Speck Alto Adige

speck

What it is

South Tyrol states its rule in five words — poco sale, poco fumo, molta aria: under 5 % salt, five days of beech smoke that never exceeds 20 °C, then some twenty-two weeks of mountain air. It is a boned leg rubbed with juniper, bay and pepper, standing halfway between an Italian prosciutto and a German ham, and claimed by both.

In the kitchen

For cooking, cut it by hand into thick batons rather than machine slices — in dumplings, risotto or a cream sauce it should stay firm and identifiable. Raw, go no thinner than 1.5 mm or the smoke buries the meat.

Goes with

Juniper berry Rye berries Horseradish Egg Potato Cream Button mushroom Apple

Same species

Andouillette Boudin blanc Natural casings Caul fat Chorizo Ciauscolo

Also used with

Montasio Puzzone di Moena

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