The Best Italian Cup

The terms copa or capocollo (more rarely capicolo) are used to indicate the same type of cured meat, the first term is used in the regions of northern Italy while the second mainly in the central-south and in the south.

Coppa is a fairly fatty sausage and one of the richest in sodium ever. The cup is produced with the pigs' neck muscles. The production is scattered throughout our peninsula and the recipes (and consequently the caloric intake) vary depending on the area in which it is carried out. The cup is called ossocollo in Veneto, capocollo in Campania, fennel in Siena, loin in Lazio or loin in Marche and Abruzzo.

It is a sausage that is present in the Italian territory with various interpretations and recipes, and is obtained by processing the upper portion of the pig's neck and a part of the shoulder. The best way to enjoy this magnificent sausage is to cut it with a knife and simply accompany it with a slice of homemade bread and a glass of good red wine. There are many types of cups: from Parma to Piacentina to Calabrese, each with its own IGP or DOP brand

Coppa, the story of a precious Italian cured meat

The pork cup is one of the most valuable pork products together with the ham and the backrest. Already in 1632, Canon Giovanbattista Barpo mentioned the packaging of 'ham and suppressed' in his volume “The delights of Agriculture and the Villa”. By 'hams' we mean meat from whole pieces (thighs, shoulders, loins) salted under light pressure to facilitate the extraction of water. The cup today is generally produced by professional butchers-charcuterie makers, especially by large producers. Since the 1980s, artificial casings have been used for the most part, which makes it possible to speed up bagging and is safer in terms of hygiene.

Cup and ossoneck: how are they made?

To make the cup there is not only one method, it is a cold cut whose recipe changes from area to area. In principle, let's say that the meat is salted and massaged, an operation necessary to promote the uniform distribution of salt. Then they are stuffed in a natural shell and aged for several months.

During the processing, spices and aromatic herbs typical of the different places where the sausage is produced are added. For seasoning, in the past, the meat was wrapped in raw cloth or tied with hemp twine.

The ossoneck is prepared starting from the pig's cup, the muscle part around the neck bone. It is trimmed and sprinkled with salt, pepper, cloves and cinnamon, and then it is stuffed into natural adult bovine guts and left to mature for a long time, in which its unmistakable flavor is formed. It is one of the most famous and traditional cold cuts in Italian charcuterie history. When cut, it is aromatic and characteristic, with an intense taste that tends to be sweet.

Cup: how to use it in the kitchen

The cup is a cured meat with multiple uses, which goes well with different dishes thanks to its particular spicy flavor, strong but never too intrusive. In the dried version, therefore intended as cold cuts, the copa can be an excellent substitute for the usual pasta with bacon or amatriciane.

The cup is generally offered as a cold cut, to be eaten with bread. The Piacenza cup is often proposed as an appetizer, even combined with apples. Excellent pairing with Bonarda wine.