Coppa

Coppa, or capocollo (also capicola, capicollo), is Italian dry-cured pork neck: salted, put into a natural casing, tied, aged from a few weeks to months and sliced thin. Three names are protected: Coppa Piacentina PDO (at least six months), Coppa di Parma PGI (at least 60 or 90 days) and Capocollo di Calabria PDO (at least 100 days).

Older coppe in Parma were once wrapped in cloth soaked in Malvasia from the Parma hills. The product was known there by the late 17th century as «bondiola», and it was served at the court of Don Ferdinando of Bourbon.

Coppa Piacentina uses the upper neck muscle, separated while still warm and weighing at least 2.5 kg. The pigs are 9 months or older, 160 kg ±10 %, from Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. Coppa di Parma takes the neck muscle of similar heavy pigs of Landrace, Large White and Italian Duroc breeds.

Coppa Piacentina is dry-salted only; brine is forbidden, and the mix includes pepper, cinnamon, cloves, bay and nutmeg. The neck spends at least 7 days in the cold with hand massage, then goes into a pig's diaphragm, dries at 15–25 °C until it «blooms» and ages at 10–20 °C for at least 6 months from salting. Coppa di Parma is salted 6–10 days at 4 °C, tied with hemp string and aged 60 days, or 90 for pieces over 2.6 kg. Calabrian capocollo is washed with water and wine vinegar, rubbed with spices and aged at least 100 days.

Coppa Piacentina is compact, red with pink-white marbling and a sweet, delicate taste that refines with age. Coppa di Parma is softer, not too salty, with red lean and pink fat. The cut sets coppa apart from culatello: neck, not thigh muscles in a bladder. According to Ciqual 2025, 100 g of coppa has 284 kcal, 20 g fat and 5.3 g salt.

On the label, look for «Coppa Piacentina» with «Denominazione di Origine Protetta» or «Coppa di Parma» with «IGP» and the EU symbol. Coppa di Parma is pre-sliced only in its production area; a whole one is sliced at the counter in front of you.

Keep a whole coppa somewhere cool and humid, like a cellar, and an opened one in the fridge, wrapped in a damp cotton cloth. The Parma consortium serves it as an antipasto with country bread and fresh vegetables.

Why this matters to you: two coppe from neighbouring provinces differ threefold in ageing — 60 days against 6 months — and only the label tells you which one you hold. Italians tell them apart as clearly as Prosciutto di Parma and other hams.