Theirs was among the many Griffith families who gathered over the long weekend to keep the age-old tradition alive.

And while the kids didn’t actually do much more than play while the 500-odd salami were being made, Roy Sergi said it was a real family affair that young and old always looked forward to.

“We do this every year. You’ve got to keep the tradition going,” he said.

“The kids watch a bit and then go off and play.

“We’ve had about 20 of us here working on the salami this weekend, there are three generations. We like to make it a big get-together with family and friends. We have lunch and a few wines.

“Everyone’s got their job. Someone de-bones, someone cuts up the meat, someone mixes the chilli and salt and pepper, someone else does the mincing and then we bag it.”

Despite Griffith’s annual Festa della Salasicce (Festival of the Sausage) still being a few months away the Sergis are already looking to the competition.

“We will enter the salami competition again this year. It’s just a bit of fun,” Mr Sergi said.

“In the past we’ve had some good results. We came first one year and have had a few seconds too.

“We used eight pigs this weekend and we’ve still got more to go.

“There are a few of us and we share them among the whole family so we like to make sure we’ve got enough to go around.”

The hugely popular Festival of the Sausage will be held on August 26 at Griffith Pioneer Park, Italian Museum.