Grecanico azze anca capicollo

History and origin

Talking about the Grecanico capicollo, «capicoddho azze anca» in dialect, means travelling back in time, to the part of the province of Reggio Calabria known as the Bovesìa or Grecanic area, between the lower Ionian coast of Reggio and the Aspromonte.

This is where the Greeks of Calabria have their roots, the Greek-speaking linguistic minority that is still an important part of the population. In some inland villages, such as Bova, Gallicianò and Roghudi, a few elderly people still speak Calabrian Greek, a dialect close to the one local farmers and shepherds learned from the ancient Greeks.

In this southernmost tip of the region the leg capicollo has played, and still plays, a leading role in household pork curing. The Slow Food Presidium was set up to save a very old tradition and to make known a land rich in history and culture.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Capicollo azze anca grecanico

Area and method of production

In most of Calabria capicollo is made from the upper loin; the Grecanico one instead comes from the boned leg, carefully cut and divided. The meat is covered in sea salt and rests in a cool place for three or four days, massaged regularly.

Cleaned of salt, the capicollo is wrapped in thin veils of fat, which keep it pink and especially soft. It is then sprinkled with red chilli flakes, «to pipeddhi», wild fennel seeds, «to màtharo», and coarsely ground black pepper, stuffed into a pig's bladder, enclosed in a tight net and tied.

Ageing lasts at least 180 days and follows the old method, in the «catoi», the basements of rural houses, where small openings in doors and windows, the «cetti», let in the tramontana or mistral winds. Producers raise their pigs semi-free-range and process the meat without additives or preservatives, from November to March.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Capicollo azze anca grecanico

How to recognise it

Once aged, the azze anca capicollo is rosy in colour with intense aromas. The veils of fat that wrap it during processing preserve its softness and colour.

On the palate its savouriness is softened by the sweetness of the leg meat and accompanied by the aromatic notes of wild fennel and chilli, which support rather than overwhelm its particular delicacy.

It comes stuffed in a natural pig's bladder, bound in a tight net and tied. It is made from November to March within a true local micro supply chain: producers raise their pigs semi-free-range and process the meat without additives or preservatives.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Capicollo azze anca grecanico

Where to taste it

The azze anca capicollo belongs to the Bovesìa, the Grecanic area of the province of Reggio Calabria between the lower Ionian coast of Reggio and the Aspromonte uplands. It is here, in the inland villages and their catoi, that it is still aged in the old way.

A trip to the Bovesìa combines taste with the discovery of a distinctive culture: villages such as Bova, Gallicianò and Roghudi still keep the Calabrian Greek language, and the Presidium itself was also set up to make this land and its history better known.

Production runs from November to March; after at least six months of ageing the cured meat is ready to taste. It is a chance to discover a corner of Calabria between the Ionian Sea and the Aspromonte mountains.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Capicollo azze anca grecanico

Protection

• Slow Food Presidium — capicollo-azze-anca-grecanico (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Capicollo azze anca grecanico)

When

• Production: January–March, November–December (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Capicollo azze anca grecanico)
• Winter
• Spring
• Autumn

Where

Calabria