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Gioi soppressata

Slow Food Presidium · PAT · Meats and cured meats · Campania

Apulica editorial team · Sources checked:

In brief

History and origin

Soppressata di Gioi has a written history of almost two centuries. In 1835 Columella Onorati's Compendio di agricoltura pratica discusses it at length, stressing its antiquity, with first mentions said to go back to the eleventh century, and the uniqueness of its technique.

What sets it apart is the fat: soppressata di Gioi is the only larded salami in Campania, with a strip of lard running through the centre, a method also found in other Apennine regions, for example in Abruzzo. Slow Food sees in this the mark of the exchange of knowledge that went with pastoral life and transhumance, livelier than one might think.

Today soppressata di Gioi is a Slow Food Presidium and is listed among the traditional products of Campania.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Soppressata di Gioi · Masaf — Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, XXVI revisione (2026)

Area and method of production

It is made only from the pork leg, trimmed of cartilage and sinew and cut by hand with the point of a knife. The finely chopped meat is seasoned with salt and black peppercorns; more rarely, according to the Region's sheet, with chilli and wild fennel. The carefully mixed meat then rests for about ten hours.

When it is stuffed into the natural casing, a strip of lard as long as the casing itself is placed in the centre. Besides giving the salami its look, the lard helps keep the mix moist during curing, which tends to dry cured meats.

The ideal maturing time, in natural rooms, is 40-45 days; the Region also mentions smoking over a wood fire. After curing the soppressata is kept under extra virgin olive oil, under lard or hung inside a large earthenware jar with a little oil at the bottom. It is made from September to April.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Soppressata di Gioi · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Soppressata di Gioi Cilento (prodotto tradizionale)

How to recognise it

Soppressata di Gioi is shaped like a small loaf divided in two by the string. The Region gives sizes of about 8-10 centimetres across and 15-18 long. Inside and out it is reddish brown, made more intense by the contrast with the white heart of lard, which forms a circle in the middle of each slice.

The aromas are intense and aromatic: the mineral and smoky notes should not cover the spicy and musky ones. On the palate the flavour is long and rich, with a final hint of chestnut.

Kept under oil, it stays fresh right through the summer.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Soppressata di Gioi · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Soppressata di Gioi Cilento (prodotto tradizionale)

Where to taste it

The soppressata is made in Gioi, a Cilento town in the province of Salerno, and in the nearby villages. A visit to Gioi fits well into a trip that alternates the coast and the hill villages of the interior.

It is made from September to April, and thanks to storage under oil it is also available in the warmer months. The best way to taste it is to look for it in the villages where it is made, where the work still follows the steps described by the Presidium.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Soppressata di Gioi · Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura — Soppressata di Gioi Cilento (prodotto tradizionale)

Protection

When

Where

Campania