Culatello di Zibello is a cured meat with a protected designation of origin (EC regulation No. 1263/96) typical of the province of Parma. Listed among the Slow Food Presidia of Emilia-Romagna, Culatello, mentioned with certainty for the first time in a document dated 1735, is produced starting from the pork leg stuffed into the bladder of the pig itself.
The Consortium of Culatello di Zibello has established that processing can only take place in a specific and limited area and exclusively in the period between October and February, when the Bassa is shrouded in fog and cold. It is in that period that the part of meat obtained from the thigh of adult pigs, reared according to traditional methods, is decotenned, defatted, boned, separated from the bow and trimmed by hand, so as to give it the characteristic "pear" shape. The trimmings of the culatello and the fiocchetto are then used in the preparation of the strolghino.
These operations will then be followed, after about ten days, by the salting and the so-called investiture, that is the stuffing of the salami into the bladder of the pig and the tying with string which, after maturing, must have large and irregular meshes. The aging in the cellar accompanies the Culatello from the winter mists to the summer heat, to arrive on our tables the following winter in the fullest of its most original flavor qualities.
The seasoning period is from a minimum of 10 months for the smaller pieces (at least 3 kg) up to an average of 14 months for all the pieces. The annual production is about 50,000 pieces of Culatello di Zibello DOP.
