Bulagna de l'Ile de Beauté

Appearance & taste

The Bulagna is shaped like a triangle, trapezium or teardrop and keeps all of its rind. It is 15 to 25 cm wide, 15 to 35 cm long and weighs 500 g to 2 kg. When cut, it is almost rectangular and shows several layers of muscle marbled with fat. Because of the smoking, it is unevenly amber-coloured outside, brown to golden; a natural whitish or greenish to ash-grey mould is possible. Inside, the colour ranges from wine red in the lean part to white in the fat.

It first smells strongly of smoke and pepper, then of dried, matured meat. Thanks to the alternation of fat and lean meat, it is firm and at the same time tenderly melting on the palate. Salt, meat and fat are balanced, joined by a very pronounced pepper note and a long-lasting smoky taste that does not mask the other aromas. The fat content is 30 to 60 %. It is sold whole, also unpackaged, or packaged in portions of 100 to 350 g and in slices.

Production

The pigs weigh at least 75 kg when slaughtered; their fattening feed contains less than 1.9 % linoleic acid. The fat must be white and firm, the meat pink to red. The neck of the pig is used with all its rind, cut and trimmed as a triangle, trapezium or teardrop, fresh or deep-frozen and weighing 750 g to 3 kg.

All steps from curing to drying take place in Corsica. The neck is dry-cured and stays in the curing tub for a set time depending on its weight. It is seasoned with plenty of black pepper, according to the specification 5 to 15 g per kilogram for whole pieces. It is smoked with the wood of native broadleaved trees such as oak, chestnut, beech, strawberry tree and heather; according to the specification, this “gentle” smoking gives a finer aroma than softwood. Finally, the Bulagna dries in the drying room with a supply of outside air and develops its flavour.

Origin & history

Corsica is a mountainous Mediterranean island with hot, dry summers and mild, damp winters. At night the cool “a tramuntana” blows, during the day the drying “u maestrale”. Almost half of the island is wooded, mainly with holm oaks, cork oaks, chestnuts and beeches, along with extensive maquis.

According to the specification, the dry, windy climate favoured dry curing, unlike the cooked charcuterie of northern France; it made it possible to eat meat all year round with little equipment. Because it is hot on the island for much of the year, plenty of black pepper was used, originally to keep insects away. Smoking with hardwood used to be closely linked to chestnut farming and, according to the specification, is a particularity in the Mediterranean. The Bulagna is traditionally eaten a medium time after slaughter; island life has favoured the passing down of the know-how over generations.