Charcuterie Corse: Prisuttu, Lonzu, Coppa, Figatellu

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Corsican charcuterie is the island's single greatest culinary achievement — a family of cured pork products made from the porcu nustrale (Corsican native pig, a semi-wild, dark-bristled breed descended from Sus scrofa that roams the maquis and chestnut forests, feeding on chestnuts, acorns, roots, and wild herbs). The four pillars: Prisuttu (AOC/AOP pending) is the Corsican ham — a whole hind leg dry-salted for 5-6 weeks, then air-dried for 12-24 months in mountain séchoirs at 600-1,200m altitude, where the cold, dry mountain air and the aromatic maquis winds create a ham of extraordinary depth: deep ruby-red, intensely nutty (from the chestnut diet), with a lingering herbal finish. Lonzu is the loin — a boneless pork loin marinated in red wine (typically Patrimonio or Nielluccio), rubbed with pepper, encased in natural casing, and dried for 4-6 months. It is the most delicate Corsican charcuterie: silky, mildly spiced, with a wine-perfumed fat cap. Coppa is the neck (échine) — salted, peppered, sometimes rubbed with piment, cased in natural intestine, and dried for 5-6 months. It is richer and fattier than lonzu, with a marbled cross-section and a robust, peppery flavor. Figatellu is the liver sausage — a U-shaped fresh or semi-dried sausage of pork liver, meat, and fat, heavily seasoned with garlic and sometimes myrtle, smoked over chestnut or maquis wood. Unlike the other three (which are eaten raw in thin slices), figatellu is grilled over chestnut-wood embers and eaten with pulenda (chestnut polenta) — the most characterful winter meal in Corsica. All four products depend on the porcu nustrale's diet: the chestnuts and acorns provide the specific fat composition (higher in oleic acid, similar to Ibérico pigs) that gives Corsican charcuterie its distinctive sweetness and melt.

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