Calpas: Japanese Semi-Dry Sausage, like Salami
As you may know, Dagashi is the word for cheap Japanese snacks and candies. It comes in numerous different varieties, loved by children for its uniqueness.
When I was a boy, I would go to a small candy shop specializing in Dagashi treats, called Dagashiya, near my house and often bought snacks called Umaibo and Calpas.
Even though those snacks were very cheap, priced at 10 yen (about 0.1 USD), they were so yummy that I was obsessed with them.
Calpas Sausage
Among them, Calpas is not limited to Dagashi.
It is a Japanese semi-dry sausage made from ground meat such as pork, beef, chicken, or a mixture of these meats, and its price varies from high to low.
The origin comes from the word kolbasa, meaning sausage in Russian, by the way.
In the making, after the meat is seasoned, spiced, mixed with lard, it is filled into a casing, heated, dried, and then aged for 60 to 90 days.
In Japan, Calpas is defined as a variety of semi-dry sausage with less than 55 percent water content.
We often enjoy the Calpas sausage as an Otsumami with alcoholic drinks, and it is available in many supermarkets and convenience stores.
The majority of the products are individually packed and sold in thin bite-size pieces.
vs. Salami
Calpas is similar to Salami.
But Salami is an Italian dried sausage made from ground meat, such as pork and beef, or a mixture of these meats.
The production process of Salami is like that of Calpas sausage, but in Japan, Salami is a type of dry sausage with less than 35 percent water content.
Because of the difference in water content, Calpas is more tender than Salami.
(Reference Pages: maff.go.jp, Wikipedia カルパス, サラミ )
