Speck dell'Alto Adige — Cold-Smoked Cured Ham

Origin

South Tyrol (Alto Adige), Trentino-Alto Adige. The alternating smoke-and-air technique is specific to the mountain valleys of the South Tyrol, where cold Alpine air and beechwood or juniper smoke were both readily available. IGP status since 1996.

Description

Speck dell'Alto Adige IGP is the defining charcuterie of the South Tyrol: a dry-cured and cold-smoked ham that occupies a unique position between prosciutto crudo (unsmoked, southern Italian) and northern European smoked hams. The curing uses sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, juniper, and bay, applied in multiple stages over 3 months; the smoking is alternated with periods of mountain-air drying — never continuous smoking, which would cook the fat. The result is a ham with the delicacy of Italian prosciutto and the aromatic complexity of smoked mountain charcuterie.

III

The Thread

—Cold-smoked, dry-cured ham from the Black Forest — the same principle of alternating cold smoking and air drying; Schwarzwälder uses fir branches where speck uses juniper and beechwood German

—Smoked mountain ham — some Iberian producers smoke their hams as speck is smoked; the result is comparable but the spice profile is different (paprika instead of juniper) Spanish

Flavour Context

Speck has a distinctive tripartite flavour: the sweet cured ham, the aromatic juniper-and-pepper spice, and the cold smoke. The fat is translucent and slightly firmer than Parma ham fat; it melts at body temperature to release the aromatic compounds absorbed during curing. This is the most complex flavour profile of the Italian prosciuttos.

Pillars V — VII

The full training pages are part of membership.

Quality hierarchy, sensory tests, and where the dish lives or dies — on every entry in the Library.

Enter · from $49 a year

← PreviousSpeck Alto Adige IGP — Cold-Smoked Cured Ham of the Dolomites Next →Speck Alto Adige — Cold-Smoked Alpine Cured Ham

‹ Trentino-Alto Adige · Contents · The Library