Speck Alto Adige

Speck Alto Adige (Südtiroler Speck, South Tyrolean speck) is an Italian boned ham from the province of Bolzano. It is lightly salted and spiced, cold-smoked at no more than 20 °C and aged in Alpine air. It marries smoking, typical of Central Europe, with Mediterranean dry-curing. The skin is brown, the slice red with white-pink fat.

The meat is a pork hind leg, 10.5 kg or more fresh, boned and trimmed the traditional way, with or without the rump. The trimmed piece, the «baffa», weighs at least 5.2 kg. The word «Bauernspeck» may appear on the label only if the pig was raised and slaughtered in Alto Adige itself.

Within 4 days of a recorded start date the meat is rubbed with salt and spices. Then come special rooms and cold smoking of meat at up to 20 °C, followed by drying and ageing at 10–16 °C and 55–90 % humidity. The older specification ruled out tumbling and brine injection. The consortium puts total ripening at 22 weeks. At the end, a hot brand with the producer's code is pressed onto the rind at least 4 times.

Speck may be processed only in the autonomous province of Bolzano–Alto Adige. The single document describes hills and mountains where winds blow through Alpine valleys and the sun shines on more than 300 days a year. PGI status came with Regulation (EC) 1107/96 of 12 June 1996; in 2011 the name changed from «Speck dell'Alto Adige» to «Speck Alto Adige». The consortium in Bolzano groups 26 producers.

The aroma is smoky and spiced, the taste intense but not salty: salt is capped at 5 %.

Unlike the Po valley hams — Prosciutto di Parma or Prosciutto di San Daniele — speck is opened, boned, spiced and smoked. Smoke sets it apart from ordinary prosciutto crudo, and the leg, rather than the belly, sets it apart from bacon and pancetta.

Every label carries the PGI logo and the name «Speck Alto Adige», «Südtiroler Markenspeck» or «Südtiroler Speck» with «IGP». «Prodotto di montagna» means it was made above 600 m. Sliced packs are filled only in the province.

Why this matters to you: a vacuum-packed piece, the consortium says, keeps for several months in a cool dark place or the fridge, so speck is easy to keep on hand. Take it out of the pack about an hour before serving.