Zampina di Sammichele di Bari

Appearance & taste

The sausage mixture is filled into a natural sheep casing 2 to 2.2 cm in diameter. A piece 50 to 60 cm long is wound in three to four coils into a spiral that weighs 150 to 180 g and is held together by a metal or wooden skewer. The mixture is bright red, with a few small, evenly distributed white specks of fat.

Raw, the sausage feels firm but is soft. It smells of fresh minced meat and also fresh and aromatic of basil, tomato and cheese. It is eaten cooked; it then stays fairly firm, and the meat is juicy and tender to the bite. The sausage contains more than 16 % protein, 19 to 22 % fat and no sulphites.

Production

The zampina is made from beef and mutton, finely chopped and mixed; no pork goes into it. Grated ripened cheese, fillets of peeled tomatoes, salt, ground pepper and fresh basil leaves are added. The mixture is filled into sheep casings and wound into a spiral.

Cutting, mincing, mixing and filling take place in Sammichele di Bari. Because the sausage is fresh and highly perishable, it is also packed there, in trays with film or under a protective atmosphere, and stored at about 4 °C. It may only be sold loose within the municipality.

Origin & history

Sammichele di Bari lies in hilly country between the provinces of Bari and Taranto, 250 to 500 m above sea level. The land register of 1809 already names a “Via del Beccaio”, a butchers’ street, in the old town. Some butcher’s shops of the early 20th century still stand in the same place today, and the craft is often passed on from father to son.

There are several theories about the origin of the sausage. According to the most widespread, it came about in the second half of the 18th century: only a few animals were slaughtered, and not every butcher had an ice cellar. Meat from sheep at the end of their productive life was affordable even for poorer people, and the zampina was made from the boned forequarter of such sheep. A trade agreement between Italy and Czechoslovakia from 1924 mentions zampina among the sausages exported. Since the 1960s every butcher’s shop in the town has had a small room next to the sales area where grilled zampina is served. Since 1967 a festival in its honour, the “Sagra della Zampina”, has been held regularly.