Italy, by Way of Iowa: La Quercia’s Artisanal Salumi

Thanks to celebrity chefs like Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich, it’s hard to come across a restaurant review these days that doesn’t mention, if not wax poetic about, the appeal of cured pork. The word salumi has entered the lexicon. (For the uninitiated, it’s an umbrella term meaning Italian-style cured meats–not to be confused with salami.) How can we home cooks tap into this rich culinary vein?