Salame di Varzi

Appearance & taste

The salami is cylindrical and tightly wound with string. The cut surface is delicate and bright red, the texture compact and the fat pure white. The taste is mild and delicate, the aroma fragrant and characteristic; according to the specification, both are closely linked to the long ripening.

There are five sizes, each with its own minimum ripening time:

• Salame di Varzi: 0.3 to 0.5 kg, at least 30 days
• Filzetta: 0.5 to 0.7 kg, at least 45 days
• Filzettone: 0.7 to 1 kg, at least 60 days
• Sottocrespone in a single casing: 1 to 2 kg, at least 120 days
• Cucito in a double casing: 1 to 2.5 kg, at least 180 days

The identifying mark is a seal with the PDO logo: a stylised drawing of four salami makers in traditional aprons on an orange background, surrounded by a brown oval with the name “SALAME DI VARZI •D.O.P.•”. Other forms of proof are allowed instead of the seal or in addition to it, if they ensure traceability. Laudatory additions such as “extra”, “super”, “classico” or “autentico” are prohibited, including in advertising.

Production

The meat comes from heavy pigs reared and slaughtered in Lombardy, Piedmont or Emilia-Romagna. They are descendants of the Large White Italiana, Landrace Italiana and Duroc Italiana breeds or of crosses bred with these breeds for the production of heavy pigs; meat from boars and sows is excluded. The carcasses weigh 110.1 to 190 kg. They are fed liquid feed, traditionally with whey and/or buttermilk, or dry feed. Cereals make up at least 45 % of the ration in the early fattening phase and at least 55 % in the final fattening phase, and at least half of the dry matter comes from the rearing area.

Only fresh meat is used, not frozen or otherwise preserved: shoulder, leg, loin, fillet, neck and first-class mince. The fat comes only from the cheeks, the upper part of the shoulder, the rump, the back fat or the belly; there are 15 to 30 kg of fat per 100 kg of meat. Meat and fat are minced through a plate with 12 mm holes and seasoned with sea salt, sodium or potassium nitrate or sodium nitrite, black peppercorns and a marinade of garlic and red wine. The mixture is filled into pork casings, and the sausage is pricked and tightly wound with string. From the selection of the meat to the end of curing, everything stays in the production area.

Origin & history

The salami is made in Bagnaria, Brallo di Pregola, Cecima, Fortunago, Godiasco Salice Terme, Menconico, Montesegale, Ponte Nizza, Rocca Susella, Romagnese, Santa Margherita Staffora, Val di Nizza, Varzi, Zavattarello and in the Valverde part of Colli Verdi. All of them belong to mountain community no. 1 of the Oltrepò Pavese.

According to the specification, the history of the salami goes back to a rural culture common to the whole Po plain. The meat comes from this large area, and it is processed in a much smaller area according to old traditions typical of the product. Cereal growing and dairy processing shaped livestock farming, and the production sites grew up where special forms of pig farming were traditionally practised.