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"Norcineria", the pork butcher's art
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| In Italian, the term "norcino", refers to in general terms to an inhabitant of the city of Norcia, in the region of Umbria, in the center of Italy. In addition the word also refers specifically to the skilled pork butchers of this city. These people are artisans whose skills have been held in high regard for centuries throughout Italy and beyond. By extension, the term "norcineria" has come to be used in Italian to describe the art of butchering pigs and preparing the meat in order to preserve it for a long time. Despite the fact that the raw material is basically the same, every region of Italy has developed its own procedures for preparing pork products, a patrimony of skills that constitutes one of the best examples of skill and imagination, with every single part of this very common farm animal being utilized. |
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IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS SPECK |
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Back in the days when the invention of refrigeration was still a long way off, one of the most common ways of conserving meat was smoking, an ancient technique that is still used to this day to preserve Tyrolean speck and other delicatessen meats produced in mountainous South Tyrol, in the far north of Italy. Special aromatic woods and skillfully blended herbs and spices are utilized to supercharge the smoking rooms with a rich mixture of flavors and aromas, imbuing the speck with its unique zest and flavor. Today the aging process takes place under climate-controlled conditions in which humidity, temperature and ventilation are precisely controlled by computer, but in the old days it was human skill and intuition that made all the difference. Moving a little further south to the area around Trent, one encounters a product called "luganiga", a long, thin sausage that can be eaten as is, used as a topping for polenta, or prepared as a stewed dish. No list of local specialties would be complete without the "salsicce matte" (crazy sausages), prepared with poorer quality scraps of meat, a practice that can be found throughout Italy.
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"COTECHINI" AND "ZAMPONI" |
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Culinary skill can also be measured in terms of a cook's knowledge of meats and his ability to effectively mix the lean and fat portions thereof, which, when properly spiced and placed in sausage skins, become "cotechini" and "zamponi", typical products of the Lombardy region in the north of Italy, and, most importantly, the region of Emilia-Romagna to the south of Lombardy. They constitute typical winter fare and they must be cooked for a long time before being eaten together with "mostarda" (a piquant, sweet-and-sour pickled fruit preparation), mashed potatoes and stewed or puréed lentils, accompanied by a delightful glass of the wine Lambrusco.
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"PROSCIUTTO" AND "CULATELLO" |
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The best cuts of meat, like the leg, used to be earmarked for "drying" with salt and thus becoming the ham "prosciutto". The most celebrated prosciuttos come from around the city of Parma in Emilia-Romagna and San Daniele, but one should not neglect to mention other fine, although less famous examples, like the hams from Modena in Emilia-Romagna and Carpegna in Umbria. An even more highly prized pork product, "Culatello", is prepared in the area around Zibello, in the heart of the Po River Plain and it is considered by gourmets from all over the world to be the finest expression of the Italian pork butcher's art. It is made from a boned leg of pork that is then sculpted into the shape of a pear. All the various phases of preparation and aging are subject to a very strict set of rules and regulations and so there are actually only a few artisans who produce Culatello.
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Although the preparation process for this flavorful pork product from the region of Emilia-Romagna is much less noble in nature, it is nonetheless quite popular. Frequently referred to simply as "Bologna", local versions are currently produced everywhere in Italy and copied throughout the world (the Americans call their version simply, baloney). It should be eaten at room temperature, perhaps between a couple slices of crunchy-crusted bread fresh from the oven, and accompanied by either a full-bodied Sangiovese or a red novello, young and lively.
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It's almost impossible to speak about sausages in an exhaustive manner because every province has a different recipe in terms of the texture of the lean part and the dimension of the chunks of fat, as well as the other ingredients. With garlic or without, and sometimes mixed with wine, pepper corns or even fennel seeds, etc. The important thing is to age it for at least forty days, although in the case of the larger salamis the aging process can involve from 6 to 8 months of proper storage in a well-ventilated, cool cellar. One very highly-esteemed sausage comes from Felino, a little town in the hills near Parma. It has been produced for over two centuries with very lean cuts of meat. For something completely different, try the "ciauscolo" sausage from the Marche region, in the central part of Italy's eastern coast; it is so finely textured and rich in microscopic particles of fat that it can practically be spread like butter, a characteristic that is quite unusual when it comes to Italian sausages.
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RARITIES WORTH DISCOVERING |
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From the Apuane Alps in the region of Liguria comes one special treat definitely worth trying: the rich Colonnata lard. This is a delicacy that is left to age in a marble basin. Another noteworthy specialty is the very fragrant "rigatina", a Tuscan bacon whose name refers to the striped effect created by the alternating streaks of fat and lean, and which should be eaten fresh or slightly aged. But the list of these fine products is long: capocollo, coppa estiva, coppa di testa, pork cheeks and pork products that are prepared, although in quite different ways, throughout all of Italy. Special mention, however, should be made of "soppressate", a southern Italian version of the "soppressa" from the Veneto region in northeastern Italy. This is a sausage that is to this day made with natural pork intestine and rendered pink by the hot red peppers that are mixed in with the meat during the preparation process. Once the sausages have been made they are stored under a layer of pork fat (the same fat from which lard is obtained) in large, wide-mouthed terracotta jugs: an ancient procedure that makes it possible to conserve the soppressate, as well as other types of hot sausages, for many months, keeping them as soft and tender at the first day, but without inhibiting the natural aging processes.
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Our journey through the world of Italian prepared pork products is about to wind to an end, but not before we have said a few words about how to best enjoy those masterpieces of flavor, Italian salamis.
The first rule of thumb is to never eat them fresh from the refrigerator. When cold, fat loses much of its bouquet and appeal, so it should be allowed to reach room temperature in order to unleash the full richness of its flavor and aroma. For all of you who insist on eliminating even the tiniest traces of fat from your salami, we would only like to remind you that fat is an essential component of the final flavor and discarding it is tantamount to jettisoning much of the authentic taste of the salami.
Another fundamental consideration is the bread you select to accompany your salami products. It must be fresh, and is best if characterized by a crisp crust. We therefore recommend, things like breadsticks, baguette-style breads, "crocette" made with oil, "barilini", bran breads, "piadine" (Italian tortillas) and many other Italian bread products. The important thing it to insist on freshness because a good salami deserves only the best.
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