Ligury Region - "Grandi Salumi" of Gambero Rosso 2023
Beyond a few typical products (there are 18 PATs), cured meats in Ligurian gastronomic culture are marginal and originate mostly from subsistence farming and family use in the internal areas of the valleys. Especially where the chestnut civilization once prevailed, a tree that almost alone guaranteed the needs of families, thanks to an atavistic wisdom in extracting every necessary good from wood, fruit, dry leaves, bark, branches, roots, hedgehogs... Therefore the type of Ligurian cured meats depends greatly on the influence of neighboring regions. In the West the Cuneo or Alessandria influence is evident. In the Levant, the salami, coppa and pancetta are very similar to those of the Piacenza area and the Lombard salami of Varzi, although a little spicy and flavored (a lot and with herbs). Towards La Spezia we are already on the border with another world, that of the tastiest salami and lard from central Italy, Tuscan in particular, without neglecting another border Lunigiana tradition: even sausages to be eaten raw like those from Pignone. This has not prevented a typicalization of pork butchery, in particular for the knowledge in the use of herbs and spices and for a deep-rooted attention to anti-waste. This is why the poor doors of the pig and cattle are a constant in the family tradition. An example of this is mortadella, a smoked salami obtained from scraps of beef and pork in equal measure, including nerves, soft fat, wine and spices; the dough is dark and soft and is eaten above all on slices of warm bread. In the Genoese hinterland it was used as payment for occasional work and was part of the ritual of engagements. The combination of pork and beef and smoking are characteristic of the most famous Ligurian salami, that of Sant'Olcese and Orero, hamlets of Serra Riccò Val Polcevera, made with rather large eyes of fat, salt, vinegar, spices; traditionally it is accompanied with broad beans. Another salami with peculiar characteristics is that of Sassello, low in fat, stuffed into thick casings, also flavored with nutmeg. Sassello has a long tradition of producing cooked ham, as well as cooked salami, clearly linked to the south of Piedmont, and testa in cassette, a delicatessen specialty which is very widespread in all the Ligurian valleys here in the upper Erro valley it is enhanced with different types variously flavoured. Savona's chinotto one is truly unique. Cooked panecetta is also quite widespread. Herbs characterize the cured meats of creative butchers and Castelnovese ham, a salted pork leg in brine, spiced and matured in an environment carpeted with aromatic herbs that saturate the air with their scents, has gained particular fame. Herbs, different from valley to valley, are always the protagonists in lard, which has become the trendy cured meat; it is also offered ground into a sort of pâté, particularly in Sassello and Castelnuovo Magra. The vocation to "do nothing" is expressed with the berodo, a salami-shaped black pudding made with blood, milk, sweetbreads, pine nuts and spices, and with the Gambetto, a cooked salami in the shape of a triangle made from a mixture of came from the head, blood, retina and spices, stuffed into the rind of the leg. Finally, the grive or frizze from Val Bormida are liver and sausage meatballs to be cooked, flavored with juniper berries and wrapped in pork net.
