Speck Alto Adige is a
dry-cured, lightly
smoked ham
Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...
produced in
South Tyrol
South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...
, northern Italy. Parts of its production are regulated by the European Union under the
protected geographical indication
Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and Traditional food, traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG), promote ...
(PGI) status (see also:
Tyrolean speck).
Unlike
prosciutto
Prosciutto ( ; ), also known as ''prosciutto crudo'', is an uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. It is usually served thinly sliced.
Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crudo'', each with degrees of protected ...
, speck Alto Adige is smoked (''prosciutto affumicato'').
Inspection and quality brand
Speck Alto Adige PGI is protected by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
as a
protected geographical indication
Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and Traditional food, traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG), promote ...
(PGI). This status is assigned only to selected products obtained according to traditional methods and in specific geographical areas.
To guarantee the quality and authenticity of Speck Alto Adige PGI, the quality consortium ''Südtiroler Speck Consortium'', together with the independent control institute INEQ (Istituto Nord Est Qualità), has developed an inspection system applied to all production phases, from meat selection to the finished product.
Nutrition information
Speck Alto Adige has a high protein content. The nutrition facts per 100 g serving are:
Events linked to Speck Alto Adige
The most famous event linked to Speck Alto Adige is the ''Südtiroler Speckfest'', namely the traditional speck festival held each year in fall in St. Magdalena,
Villnöß/Funes, at the base of the
Dolomites
The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...
mountain range. The ''Südtiroler Speckfest'', in 2010 at its 8th edition, is an event organized together by the Villnöß tourism association, the ''Südtiroler Speck Consortium'' quality consortium and the EOS – South Tyrol Export Organization of the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano. Each year, at the festival, Hans Mantinger "Gletscherhons", a master in the art of slicing speck, presents his surprise creations.
Südtiroler Speckfest
/ref>
See also
* List of hams
* List of dried foods
This is a list of dried foods. Food drying is a method of food preservation that works by removing water from the food, which inhibits the growth of bacteria and has been practiced worldwide since ancient times to preserve food. Where or when d ...
* List of smoked foods
This is a list of smoked foods. Smoking (cooking), Smoking is the process of seasoning, flavoring, cooking, or food preservation, preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Foods have been smoke ...
* Tyrolean speck
References
External links
Speck dell' Alto Adige: Application for PGI Registration (EN/06/95/94700000.P00 (IT) dcy/dcy)
European Commission
European Commission
* ttp://www.speck.it/ Official website of the PGI product
{{Ham
Cuisine of South Tyrol
Salumi
Ham
Smoked meat