Are you looking for the most popular types of Italian cured meats?
On the Italian peninsula, cured meats are a typical food that you should try if you go there.
On the Italian peninsula, cured meats are a typical food that you should try if you go there. Salumi is the Italian word for cured meats. It differs from French charcuterie in terms of the kinds of steak used, the taste and aroma of the meat, and the way it is prepared and kept.
If you’re wondering what to cook during your stay in Italy and want to try authentic Italian cured meats, this article is for you. But first, let’s check out the difference between cold cuts and cured meats.
The term “cured meat” refers to foods made from cooked or raw meat with salt and spices added to make them taste better.
Cured meats from Italy are often called Italian cold cuts by many. However, processed meats are what most cold cuts are. The American Institute for Cancer Research says that processed meat is “meat that has been smoked, cured, salted, or preserved with chemicals.” Other processed meats include bacon, salami, bologna, hot dogs, sausages, and cold cuts.
Read on to learn more about Italian cold cuts or cured meats.
12 Most Popular Authentic Italian Cured Meats
Here are the 12 most popular types of Italian cold cuts/cured meats.
1. Cacciatore
Cacciatore is a traditional Italian cured meat made with coriander, caraway, dried red chili, pork, venison, black pepper, and wild boar.
On the other hand, the cacciatore salami from Southern Italy is made with hot paprika, fennel seed, and ground chili. It is fermented and brined for three weeks before being served as an appetizer at lunch or dinner.
A PDO label guarantees the authenticity of the meat by ensuring that it is produced in specific regions using pigs raised in Lombardy, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Umbria, Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Marche, Abruzzo, Lazio, and Molise.
2. Bresaola
Bresaola is a brined, slightly aged beef that has been dried in a room heated by a wood fire.
The cured meat is lean and thin, similar to pastrami. It’s often served as an antipasto on its own, identical to carpaccio, with thin strips covering the plate, and chefs or cooks usually top it with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano for added spice.
In fancier dishes, they are topped with thinly sliced white truffles or small mushrooms that have been marinated.
Traveling through Lombardy’s Valtellina region, you will come all over Bresaola labeled with an Indicazione Geografica Protetta (IGP) label, indicating its authenticity to the Lombardy region.
3. Capicola
Capicola, also known as coppa, cotto, capocollo, and gabagool in different parts of Italy, is a traditional Italian cured meat made of pork neck or shoulder and seasoned with paprika, spices, and herbs. Dry-cured and sliced very thinly, capicola is served as an appetizer or a snack.
It is made from boneless pork shoulder and rubbed by hand with spices like cinnamon, cloves, bay seeds, and nutmeg. Copicola is similar in texture to prosciutto. Depending on the province where it is made, it can also have chili pepper in it.
When visiting the region of Calabria, you will come across capicola salami, made from Large White and Landrace pigs raised in the region’s ideal climate and cured in the region’s high temperatures and natural humidity. A PDO label protects the type and quality of meat and the places where it is grown and produced.
Coppa Piacentina DOP is made in several provinces in the Emilia-Romagna region, such as Pianello Val Tidone, Bettola, and Gragnano Trebbiense.
The tradition of making this popular Italian cured meat has been passed down from generation to generation.
4. Cotechino
Cotechino, a traditional Italian salami, is made from a blend of pork and seasonings inside organic sheep casings. Unlike many cured meats in Italy, cotechino is cooked within a week of consumption and served fried with cooked lentils.
Cotechino salami has been designated as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), ensuring that the cured meat is produced in Emilia-Romagna, Molise, Lombardy, Trentino regions, the hills of Iprinia, Veneto, and a tiny province in the Campania region.
5. Guanciale
Guanciale is a classical cured meat in Italy made from pork jowl or belly fat. It is frequently used as a cooking ingredient to add depth and richness to recipes such as risottos, pastas, and stews.
This Italian cured meat is usually flavored with black pepper, garlic, and rosemary, which permeates the meat’s inner layers during the curing process.
Guanciale appears prominently in Umbrian and Lazio dishes such as amatriciana and carbonara. Silky guanciale is used to improve the tastes of primary fish dishes and side dishes with sautéed veggies served at lunch or dinner in these regions.
6. Culatello
Culatello is an Italian cured meat made from prized cuts of a pig’s rear legs and aged between 10 and 12 months for a delicate flavor.
Culatello di Zibello, a 15th-century delicacy, has PDO status. The precise cut must come from pigs born in Emilia-Romagna or Lombardy and processed in Zibello, Busseto, Soragna, and Roccabianca in Parma.
7. Lardo
Lardo is made by curing pork fat with nutmeg, black pepper, and other spices. Its creamy texture and luscious flavor are popular in Val d’Aosta and other areas with long, cold winters.
Cured Lardo can be eaten as salumi on dark, whole-grain bread with honey.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Barbarians raised pigs in Tuscany, earning it IGP status.
8. Porchetta
Porchetta is deboned, garlic- and pepper-flavored split-roasted pork.
Porchetta comes from Lazio, in the town of Ariccia that has IGP status, which makes it a must-visit during your Italian vacation.
Porchetta from Central Italy should be served in a lunch sandwich or as an appetizer during a multi-course meal.
9. Mortadella
Mortadella is a famous Italian cured meat made from pork, pork fat, and spices. It is one of the most well-known foods in Italy. Pistachios and garlic are added for extra flavor. Truffles are sometimes added for a rich, layered, and substantial addition.
Recipes can be different in different parts of Italy.
For example, the mortadella from Campotosto in Abruzzo has large strips of lard. At the same time, the mortadella from Fegato in Lombardy is made with fatty pork sausage and liver.
The original recipe, however, comes from the city of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region. It dates back to the Middle Ages.
10. Prosciutto
Classic prosciutto is one of Italy’s most famous cured meats. It is made from ham, which is why it is often called “Parma Ham” in English.
Prosciutto is dry-cured for almost 210 days, then thinly sliced and served as an appetizer, a snack, or for lunch on sandwiches.
The different flavors of prosciutto come from the other parts of Italy where it is made. This is because of how the pigs are raised, what they eat, and what is in the air while the meat cures.
Still, the province of Parma in the Emilia-Romagna region is most widely known for making authentic prosciutto with the PDO label.
11. Speck Alto Adige PDI
Alto Adige’s – or South Tyrol’s – Speck is bacon pressed with salt, pepper, juniper berries, and alpine herbs. Cold smoking meat over beechwood chips adds its signature flavor. The six-month maturation is due to aging and slow drying in cellar microclimates.
Speck Alto Adige is served in starters, first courses, and main dishes as an ingredient or sectioned finely with melon and fig.
12. Soppressata
As you travel through Puglia, Campania, Basilicata, Calabria, and other Southern Italian regions, you will be introduced to the smoky aromas and peppery flavors of classic soppressata.
Typically, hand-cut meats stuffed into casings and flattened with the ground, sweet red pepper, and spices are used in the production of soppressata.
Soppressata di Calabria is frequently served sliced with fresh bread, cooked veggies, and cheeses such as Asiago as an appetizer to complement polenta, risotto, and traditional Calabrian main courses.