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PGI — Corsica
Smoked over hardwoods from the Corsican maquis, dried in the open air of the island's mountains — Salciccia is the obligatory starter of any Corsican meal worthy of the name, robust and balanced, with incomparable aromas of terroir.
Charcuterie speciality from Corsica, PGI (IGP) since 2023.
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The Corsican dry-cured sausage, Salciccia, shares a common origin with Figatelli — granted PGI (IGP) status on the same day, in July 2023: minced pork meat and fat, salted and peppered. Yet their culinary callings diverge: Figatelli, whose name derives from the Corsican fegatu (liver), is a fresh liver sausage that must be cooked, enjoyed grilled, roasted or fried; Salciccia, on the other hand, contains neither liver nor offal — only lean pork and fat, salted, peppered and dried — and is destined for curing, to be savoured thinly sliced.
Dry curing has been part of Corsican culinary heritage for centuries, representing one of the island's oldest methods of preserving pork, closely tied to chestnut cultivation — chestnut wood being used both for agriculture and for smoking charcuterie. The recognition process for Salciccia began in 2017 and culminated in national PGI status by decree on 20 April 2018, followed by European registration on 26 July 2023: the PGI did not invent Salciccia, it formalises and protects know-how handed down from generation to generation.
The recognition of Salciccia as a PGI was not met with unanimous approval within the Corsican sector. The "Salameria Corsa" PDO charcuterie union — which defends the Coppa, Lonzo and Prisuttu PDOs, made exclusively from the Corsican Nustrale pig breed — fiercely criticised this recognition upon its national grant in 2018, and again during its European registration in 2023: the PGI specifications do not make the genetic origin of the pig a requirement, unlike the PDO. "We defend PDOs, a breed, know-how," summarises Philippe Vincensini, vice-president of the union. The president of the Haute-Corse chamber of agriculture goes further: in his eyes, the absence of breed criteria in the PGI is legal, but not moral towards the consumer.
Appearance
Roughly cylindrical shape, natural casing that may be dusted with a fine whitish to ash-grey bloom; uneven amber to brown exterior colour; when sliced, brown to burgundy meat grains marbled with white fat grains from a coarse mince.
Aroma
Initially a sustained aroma blending smoke and pepper, followed by a scent of dried meat.
Taste
A fine balance between salt, dried meat and fat, enhanced by a pronounced peppery note; a persistent smoky taste with length on the palate, without masking the other flavours.
Texture
Heterogeneous, alternating between the firmness of the meat grains and the melting richness of the fat grains.
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Salciccia is enjoyed thinly sliced or cut into rounds on a Corsican charcuterie platter, alongside Lonzu, Coppa and Prisuttu. It pairs wonderfully with fresh Brocciu for a balance between strength and mildness. In cooking, it can be incorporated into a Corsican soup or an island pasta asciutta.
Since: 2023
Area covered: All of Corsica (2A + 2B)
Key requirements: Production and processing in Corsica · smoking exclusively with local hardwoods (conifers excluded) · drying until weight loss ≥ 25 % · natural casing
Family-run
Family-run
Artisan
Artisan
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 | |
|
All production is certified organic, since 2005. |
