An evolving world
Higher quality in advanced artisanal production and premium lines in the high-end industry. Less use of additives and preservatives. Growth in organic cured meats, from a closed supply chain and obtained from ancient pig breeds. And innovative products, demonstrating that charcuterie is not the stuff of lace and old lace, always the same, but a dynamic sector, able to evolve, to give new suggestions, to breathe the air of change that has been affecting the world of gastronomy for the last thirty years. For all these reasons, 9 years later, Gambero Rosso is back with a new edition of Grande Salumi, a guide to the best Italian pork products. Like the 2014 edition, it is the culmination of a long scouting and teamwork process: blind tastings, text editing, computerisation of data... During the blind test, hundreds of processed meat products from all over Italy were tasted, and from every class of charcuterie: cooked and uncooked hams, salami, coppe, lardi, pancetta, smoked, spiced, spicy and pot charcuterie, PDO and PGI alongside PAT, Slow Food Presidia and rare, almost unknown local specialities. Products made from pork, but also from other meats: beef, goat, sheep, goose, game... In these 240 pages, through 168 companies and 402 cured meats, we wanted to draw a panorama of the best expressions of Italian charcuterie and record these changes. The evergreens and strictly territorial productions, such as motsetta and boudin from Valle d'Aosta, pitina from the Pordenone valleys, biroldo from Garfagnana, susianella from Viterbo, and pezzente from the Matera mountains. The ever-increasing number of cured meats made from black and 'grey' pigs from semi-wild herds, the 100% agricultural closed-cycle products free of preservatives (sodium and potassium nitrate and nitrite, identified by the acronyms E249, E250, E251 and E252) to meet the growing consumer demand for clean-label products, and finally the new products proposed by creative and courageous pork butchers. Each sausage was tasted and evaluated by a panel of expert tasters. The scores obtained were translated into 'slices of salami': 1, 2, 3 slices, to which were added the 2 'red slices' - the novelty of this edition - given to products approaching 90/100, demonstrating great potential, and the Eccellenze, awarded to salumi that go beyond perfection and are able to excite. There are also 'special' prizes awarded to the best salumi made from non-pork meat, from 'black' pigs, to products made from offal and to that expression of tradition and territory, alongside the prizes awarded to the best companies producing 100% preservative-free, closed-chain and organic salumi, and an award for the best industry.
Mara Nocilla
