Salsiccia di Norcia — Norcian Pork Sausage Technique

Norcia, Perugia province, Umbria. The craft of the Norcino (pork butcher) is documented from the medieval period — the Norcini were itinerant specialists who traveled throughout central and northern Italy in winter to slaughter and butcher pigs. Their home base of Norcia gave the craft its name.

Norcia is the capital of Italian salumi — the Norcino (butcher's craft of Norcia) was so central to Italian food culture that the word norcino became synonymous with skilled pork butcher throughout Italy. The fresh salsiccia di Norcia is the foundation: coarsely ground pork (shoulder and belly), seasoned with salt, black pepper, and the particular local spice mix (sometimes with wild fennel seed), stuffed into natural casings, and either used fresh (within 2-3 days) or lightly cured (hung for 10-15 days to semi-dry). The fresh sausage is used in ragù, grilled, or dried briefly and used to dress pasta or beans.

Fresh salsiccia di Norcia has the clean, direct pork flavour of high-quality meat with minimal processing — the coarse grind means each piece of casing contains a varied texture of lean and fat, all seasoned consistently with black pepper. Grilled over charcoal, the fat renders and char forms, producing one of the most satisfying simple grilled meats in Italy.