Culatello di Zibello DOP - Whole 4.5 kg

Culatello di Zibello DOP is a raw and seasoned sausage product, harnessed in a large mesh twine net, obtained from the legs of pigs belonging to the Large White, Landrace Italiana and Duroc breeds, pure or derived.

Culatello di Zibello DOP is part of the gastronomic and cultural heritage of the production area, an area located along the Po river, whose climatic characteristics decisively influence the maturation of the product, defining its unmistakable organoleptic properties.

The production area of ​​Culatello di Zibello PDO concerns the municipalities of PolesineZibello, Busseto, Zibello, Soragna, Roccabianca, San Secondo Parmense, Colorno and part of the municipality of Sissa Trecasali in the province of Parma, in the Emilia-Romagna region. The pigs used for the production of Culatello must strictly come from farms located in the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions.

Culatello di Zibello PDO is made up of the finest muscle bundles of the boned pork leg. The muscle mass is manually salted dry. The salting operation lasts from one to six days. Porcine urinary bladders or natural pig casings are used for stuffing. It is then tied by hand with several turns of string. Before maturing, further draining takes place for about a week and then drying which can vary from 30 to 60 days. The maturation phase of the product must be carried out in rooms where sufficient air exchange and a temperature between 13 and 17°C is ensured, for a duration of more than 10 months.

Culatello di Zibello PDO has its historical roots in the memory of peasant culture. It is said that already in 1332, at the wedding banquet of Andrea dei Conti Rossi and Giovanna dei Conti Sanvitale, "appreciated culatelli" were given to the newlyweds as gifts. The first official mention dates back to 1735, in a document from the Municipality of Parma. In that century, culatello probably constituted a royal gift: the pledge that faithful subjects made to their lords. Moreover, this homage could also be full of symbolic meaning: an exchange of "investitures". In fact, the culatello is "invested", covered and tightly tied in its bladder or pig intestine. The first literary references date back to the nineteenth century, by the Parma dialect poet Giuseppe Callegari, who in one of his novels mentions two Parma specialties among those "made in Paradise: the rice bomb and the culatello"; as well as by the sculptor Renato Brozzi, who exchanged opinions on the culatello with the great poet Gabriele D'Annunzio.

Characteristics

Culatello di Zibello PDO has a pear shape and weighs 3-5 kg. When cut, the slice has a uniform red color and the fat between the different muscle bundles is white. The aroma is intense and characteristic, the taste is sweet and delicate.

Pairings

The Culatello di Zibello DOP is excellent served with the characteristic bread of the area and butter, combined with a dry sparkling wine that is not too aromatic.

Pork, salt, pepper, natural flavourings.