Beef Bresaola Product Description
Makers of Bresaola still use age-old
meat preparation techniques. This famed specialty from the Lombardy region
of Italy, where it is typically eaten raw. Bresaola is salted and air dried
meat, made from the tenderloin or fillet. It has a very dark red color, and
is simply eaten sliced thinly, with olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper.
Bresaola and charcuterie:
Charcuterie is typical of Contado di Chiavenna, and Bresaola (cured raw beef),
or Brisaola in local dialect, is definitely the best known local product. Recognized
by the Protected Geographical Indication, it has been renowned in Valchiavenna since
1400.
Its name is said to derive from the word brasa or brace, meaning embers, which
were used for drying the meat; hence the name brasa-saola, shortened to Bresaola.
Bresaola is only produced with beef (top-round) between two and four years old. The
muscular mass is trimmed and dry cured; drying takes an average of a week and the meat
has to dehydrate rapidly during the first days of treatment. It has a delicate and
slightly aromatic flavor and a pleasant taste, which is moderately salty and never acidic.
The finished product is cylindrical in shape.
One of the most famous products of Valtellina
is Slinzega, made from cuts of horsemeat cured with a dry salting method. The salt mixture
contains bay, juniper, garlic and pepper and the meat is sometimes bathed in wine. Cut into
fine slices, Slinzega is eaten as an appetizer or a simple, unseasoned snack.
There is also Violino, whose name derives from the way it is held for cutting rather than the shape itself:
you hold the meat like a violin and the knife like a bow. Ham made from the haunch of a goat
or a sheep often also roe-deer and chamois is a specialty of Valle Spluga. It is produced
by local artisans and sold in local shops or a few city stores.
The Cotecotto and Prosciutto
di Gallivaggio are also worth a mention.
Valtellina's charcuterie culture is based around crotti, which are natural cavities in
the rocks formed by major landslides. A breeze of air called the sorel blows up from the
depths of these cavities, which inhabitants use for conserving charcuterie, bresaola and
wine.
For more information, contact the Consorzio Tutela del Nome Bresaola della Valtellina
Text Courtesy of www.valtellinasapori.it
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