A humble aged salame from the mountain communes of the Matera hinterland, a Slow Food Presidium made from the pig's most modest parts: throat, sinew, fibrous trimmings, stomach and leftover fat, minced and seasoned with salt, fresh garlic, wild fennel and powdered sweet Senise pepper, worked by the fist and aged only two to three weeks. Once the meat of the poor, it was cooked into a pot rather than sliced raw, and it is still the backbone of the Potenza Sunday ragù.
The pezzente ('pauper') belongs to the mountain communes of the Montagna Materana, among them Accettura, Aliano, Stigliano and Tricarico, where the poor could not afford prime cuts and turned the pig's throat, sinews and offcuts into a cheap salame to flavour their sauces. It was already noted in the 1931 Touring Club Italiano guide, and today it is a Slow Food Presidium that also works to save the native Nero di Lucania pig, once pastured wild in the woods of Gallipoli Cognato. It remains the indispensable meat of the Potenza Sunday ragù called 'ndruppeche'.
Firm and coarse-grained, drier and leaner than a fatty salame, with an upfront hit of garlic and the anise lift of wild fennel over a mild, sweet warmth of Senise pepper. Cooked into a sauce it dissolves into a deep, meaty savour that clings to the pasta.
Salt draws out moisture and, as the mince is worked by fist (the 'arricciatura'), dissolves myosin from the lean muscle into a sticky bind that glues the coarse, sinewy scraps into one cohesive salame. Over two to three weeks lactic bacteria ferment the meat's sugars to acid, dropping the pH so the proteins coagulate into a sliceable firmness and gain a clean tang, while surface drying lowers the water activity that spoilage organisms need to grow. The garlic's allicin and the anethole of wild fennel perfume the lean paste and lend a mild antimicrobial cover.
Variations
Makers vary the parts and the pepper, most using sweet Senise but some adding a touch of hot chilli; the meat is eaten mostly cooked, browned and simmered into the ndruppeche ragù or crumbled to enrich beans and greens, though a well-cured one is sliced thin as an antipasto. It is close kin to the other pezzente-style salami of Lucania and to the wider family of southern 'poor' salumi built on offcuts.
On the Palate
Where Pezzente della Montagna Materana sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
7 steps · 1 hour
- 140 min
Bone out and trim the humble cuts, the throat, fibrous trimmings, stomach and leftover fat, and chill them well.
- 220 min
Grind the meat and fat together to a coarse mince through a wide plate.
- 310 min
Season with salt, plenty of fresh crushed garlic, wild fennel and powdered sweet Senise pepper.
- 420 min
Work the mince hard by fist (the arricciatura) until it turns sticky and binds into a cohesive paste.
Watch outWork the mince by fist until it turns sticky and binds into one mass — that tacky bind is what glues the coarse scraps into a sliceable salame.
- 530 min
Stuff into natural casings, tie into links and prick to release trapped air.
- 625920 min
Hang in a cool, airy place to dry, and age two to three weeks until firm.
Watch outHang in cool, airy shade for two to three weeks until firm — too warm or damp and it spoils before it sets.
- 715 min
Slice it thin as it is, or brown and simmer it into a ragù.
