Musciame or mosciame is a traditional Italian preserved meat made from the salted and sun-dried flesh of

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

s. It is black, and looks like a piece of charred wood hanging from a string. It was made by the sailors and fishermen of the coast of

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

Versilia Versilia is a part of Tuscany in the north-western province of Lucca and southern part of Massa-Carrara, and is named after the Versilia river. Known for fashionable Riviera resorts, it consists of numerous clubs that are frequented by local celeb ...

; under European law, it may no longer be legally produced or sold. A somewhat similar product in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

made from

fillet Fillet may refer to: *Annulet (architecture), part of a column capital, also called a fillet *Fillet (aircraft), a fairing smoothing the airflow at a joint between two components *Fillet (clothing), a headband *Fillet (cut), a piece of meat *Fille ...

tuna A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...

, often sold as "mosciame di tonno", is essentially the same as the mojama de atún of Spain.

Production

Musciame was made on board ship by the sailors and fishermen of the

n and

n coast, in north-west Italy. Strips of

meat were salted, then hung by a string from the mast to dry in the sun for about a week. The result had the appearance of a small log charred by fire. The meat was black, and became hard if kept for long. Musciame may not legally be sold or produced in Italy. Intentional killing of dolphins is prohibited by the

Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The E ...

of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, 92/43/CEE. Under the terms of EU regulation 338/97, where cetaceans are listed in Appendix A, it is illegal to buy, sell or obtain dolphin meat. In 2014, after an ''exposé'' by an investigative reporter from the television programme ''

Le Iene ''Le Iene'' (; , but referencing the Italian name of Quentin Tarantino's 1992 movie ''Reservoir Dogs'') is an Italian television program. The program ''Le Iene'' is a television program broadcast on the Italian channel Italia 1. Beginning in 1997, ...

'', the Guardia Costiera and the port authorities of

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (; meaning "ancient town") is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located west-north-west of Rome. The harbour is formed by two pier ...

confiscated vacuum-packed musciame destined to be secretly served in a restaurant in the area, and investigated those responsible for trafficking in it. In the same year, the corpse of a young bottlenose dolphin was found butchered on a beach at Golfo Aranci in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

; the , the national league for the protection of animals, said that it had been slaughtered for musciame. According to a report published in 2015 by the , the Italian anti-vivisection league, illegal killing of dolphins for musciame production continues.

Consumption

Musciame was a basic element of the diet of Ligurian seamen, who ate it with ship's biscuit softened with sea-water and vinegar, accompanied by vegetables. It is eaten very thinly sliced; it may be simply seasoned with olive oil, or served on slices of tomato, or accompanied by boiled beans and onion. If the meat is particularly hard it may need to be softened by soaking in cold water for a few hours.

Musciame di tonno

Dolphin musciame may be substituted with a similar food, musciame di tonno, which is made from

. It is prepared in the summer months by salting strips of tuna fillet from the large conical muscle known as ''bodano'', which are then sun-dried, smoked, or – more often – dried in a warm oven.

References

{{Dried fish and seafood Dried meat Gastronomy in Italy Cuisine of Liguria Dolphins

Production

Consumption

Musciame di tonno

See also

References