SMAF Ltd

16.02.2018

One of the most known sausages and salami labelled in Calabrian DOPs is, certainly, “Soppressata”. Among them stands out the Calabrian “sorpressata”, because in Calabria, and generally in the south of Italy, this salami is part of southern Italian cultural heritage, much more than in the north.

“Soppressata di Calabria” enjoys protected designation of origin status, as in example that one produced in Acri and Decollatura, highly renowned.

And, even if there are many variations, and only two principal types are made (a cured dry sausage typical of Basilicata, Apulia, and Calabria, and a very different uncured salame, made in Tuscany and Liguria), only Calabrian Soppressata is the Italian dry salami that has an international success.

16.02.2018

This traditional Calabrian salume is, generally, an Italian pork cold cut, made from the dry-cured muscle running from the neck to the 4th or 5th rib of the pork shoulder or neck, sometimes smoked or conserved in olive oil or flavored with cooked wine.

Given that it is a whole muscle salume, its preparation seems similar to the more widely known cured ham or prosciutto. Both are pork-derived cold-cuts and typically sliced very thin.

We can count, in Italy, two particular varieties, Coppa Piacentina and Capocollo di Calabria. We deal with the second, which has Protected Designation of Origin (P.D.O.) status, under the Common Agricultural Policy of European Union law, which ensures that only products genuinely originating in those regions are allowed in commerce as such.

Other versions, not covered by mentioned PDO status, are simply designated as “Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale” (P.A.T.) by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies. It is the case of Capocollo del Lazio, Capocollo tipico senese (called finocchiata or finocchiona), Capocollo della Basilicata and Capocollo dell’Umbria.