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PGI — Corsica
Corsica's salted and smoked pork belly — more accessible than the noble PDO (AOP) cuts, it holds an essential place in daily island cooking: fried with eggs, cooked with beans, or slipped into a soupe corse.
Charcuterie speciality from Corsica, PGI (IGP) since 2023.
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While Prisuttu and Lonzu PDO are the noble, festive cuts of Corsican charcuterie, Panzetta is the charcuterie of everyday life. A salted and smoked pork belly presented flat, it is found in every artisan drying room, in every village delicatessen, and on every charcuterie platter served for aperitifs on Corsican terraces. Its name recalls Italian pancetta, but its character is resolutely of the island: smoked over Corsican hardwoods (chestnut, oak, beech), seasoned with black pepper, and cured in the island's open air.
Corsican charcuterie long existed in a kind of limbo: PDO status for the three noble cuts (Coppa, Lonzu, Prisuttu), but nothing official for the other cuts — belly, saucisson, fromage de tête — which had nevertheless been part of its heritage for generations. In July 2023, the European Union filled this void by simultaneously registering four PGI (IGP) designations: Pancetta, Saucisson sec, Bulagna and Figatelli de l'Île de Beauté, enshrining the entire Corsican charcuterie industry.
Securing PGI status in 2023 represents the culmination of years of work by the Cunsorziu di i Salamaghji Corsi — Consortium des Salaisonniers Corses, founded in 2009 by nine island family businesses and now the official defence and management body for the Charcuterie de l'Île de Beauté PGI — which sought protection for all island charcuterie production, not just the PDO cuts. Panzetta, although not requiring an exclusive pig breed like the PDOs, must be produced within the Corsican geographical area (Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse) according to traditional methods, smoked exclusively over local hardwoods — coniferous wood is expressly excluded by the specifications.
Appearance
Presented flat — a parallelepiped-shaped piece with rind, or sometimes rolled in natural casing — amber outer rind (brown to golden); slices reveal several muscular layers interlarded with fat, ranging in hue from burgundy to white
Aroma
Initially a sustained blend of smoke and pepper, followed by a scent of dried and matured meat
Taste
A fine balance between salt, dried meat and fat, complemented by a distinct peppery note; a persistent, lingering smoky taste on the palate, without overpowering the overall flavours
Texture
Flesh that is supple and firm at the same time, owing to the alternating layers of fat and lean
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Panzetta is more versatile than the PDOs: it is naturally eaten in thin slices as an aperitif, but also lends itself well to cooking — fried as lardons in a soupe corse, roasted with beans or garden vegetables, or used as a substitute for bacon in numerous recipes. When cooked, it caramelises and develops additional aromas of grilled meat.
Since: 2023
Area covered: All of Corsica (2A + 2B)
Key requirements: Salting, smoking and drying carried out in Corsica (2A + 2B) · dry salt and black pepper mandatory · smoking exclusively with local hardwoods (conifers excluded) · drying until weight loss ≥ 10%
Family-run
Family-run
Artisan
Artisan
Artisanal manufacturer
Artisanal industry
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The Jean-Paul Vincensini et Fils farm describes itself as a breeder and processor of Corsican-breed pigs for more than 40 years, in San-Lurenzu, Haute-Corse. It produces its charcuterie — prisuttu, coppa, lonzu and saucisson sec — under the PDO (AOP), using organic farming methods.
It also offers organic terrines available in several recipes (chestnut, figatellu, fig and walnut, cured ham, myrtle, hazelnut and muscat, wild boar, veal, olive), as well as jams, honeys, cakes and canistrelli, vinegars and chestnut flour, all certified organic.
| Address | Lieu-dit Rebbia, route de Coïbiti, 20244 San-Lorenzo, France |
| 04 95 47 15 45 | |
| contact@vincensini.fr | |
| corse-bio.fr | |
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All production is certified organic, since 2005. |
Artisanal manufacturer
L'Atelu Corsu is a Corsican charcuterie producer based on Route d'Alata, in Ajaccio. The family business was established in 2011 by Valérie and Jacques François Milesi to realise a project initiated by their parents, Alain and Simone Milesi, who had run a food distribution company specialising in charcuterie, cured meats and poultry since 1979. By creating this production facility, the Milesi family sought to combine artisanal know-how with modern technology to champion Corsican charcuterie.
The workshop adheres to several quality schemes: HACCP, VPF certification (French pork), and organic certification (Agriculture Biologique) awarded in 2015 for saucisson, coppa and lonzo. Alongside the Consortium de la salaison de l'Île de Beauté, the enterprise is also involved in a PGI (IGP) application process covering seven flagship products — including pancetta de l'Île de Beauté — under the supervision of the INAO.
Paris
| Address | Route d'Alata, Les 7 Ponts, BP 169, 20178 Ajaccio Cedex 1 |
| 04 95 22 61 66 | |
| atelu-corsu.com | |
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Part of the production is certified organic, since 2015. |
