Soppressata di Calabria

Soppressata di Calabria (Calabrian soppressata) is a pressed, slightly flattened pork salami from Calabria, a PDO since 1998. A medium-ground mix of ham and shoulder is seasoned with black pepper and sweet or hot red pepper, stuffed into pig casing, tied by hand and aged for at least 45 days. The taste ranges from mild to fiery.

The pig is local and carries its own mark, «suino allevato in Calabria», meaning «pig raised in Calabria». At least half of its diet is barley, fava beans, maize, acorns and chickpeas, while cassava, potatoes and feeds that leave off-flavours are banned.

At slaughter the pig weighs 130–140 kg or more and is at least 8 months old; breeds are Italian Large White, Landrace and their crosses. Boars and sows are excluded, and the meat is never frozen. The mix uses ham and shoulder, with fat at 12–15 % per kilo of meat taken from the back fat of the front loin near the capocollo. Only natural seasonings go in: salt, whole and ground black pepper, red pepper.

Meat and fat are worked at an internal temperature of 0–3 °C, minced medium, stuffed into pig casing, pricked and tied with natural string. Then comes natural ageing in a clean room for at least 45 days, under the «Salumi di Calabria» specification. The finished stick is a slightly flattened cylinder about 15 cm long and 6 cm across.

Soppressata was registered in 1998 together with three neighbours in the «Salumi di Calabria» group: capocollo, pancetta and salsiccia. It can be made only in Calabria.

The texture is compact but tends to softness. The colour is natural red or bright red depending on the pepper, the taste more or less hot, the saltiness balanced.

Next to Salame Felino and Salame Cremona from the Po valley, soppressata is pressed, flatter, coarser and hotter from red pepper. Salamini italiani alla cacciatora are smaller and ripen from 10 days, not 45. Calabrian salsiccia ages 30 days and comes in chains, while soppressata is a single flattened stick.

Look on the label for «Soppressata di Calabria» and «Denominazione di Origine Protetta», and at the counter for a flattened cylinder tied with natural string, its casing pricked.

Why this matters to you: soppressata is made in many corners of Italy, but only one carries a protected name, the Calabrian one, with a local pig, red pepper and at least 45 days of ageing. If you like a hot Salami, those words on the label guarantee that the pig, salt and pepper come from there.