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Meat from Italy

Salame Felino IGPSalame Felino

Salame Felino is a Parma salami of pork muscle and fat minced through a 6–8 mm plate, seasoned with salt, pepper and crushed garlic and stuffed into natural pig casing. It is dried warm for 4 to 6 days, then matured at 12–18 °C for at least 25 days. A small amount of native mould grows on its surface and leaves it slightly powdery. Its rules keep the pH above 5.3.

Fully documentedMeat29 days – 31 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceShares of the meat weight as set by the PGI specification (Reg. (EU) No 186/2013).
Pork muscle and fat (testa di pancetta and/or trito di banco)Never frozen; trimmed of large connective tissue and soft fat[eu-felino-2011]
Salt2–2.8 %[eu-felino-2011][er-felino-2023]
Whole pepper and/or pepper pieces0.03–0.06 %[eu-felino-2011][er-felino-2023]
Crushed garlic[eu-felino-2011]
Dry white wine (optional)Up to 400 cl per 100 kg of meat[eu-felino-2011]
Sugar, dextrose and/or fructose (optional)0–0.3 %[eu-felino-2011]
Starter cultures (optional)Used to develop aroma and flavour, stabilise the colour and limit acidification[eu-felino-2011]
Curing additives (optional)Nitrate at most 300 mg/kg; nitrite at most 150 mg/kg; ascorbic acid at most 1 g/kgSpecification limits; EU additive law has set lower caps since 9 October 2025 (see safety)[eu-felino-2011]
Starterstarter cultures are an optional ingredient; the specification says natural fermentation and enzyme action develop during maturing

Total time across the recorded steps: 29 days – 31 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
at least -1 °C

What changes: The trimmed pork rests in a cold store and loses some water

Step 1 of 5
Rest the meat in a cold store
Time
Not documented
Temperature
at least -1 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Salame Felino is a Parma salami of pork muscle and fat minced through a 6–8 mm plate, seasoned with salt, pepper and crushed garlic and stuffed into natural pig casing. It is dried warm for 4 to 6 days, then matured at 12–18 °C for at least 25 days. A small amount of native mould grows on its surface and leaves it slightly powdery. Its rules keep the pH above 5.3. Made in 5 steps over 29 days – 31 days. The longest step, mature, takes at least 25 days (Regione Emilia-Romagna 2023) and runs at 12–18 °C (Regione Emilia-Romagna 2023). Salt is 2–2.8 % (European Commission 2011). Lactobacilli does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 25 daysSet[er-felino-2023]Mature
Temperature12–18 °CSet[er-felino-2023]Mature
Salt2–2.8 %Set[eu-felino-2011]Mince and season
AciditypH at least 5.3Set[eu-felino-2011][eu-felino-2025]Mature

What makes this one different

Salame Felino is tied with a single twine, never a net, and dried warm for 4–6 days. It contains no lactose or milk powder, and its rules keep the pH above 5.3, which the single document calls a moderately high pH.

Related ferments

Safety

The specification caps nitrate at 300 mg/kg and nitrite at 150 mg/kg, sets pH above 5.3 and a water/protein ratio of at most 2.00, and keeps slicing and packing under the control body. Since 9 October 2025 EU law caps added nitrite in non-heat-treated meat products at 80 mg/kg and added nitrate at 90 mg/kg (as the ions), lower than the specification's limits. These are figures for controlled production, not a home method. Washington State University Extension does not recommend making dry sausage at home, because S. aureus toxin can form if fermentation is not rigidly controlled.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Pig curing around Parma is tied in the specification to salt from Salsomaggiore and to methods going back to Etruscan and Roman times. Registered as an EU PGI in 2013 (Regulation (EU) No 186/2013); a standard amendment was approved in 2025.

  1. [eu2023-2108] Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/2108 of 6 October 2023 on nitrites and nitrates as food additivesspec
  2. [wsu-sausage] Washington State University Extension, Homemade Meat, Poultry, and Game Sausages (EB1661)gov
  3. [eu-felino-2011] European Commission 2011, Publication of an application, single document 'Salame Felino' PGI, Official Journal C 19, 20.1.2011 (CELEX 52011XC0120(03)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  4. [er-felino-2023] Regione Emilia-Romagna, Bollettino Ufficiale (BURERT) February 2023, Modifica del disciplinare di produzione IGP 'Salame Felino', synoptic table of the specification in force and the proposed text, Art. 5gov
  5. [eu-felino-2025] European Commission 2025, Communication of an approved standard amendment, 'Salame Felino' PGI (PGI-IT-0597-AM01), with single document, Official Journal C/2025/2973, 5.6.2025spec