Speck can refer to a number of European cured pork products, typically salted and air-cured and often lightly smoked but not cooked.
In Germany, speck is pickled pork fat with or without some meat in it. In the Netherlands and Flanders, in Dutch, spek
'sic''is bacon.
Throughout much of the rest of Europe and parts of the English-speaking culinary world, speck is usually
South Tyrolean speck, a type of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
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 '' ...
. The term ''speck'' became part of popular parlance only in the eighteenth century and replaced the older term ''bachen'', a
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
of ''
bacon
Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...
''.
Regional varieties
There are a number of regional varieties of speck, including:
*
Bacon
Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...
, e.g. ''Frühstücksspeck'' ("breakfast speck") in Germany
* Gailtaler speck from
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, with
PGI status, which has been made since the 15th century in the
Gail
Gail may refer to:
People
* Gail (given name), list of notable people with the given name
Surname
* Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829), French Hellenist scholar
* Max Gail (born 1943), American actor
* Sophie Gail (1775–1819), French singer ...
Valley ("Gailtal") in
Carinthia
Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...
[Lebensmittelnet.at - Gailtaler Speck](_blank)
(accessed 9 January 2008)
* Schinkenspeck, German "ham bacon", typically made from a flat cut of ham with fat along one side resembling bacon, and traditionally soaked for several days in brine with
juniper
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...
berries and peppercorn
* Speck Sauris PGI, from
Sauris
Sauris () is a (municipality) in the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. At an elevation of , it is the second highest municipality in the region and one of the Germ ...
,
Friuli
Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...
, Italy
*
Speck Alto Adige PGI
Speck Alto Adige is a dry-cured, lightly smoked ham produced in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Parts of its production are regulated by the European Union under the protected geographical indication (PGI) status (see also: Tyrolean speck).
Unl ...
, from
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 ...
, Italy
*
Tyrolean speck from
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
's
Tyrol region, which has ''PGI'' status, and has been made since at least the 15th century
[Austria Tourist Info - Tirol](_blank)
German) (accessed 9 January 2008)
Jewish deli speck
In
Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine
Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of Traditional food, cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, Northwestern Europe, Northwestern and Northern Europe, Northern Europe, ...
, in which bacon (like all pork) is forbidden as
unkosher, "speck" commonly refers to the subcutaneous fat on a
brisket
Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the nine beef primal cuts, though the definition of the cut differs internationally. The brisket muscles include the Pectoralis major, superficial ...
of beef. It is a particular speciality of
delis
A delicatessen or deli is a grocery that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany (contemporary spelling: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the mid-19th centur ...
serving
Montreal-style smoked meat
Montreal-style smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat or (mainly in Quebec) simply smoked meat (French: ''viande fumée'', ''smoked meat'', or sometimes ''bœuf mariné'', literally "marinated beef") is a type of kosher-style deli meat product mad ...
, where slices of the fatty cut are served in sandwiches on rye bread with mustard, sometimes in combination with other, leaner cuts.
See also
*
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 ...
References
{{Fatsandoils
Ham
Salumi
Charcuterie
Smoked meat