Pepperoni is an American variety of dry-cured, fermented salami made from ground pork and beef, seasoned heavily with paprika and chilli, packed into a casing and aged until firm. Sliced into bright orange-red coins it eats soft, fine-grained, smoky, fatty and gently spicy — and although it is a cured sausage eaten cold in its own right, it is best known as the most popular pizza topping in the United States, where the slices cup and crisp in the oven and weep flecks of red fat.