More than 100 years after the Maestro's death, the "Verdi salami" comes back to life. The brothers Massimo and Luciano Spigaroli, great-grandsons of Carlo, brought the historic cured meat back to life. by Giuseppe Verdi. The famous composer, as well as the passion for opera music, also had a passion for agriculture: few know it, but he was a skilled and shrewd entrepreneur, able to produce that variety of salami which was then lost over time, given that the black pig of Parma, from which it was obtained, has disappeared to make way for the Large White breed, ideal for raising with the dairy waste of Parmesan.
“But we are stubborn – he said Massimo Spigaroli, who with his brother Luciano set up the Antica Corte Pallavicina in Polesine Parmense, a temple of Emilian taste -. My passion for the black pig of Parma was born in 2001 on the occasion of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Verdi's death. Our great-grandfather made cured meats for the Maestro and I wanted to re-propose the same flavors in a menu".
“After so many unsuccessful attempts – Spigaroli also pointed out – I recovered some dark subjects from a farmer in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines. And with the help of the University of Parma we have carried out a selection that has given us back the true black pig of Parma, famous since the days of the Roman Empire”. The result is that today there are 1500 animals and a protection consortium, despite the fact that the black pig, unlike the white one, is decidedly less profitable: it grows more slowly (it is ready in two years versus nine months), has fewer children and needs of spaces four times the size, with soil for rooting.
But according to Spigaroli, the game is worth the candle: “Give one exceptional meat: tender, tasty and red like that of an ox. When I made my first cured meats I found lost flavours. I was moved. The noble parts, such as the tenderloin, are pre-salted, aged for 120 days and served just seared. We put the fat, pounded and flavoured, on a clay-cooked potato. I recommend handling it as little as possible: a roast beef is a perfect choice”. Those who want to taste it at home can discover the shops authorized to sell it on the consortium website. Or go toOld Court Pallavicina, where in addition to the company there are two restaurants and a relais and which also has a particular history, linked to Verdi.
It all began in 1882. “All thanks to a hare – recalls Massimo Spigaroli -, if my grandfather hadn't killed it by mistake, or if instead of honestly declaring it if he had eaten it, he wouldn't have been kicked out of Maestro Verdi's farm and would not have arrived at the Pallavicina Court. And we wouldn't be here today." The reign of Massimo and Luciano Spigaroli began in the family restaurant, Al Cavallino Bianco, up to this company where it is possible to have a gourmet experience (it was also frequented and appreciated by people such as Alain Ducasse and Charles of England). and where the culatello di Zibello is also produced, winner of the title of "supreme culatello" at the grand gala of the dedicated Confraternity and now omnipresent on the counters of Italian haute cuisine and on the tables of starred restaurants.
The "18 months" also won Excellence in the Grandi Salumi guide of Gambero Rosso. “It is a matter of respect for traditions and proportions – adds Spigaroli -. We have given ourselves some numbers: 5.000 pieces of culatello a year in over 1.200 square metres. Not more. This is the relationship that allows us to tour the cellars and ancient rooms overlooking the Po. The cured meat thrives on a microclimate. If we take it away we will no longer have that exaltation of aromas and tastes due to the noble molds of the over XNUMX-year-old maturing cellars, we will no longer have that soft and velvety consistency, that sweet and particular flavor of stream essences that recall roses and violets. All things that the proximity of the river Po gives us”.
