Pancetta Piacentina PDO - Slice "2,200 kg

The production area of Pancetta Piacentina PDO covers the territories located up to 900 metres above sea level within the province of Piacenza, in the Emilia-Romagna region. Pigs used for processing must be born, raised and slaughtered in the territory of the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions.

After selecting the so-called 'pancettone', the piece is squared, trimmed and left in cold storage until salting. Salting is done dry, manually, using a mixture of salt, pepper and spices. The salted product is refrigerated for a minimum of 10 days. After scraping, the pancette are rolled up and tied, adding natural pork gut to the exposed ends of the rind or the side seam, with the possible addition of lean pork meat. They are then first dried and then matured, which lasts for a period of no less than four months from the date of salting, in rooms with a temperature of between 10 and 18 °C and humidity of 70-90%. All processing takes place at locations below 900 metres above sea level.

The first traces of pig breeding in the Pancetta Piacentina PDO production area can be traced back to a millennium before the Christian era. Later, evidence is found in Roman civilisation, through archaeological finds such as a bronze amulet pendant depicting a small pig. This animal is also present inside the Abbey of San Colombano in Bobbio, Val Trebbia (Piacenza), where a 12th-century mosaic depicts the 'sacred' ritual of pig slaughter. At the beginning of the 15th century, shopkeepers in Milan and Lombardy were already distinguishing salumi from Piacenza from those from other parts of the Po Valley by describing them as 'roba de Piaseinsa'. Later, in the first decades of the 18th century, cured meats from Piacenza managed to gain appreciation even in the elite circles of France and Spain, thanks to the skillful diplomat from Piacenza Cardinal Giulio Alberoni. From the last century, local meat processing began to take on a semi-industrial connotation, but despite the passage of time and advances in technology, companies continue to produce using traditional methods, linked to customs handed down from generation to generation.

Characteristics

Pancetta Piacentina PDO when cut, the slice is bright red in the lean parts and white in the fatty parts. The meat has a pleasant, sweet aroma. To the palate, the slice is soft, with a tendency to melt thanks to the presence of the fatty parts, which also determine the delicate and distinctly sweet flavour, not lacking in the savouriness that makes the product particularly appetising.

Pairings

It is traditionally eaten raw, as an appetiser, in combination with other cold cuts or as an ingredient in Piadina Romagnola PGI. However, it is also excellent cooked, as an ingredient in delicious Italian gastronomic recipes.

Pork belly, salt, dextrose, spices.

Antioxidant: E301

Preservatives: E250-E252

Energy 500 Kcal

Fats 49.52 g

of which saturated 18 g

Carbohydrates 1,33 g

of which sugars 0 g

Protein 14,21 g

Salt 3,74 g

To best conserve Pancetta Piacentina PDO, it is advisable to keep it in the refrigerator after carefully washing the rind and wrapping it in a slightly dampened cloth.