The black pig, the rare pearl
The production of cured meats obtained from "black" pigs is carving out an increasingly important space for itself. It is a super-niche phenomenon, of course: small quantities for products present only on the local market and in the high gourmandise. But it is significant that it is growing, especially in southern Italy, the number of farms that have resumed breeding rustic pigs that once stalked and rooted in the Italian countryside, before being replaced, after the Second World War, by pigs from northern Europe. rose suitable for intensive breeding, to grow quickly and to make meat, to retire our pigs with a generally dark coat. Romagna, Casertana, Sicilian black, Sardinian and Apulo-Calabrian, officially recognized in the register registry of autochthonous genetic types held by Anas (National Association of Pig Breeders), to which the newly established ones have been added in recent years, the black of Parma and the black of Lomellina, listed in a special Anas register. They are pigs covered in a thick layer of fat, which give their best in lard, bacon and cheeks, even in coppa and hams for those who are not intimidated by the abundant presence of a bright pink and translucent fat. A fat that due to its genetics, lifestyle (wild or semi-wild state) and diet (based on acorns, ribs, mushroom roots, wild herbs and what pigs find in nature) is rich in oleic acid, monounsaturated with similar characteristics. of olive. Cured meats therefore healthier and for a gourmet experience.
Mara Nocilla
