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.
Lombardo says his grandparents brought over their soupy recipe from Italy, and he later learned the art of soupy making from his aunt. Lots of people in Westerly have similar stories.
“It has a lot to do with the fact that many of the people that settled in Westerly from a certain region in Italy, from Calabria, this was what they did as one of their – and still do – as one of their culinary and food items that they make for themselves,” Lombardo said.
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.
“The most interesting part about that was everybody in the room knows what you’re talking about,” Lombardo said. “Everybody does this this time of year, like right now. And so there’s a commonality of all these people, all these families, friends, groups of people. Everybody together has the same common experience, and it’s amazing to see how many there are, but when you see everybody in one room, in one place, it’s amazing.”
Lombardo and his team are already getting ready for this year’s competition. They just finished packing 510 pounds of soupy sausage. The batch is hanging now and will cure over winter.
Soupy Fest II isn’t until April. But tickets go on sale Friday. Organizers are expecting they’ll go fast, just like last year. But this time the festivities will be expanded with smaller events leading up to the big day April 12.
