My sister-in-law introduced it as another fine Yooper culinary treat. I had never heard of it. As a self-proclaimed Yooper (born, and raised until 8 when we moved to the land of trolls), I had only ever hard of and consumed pasties (not including the Polish food I grew up with). She described it as a sort of Italian sausage, half beef, half pork, with some seasonings… but different. She said you eat it on a bun, like a burger. She enticed, “There are even cudighi buns you can get at the grocery store.”
We were intrigued. We were game. We found the cudighi buns. There were two sizes. Sister-in-law asked for the thinner ones, and we obliged. At home, brother and sister-in-law prepared our meal and gave us the loose guidelines. It basically goes like this:
- Bun
- Cudighi in a patty with provolone (or Swiss) cheese
- Sautéed green peppers and mushrooms
- Pizza sauce
The cudighi was like Italian sausage, but spicier. And, the combination on a lighter ciabatta bun was fantastic. Sister-in-law gifted us two pounds, and this Labor Day, we recreated the meal with the benefit of a bit of research.
We found out that cudighi arrived about the 1920s with a wave of Italian immigrants. The speciality is found mostly in Negaunee and Ispheming. I grew up in Marquette, so that might make sense while we never heard of it. That and we didn’t go out to eat much. Here are some recipes we found.
recipe 11 (6lb) pork butt recipe 23 pounds ground venison |
recipe 36 lb coarsely ground pork butt basic instructionsA few instructions said to grind it yourself, twice, so we’ll include that. More generally, just mixing up the ground meat and spices, then forming into patties or sausages is the key. Again, though, grinding the meat, and together if your using, say, venison and pork. Then, add the spices and grind again. The cudighi we had was very fine in appearance, which suggests to me a double grind. Also, the cudighi we consumed came from the Ishpeming Township fire department, and a fundraiser at that. |
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Homemade marinara sauce
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Smoked provolone from Tillamook
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Ciabatta loaf
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Sautéed peppers, onions, mushrooms
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Grilled cudighi
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The complete meal with roasted red potatoes spiced with homegrown rosemary
We read that you have the burger and eat with “the works”. So, tonight, this is what we did:
- Ciabatta loaf (rolls were sold out)
- Tillamook smoked provolone cheese slices
- Sautéed red, yellow, orange, green peppers with yellow onion, and mushrooms
- Homemade simple marinara sauce
- Optional condiments included ketchup, mustard, and pickles
Cudighi was grilled on a charcoal grill. Reviews have it tasting quite yummy.
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