Coppa

TAST­ING NOTES FROM THE CURATOR

Orig­i­nat­ing from areas along the coasts of South­ern Italy, cop­pa — oth­er­wise known as capoc­ol­lo or capi­co­la, is a dry cured meat sim­i­lar to pro­sciut­to. Although not as wide­ly pop­u­lar as pro­sciut­to or sala­mi, cop­pa is a val­ued culi­nary cut, mak­ing it a hid­den gem of Ital­ian cured meats. Made from the ​“cop­pa,” a col­lec­tion of mus­cles of the pork that runs through the neck and shoul­der (“capo” lit­er­al­ly means head, and ​“col­lo” means neck), it is a beau­ti­ful­ly mar­bled meat that is 30% fat and 70% lean, mak­ing it ten­der and moist, even after being cured. 

This Ital­ian cold cut is still made in the tra­di­tion­al way. The pork meat is put in a tub filled with a mari­nade of red wine, spices, and herbs, before being rubbed with salt and put into sausage cas­ings to be cured for three to six months. The spices and herbs used dif­fer with each region, with some using cin­na­mon or oak bark, and some using vine­gar or chili pep­pers. The herbs and spices, how­ev­er, are nev­er over­pow­er­ing. They lend a light and unique fla­vor to the meats, bal­anc­ing the ten­der, fat­ty tex­ture. The care­ful prepa­ra­tion of this pork cold cut ensures that the meat has a slight­ly chewy, melt-in-your-mouth consistency.

PREPA­RA­TION OR PAIRINGS

Cop­pa is great on its own, whether cooked or uncooked. Make it the star of the show on your cheese and antipasti plat­ters — it pairs beau­ti­ful­ly with hard cheeses, olives, and apple slices! But the Ital­ian cold cut is also a very ver­sa­tile meat; it’s light earthy fla­vor can high­light and enhance any­thing you put it on.

• Wrap it around spears of aspara­gus or chunks of mel­on for appe­tiz­ers, or use it to dress up your dishes.
• You can crisp it up to use as gar­nish to ele­vate your sal­ads and pastas.
• Or use it as an ingre­di­ent for piz­zas and omelets to give them a mild but deli­cious heat.
• Smear a thin lay­er of may­on­naise on light­ly toast­ed sour­dough or cia­bat­ta, add some slices of cop­pa, some grilled onions, and top with Pro­volone cheese, and you have your­self an incred­i­ble sandwich.

AN ANCIENT TRADITION

Cured meats have been around for a long time, and cop­pa could be one of the old­est. Doc­u­ment­ed pro­duc­tion of cop­pa has been around since the ear­ly 1800s, but more records show that its ori­gins date even far­ther back. It could be traced to the Magna Grae­cia peri­od, an era in his­to­ry when the areas along the coast of South­ern Italy were colonies of Greece, between the 8^th and 5^th cen­turies BC. The pigs used for cop­pa come from the same area it is pro­duced, which has remained the same: the Cal­abria region, which occu­pies the ​“toe” of the boot shape that makes up Italy.

Storage Instructions

Vac­u­um-sealed packs of hand-carved cured meats can last up to five months in the refrig­er­a­tor (nev­er the freez­er). Once the pack is opened, they’re best enjoyed with­in the day.