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Meat from Italy

Salame Piacentino DOPSalame Piacentino

Salame Piacentino is a PDO salami of lean pork with 10–30 % fat, coarsely minced, dry-seasoned with salt, pepper, cloves and nutmeg and stuffed into pig casing no wider than 70 mm. It is dried at 15–25 °C and matured at 12–19 °C for at least 45 days from salting. Starter cultures are allowed, and a sequencing study found many Staphylococcus and Lactobacillus species in it.

Fully documentedMeat45 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceSeasoning per 100 kg of fresh meat, as set in the PDO specification.
Lean pork and pork fat10–30 % fat, by the lean usedNo head meat in the lean; fat from back fat, throat and belly without soft fat[masaf-piacentino]
Salt (sodium chloride)1.5–3.5 kg[masaf-piacentino]
Black and/or white pepper, whole or broken30–50 g[masaf-piacentino]
ClovesUp to 40 g[masaf-piacentino]
NutmegUp to 30 g[masaf-piacentino]
Sugars (dextrose, glucose, fructose, sucrose)Up to 1.5 kg[masaf-piacentino]
Sodium nitrateUp to 15 g[masaf-piacentino]
Sodium nitriteUp to 10 g[masaf-piacentino]
Sodium L-ascorbate (E301) and/or L-ascorbic acid (E300)Up to 200 g[masaf-piacentino]
Starter cultures (optional)[masaf-piacentino]
Starterstarter cultures may be used; the 2014 amendment application says they make fermentation begin strongly, because modern hygiene leaves fewer bacteria in the air and machinery

Total time across the recorded steps: 45 days

Start
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What changes: Lean pork and fat are cut small, then minced through a wide plate

Step 1 of 5
Mince
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Salame Piacentino is a PDO salami of lean pork with 10–30 % fat, coarsely minced, dry-seasoned with salt, pepper, cloves and nutmeg and stuffed into pig casing no wider than 70 mm. It is dried at 15–25 °C and matured at 12–19 °C for at least 45 days from salting. Starter cultures are allowed, and a sequencing study found many Staphylococcus and Lactobacillus species in it. Made in 5 steps over 45 days. The longest step, mature, takes at least 45 days (MASAF) and runs at 12–19 °C (MASAF). Salt is 1.5–3.5 % (MASAF). Staphylococcus (32 species) and Lactobacillus (33 species) identified across six producers by 16S rRNA sequencing does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 45 daysSet[masaf-piacentino][eu-piacentino-2010]Mature
Temperature12–19 °CSet[masaf-piacentino]Mature
Salt1.5–3.5 %Set[masaf-piacentino]Dry-season and knead
AciditypH 5.2–6.5Set[masaf-piacentino]Mature

What makes this one different

Salame Piacentino is coarsely minced (plate holes over 10 mm), kept to casings no wider than 70 mm, and seasoned with cloves and nutmeg as well as pepper. It is matured for at least 45 days from salting.

Related ferments

Safety

The specification caps sodium nitrate at 15 g and nitrite at 10 g per 100 kg of meat and sets a finished pH of 5.2–6.5 with 3–5 % salt. Slicing and packing must take place in the production area. These are figures for controlled production, not a home method. Washington State University Extension does not recommend making dry sausage at home, because S. aureus toxin can form if fermentation is not rigidly controlled. It also warns that nitrite overdoses can be harmful and that the small amounts are hard to weigh accurately, so it says to use a pre-blended cure.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The specification says production began in the Roman period and was passed down in the province of Piacenza. The name was added to the EU register of protected designations of origin by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1263/96 of 1 July 1996. In an amendment application published in 2014 the producers asked to lower the finished pH floor from 5.4 to 5.2, to go with allowing starter cultures, and to add a +10 % tolerance on the humidity parameters in the maturing rooms. The consolidated specification now gives a finished pH of 5.2–6.5.

  1. [wsu-sausage] Washington State University Extension, Homemade Meat, Poultry, and Game Sausages (EB1661)gov
  2. [masaf-piacentino] MASAF, Disciplinare di produzione della DOP 'Salame Piacentino' (consolidated specification), Arts. 3–6gov
  3. [eu-piacentino-2010] European Commission 2010, Publication of an amendment application, 'Salame Piacentino' PDO, Official Journal C 122, 11.5.2010 (CELEX 52010XC0511(04))spec
  4. [eu-piacentino-2014] European Commission 2014, Publication of an amendment application, 'Salame Piacentino' PDO, Official Journal C 88, 27.3.2014 (CELEX 52014XC0327(02))spec
  5. [eu-reg-1263-1996] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1263/96 of 1 July 1996 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin, Official Journal L 163, 2.7.1996 (lists Salame Piacentino (PDO))spec
  6. [polka2015] Połka J., Rebecchi A., Pisacane V., Morelli L., Puglisi E. 2015, Bacterial diversity in typical Italian salami at different ripening stages as revealed by high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA amplicons, Food Microbiology 46:342-356 (abstract)paper