Linguaglossa strain sausage
In Linguaglossa, a village on the slopes of Etna, the sausage is prepared on the log, a section of the Etna oak trunk that has very dry wood due to the volcanic soils. If used well, the log lasts for decades: when it becomes uneven on the surface, it is leveled with great attention by local cabinetmakers. In dialect it is called "chianca", the same term that indicates the tree (oak chianca, olive chianca, fig chianca ...): once every Sicilian butcher had his chianca to work the meat and still today, in many parts of the island, the butcher is called "chiachiere". The tradition of working with the log, however, has remained strong only in Linguaglossa: here, even today, the butchers work on this large wooden surface with their personal recipe, as the oldest of them tells us, who started at eight years climbing on a small wooden stool to get to the stump, where he boned pigs and kneaded the sausage.
The basic ingredient is a mix of thigh cuts, bacon, guanciale, lard and capocollo, which are shredded into very small pieces with the "partituri" (a local knife) and then kneaded by hand and seasoned with salt, black pepper and seeds. of wild fennel harvested on Etna. The dose of each cut changes in each recipe and is a bit like the signature of the individual butcher. In some cases, the classic preparation is innovated a little with some other flavor: a pinch of spring onion or semi-dry tomato and seasoned provolone. We understand that the dough is perfectly blended by the sound it makes in the hands and by the fact that you can keep everything in a ball stuck in your finger. At that point it is stuffed into the natural casing and tied with string, forming sausage strings about two meters long.
Linguaglossa sausage is eaten fresh and cooked, but some butchers hang it in a cool and ventilated place for a light drying that lasts 20 to 25 days. The most classic recipe is grilled sausage with caliceddi, a spontaneous vegetable that is widespread on the slopes of Etna, which is blanched and put in a pan. According to tradition, “caliceddi e sasizza” cannot be missing from the table on 11 November, the day of San Martino.
The Presidium was created to enhance an ancient tradition and the territory that still preserves it. The pigs from which the raw material comes were born and raised in different parts of Sicily and some farms also produce the raw materials for their diet (barley, field beans, corn…). But this is not enough: butchers are always looking for non-intensive farms that pay attention to animal welfare, and there is a strong interest in developing organic supply chains, especially on the part of young people. Some initiatives are underway, but the Presidium will give an important boost to this process, promoting the development of sustainable farms also in Linguaglossa and its surroundings.
Furthermore, Linguaglossa sausage is free of additives and preservatives and well represents the Slow Food campaign in defense of natural cured meats.
Production area
Municipalities of Linguaglossa, Piedimonte Etneo and Castiglione di Sicilia, province of Catania
Supported by
Municipality of Linguaglossa
(Text source: https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/it/presidi-slow-food/salsiccia-al-ceppo-di-linguaglossa/)
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Photo: web
Information contributions: Ignazio Caloggero / Web
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