Ciauscolo

Appearance & taste

Ciauscolo is sold as a soft, cylindrical sausage 15 to 45 cm long, 4.5 to 10 cm thick and weighing 400 g to 2.5 kg. It gives softly when touched. The cut surface is pink and uniformly homogeneous. Salt, ground black pepper, wine and garlic shape its typical, aromatic smell; the taste is delicate and never sour.

Unlike other kinds of salami, Ciauscolo is spread on slices of bread. According to the specification, this spreadability depends on the high fat content of the mixture (32 to 46 %), the thorough mincing and the particular processing techniques. The protein content is at least 15 %.

Production

The meat mixture consists of belly (at most 70 %), shoulder (at most 40 %) and trimmings of leg and loin (at most 30 %). The pieces are minced in a mincer and kneaded into a mixture. The meat comes from heavy pigs of the Large White Italiana, Landrace Italiana and Duroc Italiana breeds, their crosses or approved cross types. The animals are slaughtered at the earliest after their ninth month of life, and the carcasses must be classified as “H” (heavy).

The mixture is filled into natural pig or beef casing, which is closed at both ends with a string of hemp or another natural fibre. Production and ripening take place only in the production area. The sausage is sold whole, in portions or in slices at least 2 mm thick, loose, vacuum-packed or packed in a protective atmosphere. The name “CIAUSCOLO” always appears on the label in Italian.

Origin & history

The area comprises municipalities in the provinces of Ancona, Macerata, Fermo and Ascoli Piceno. There, above all in the higher hills and mountains, the climate is mainly continental; according to the specification, the winter cold shaped by the Monti Sibillini has a favourable effect on ripening, quality and shelf life.

The sausage belongs to the tradition of sharecropping farm families: tenants often kept only one pig, which was shared between their family and the landowner. Ciauscolo was made from the remains left over after the best cuts had been processed. Slaughtering in winter was a social event with neighbours and gifts for the landowner. The name goes back to the Latin “ciabusculum” (small food, small meal). A list of market prices from Camerino from October 1851 already names “Ciauscolo”. The Zingarelli dictionary describes Ciauscolo as a lightly smoked soft sausage of the Marche, and since 2000 the name has been on Italy’s list of traditional agri-food products.