Scottish food lovers will have the chance to sample the delicious diversity of Italian cured meats this month at a series of special events which will highlight the tradition, flavours and forward thinking of the country’s increasingly sustainable meat industry

Do you know your Coppa from your Mortadella, your Bresaola from your Finocchiona?

A series of exciting gastronomic events across Scotland this month hopes to educate chefs and consumers about delicious and diverse Italian deli meats and their role in Italian culture and cuisine.

It’s a traditional industry, but one that looks confidently to the future, endeavouring to year on year become more sustainable in line with the UN Sustainability goals. 

The events are organised by the Italian Trade Agency, ASSICA (Associazione Industriali delle Carni e dei Salumi), the Italian national trade organisation representing producers of deli meats and suppliers to the industry, and supported by the Italian Salumi Promotion Institute (IVSI), a non-profit organisation that raises awareness of the industry both in Italy and abroad. 

It’s a vital national industry: across Italy there are around 4,000 farms involved in pork production, 200 slaughterhouses and 900 larger processing companies and over a thousand micro-enterprises and small family businesses. In total the sector employs around 30,000 people. 

Currently Italy exports more deli meats than any other country in the world, overtaking Germany in 2016. ASSICA is keen to share the huge improvements in sustainability that the sector has achieved in recent years. 

A sustainability drive was launched in 2021 as part of a larger national scheme from the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition called ‘Made Green in Italy’.

Companies achieving high sustainability standards will be able to use the ‘Made Green in Italy’ label. Within the salumi sector all the pork must come from animals born, reared and slaughtered within Italy. 

ASSICA has developed a series of best practices for the sector in line with the sustainability goals, including use of sustainable fuel sources, working towards closed water cycles, targeted waste reduction, improvements in packaging, and participation in ocean waste packaging collection to compensate for virgin plastics used.

Many Italian cured meats are protected by PDO or PGI status, which are geographical indicators (GIs) used on food products to mark exceptional quality and regional authenticity. The PDO label stands for Protected Designation of Origin (in Italian DOP), guarantees the strongest links between product and place. 

This status helps safeguard the unique characteristics of individual food products: a food product must be produced, processed and prepared in a specific area, using a particular, usually traditional, method. 

The validation process is complex, with certification carried out by strict European Commission rules.  PGI status (IGP in Italian) is similar but slightly less stringent, products must have a close link to a geographic area, with at least one stage of production, processing or preparation taking place within the designated area. 

Across the EU there are 152 deli meats holding the coveted PGO or PGI status, and 43 of these are Italian. The deli meats included in the promotional events include Bresaola della Valtellina IGP, Coppa Piacentina DOP,  Finocchiona IGP, Mortadella Bologna IGP, Pancetta Piacentina DOP, Prosciutto di Parma DOP, Prosciutto di San Daniele DOP, Salamini Italiani alla Cacciatora and Speck Alto Adige PGI.

 Some will be more familiar to Scottish chefs and consumers than others, all are delicious and well worth sampling and learning about. 

Giovanna Eusebi, from popular Glasgow Italian restaurant Eusebi’s Deli

In Glasgow, future chefs and hospitality industry workers studying at City of Glasgow College will be invited to a special event by the industry. The deputy director of the Italian Trade Agency, the principal of the City of Glasgow College, and a representative of ASSICA will speak to the students.

Giovanna Eusebi, from popular Glasgow Italian restaurant Eusebi’s Deli, will discuss the individual cured meats, her family connection to these ingredients, and give tips for identifying when a product is genuine and how to avoid fake lower quality products, plus many more insights. 

There will then be culinary demonstrations from Gary Maclean, Scotland’s national chef, and Giovanna’s head chef Sebastian Wereski, a former student of the college. Both chefs will demonstrate dishes, both classic Italian and with a Scottish twist, showing exciting ways to use the meats. 

Gary Maclean, Scotland’s national chef

Today Italian deli meats are a healthier choice than they have ever been. Many have reduced salt and saturated fats, and more products are now available that are suitable for coeliac or lactose-free diets. 

In Edinburgh the salumi will be celebrated by three of the city’s top Italian restaurants. A media dinner will be held at Contini on George Street to explore the diversity of the meats. 

Edinburgh diners can also sample the salumi at Locanda de Gusti in Dalry and Osteria dei Sapori in Colinton, both will offer special promotional menus on the 27th and 28th of September.

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