.”
Making soupy is a tradition in Westerly. Italian immigrants in the town and their descendants have been making the spicy hard sausage for generations.
Last year, The United Theatre in downtown Westerly held the first ‘Soupy Fest.’ Demand was so high that tickets sold out in just 10 days. Actor Steve Schirripa from "The Sopranos" emceed the event, more than 300 people came out to sample different soupy recipes, and a first-place soupy was named. Joe Lombardo’s team placed third.
This story was reported by The Public's Radio. You can read the entire story here.
