PIACENZA IS A SEA OF FLAVOURS

Piacenza is a sea of ​​flavors

The tastiest press tour can only start from Piacenza towards one of the most prestigious cured meat factories: the Salumificio Grossetti in Alta Val Tidone.

I'll start by spoiling the fact that Gualtiero Marchesi used to buy here and thought that coppa was the best salami in the world!

The visit to the salami factory from the cold storage rooms, the importance of the cold chain in the conservation of the products begins we all know, but here we try to reproduce the cold of winter for coppa and pancetta at 3 / 4 ° in a virtuous path after salting by hand (performed by expert hands, essential ability and talent), where the decline during the seasoning is followed step by step (a coppa of 1 kg loses about 40%, on sale will go about 6 ounces).

Think that once the pig was slaughtered it was certified by a notary and the products of this in Milan were called 'Robe di Piasenza'.

Much progress has been made since then: in 1971 the Consorzio Salumi Piacentini was born and in 1992 the European Community introduced a common regulation on Designation of Origin.

In Emilia, 6 cheeses and 14 cured meats are DOP, and in the whole of Emilia Romagna there are 44.

Consider that 6 million forms of Grana Padano are produced each year alone. A virtuous circle is naturally created where the whey is used as feed for pigs.

Nothing of the pig is thrown away... and with any part of the pig you can make a salami! Adding a few ingredients such as salami, pepper, nutmeg, white wine and garlic. From the tying up, at least 45 days must pass before it can be consumed (once in the countryside it took even 8/9 months) and before it can be labeled. Of course, there is a control body that verifies the absence of adulteration. About 1.5 million salami are produced each year.

Coppa is considered the queen of the territory. It is prepared in winter and consumed the following September. The pig is slaughtered for Saint Anthony, considered the protector of animals.

Once upon a time, the two culatelli obtained from the pig were sold to the Milanese and with the proceeds new pigs were purchased, the poor parts instead were for family consumption.

The lands owned by the farmers had a value based on how many acorns they produced, because these fed the pigs. From each pig, two 5 kg cups are obtained and it is prepared with the addition of spices ... salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and bay leaves. Weight loss during maturing: from 3 kg it gets to 1.8 kg.

I remind you that the consumer is very protected because on the DOP there is also the guarantee that the meat is Italian, in this case it comes from Emilia Romagna and Lombardy. Here you can find three DOP.

The bacon is produced by adding sale, pepper and cloves. Each pig two bacons. It is sewn entirely by hand. There is a weight loss of only 15%. The maturation of at least 4 months to be a DOP.

A tip for cutting the slice nice and thin and compact: half an hour in the freezer before cutting!

So to sum up, one pig = 2 coppa, 2 pancetta and 40 salamis.

Along with excellent cured meats, you must taste a good wine. This land offers 18 DOCs, typical wines are Ortrugo, Malvasia, Gutturnio and Bonarda.

This territory deserves to be tasted and visited! In fact, the city of Piacenza also offers art and culture, the wonderful Piazza dei Cavalli (where the Piacenza APERIDOP took place), the Civic Museum of Piacenza, the Church of S. Savino and the Collegio Alberoni are unmissable.