Salame Piacentino

Salame Piacentino (Piacenza salami) is a coarse-ground dry-cured pork sausage from the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna, protected as a PDO since 1996. Lean meat from heavy pigs is mixed with 15–20 % hard fat, sea salt, pepper and an infusion of garlic in wine, stuffed into natural casing and aged for at least 45 days.

Twelfth-century mosaics in San Savino (Piacenza) and San Colombano (Bobbio) show a pig being slaughtered in December. The Salumi DOP Piacentini consortium traces local charcuterie back to them. In the 14th century only the cheesemongers' guild could sell preserved meat, Milanese traders called the goods «roba de Piasenza», and in the early 1700s Cardinal Alberoni sent local cured meats to the Spanish court.

The pig is a heavy one: 160 kg (±10 %), at least 9 months old, raised in Lombardy or Emilia-Romagna. Lean meat may come from any cut except the belly. The fat comes from back fat, belly without soft fat, and the cheek, the same cut that becomes Guanciale.

The meat is minced through a 14–18 mm plate. The salt is sea salt, the pepper goes in whole, and garlic arrives as an infusion in filtered wine. The mix is stuffed into natural pig casing, tied with close-mesh string and pricked. Then salt, fermentation and drying take over: according to the consortium's specification, ageing lasts at least 45 days and depends on the weight, which runs from 400 g to 1 kg.

The stick is cylindrical, the cut bright red with perfectly white specks of fat. The taste is sweet and delicate, and the aroma, the specification says, depends above all on how long the sausage spent in the ageing room.

Among its neighbours, Piacentino stands out by its grain. Salame Felino from Parma province is minced at 6–8 mm and aged from 25 days. Salame Cremona means a 6 mm grind, a soft texture and at least 5 weeks. Salamini italiani alla cacciatora are much smaller and ripen from 10 days.

On the label, look for «Salame Piacentino» and «Denominazione di Origine Protetta». Slicing and packing happen only in Piacenza province. The same consortium looks after Coppa Piacentina and Pancetta Piacentina; the general pages are Coppa and Pancetta.

Why this matters to you: a 14–18 mm grind gives large flecks of fat and a dense bite, so this Salami is easy to tell apart from the finer-grained members of Dry-cured sausages. For scale, dry pork salami in general, according to USDA, has 407 kcal and 2260 mg of sodium per 100 g, so a few thin slices go a long way.