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| Macelleria Elena & Mirco in Castelnovo Magra near the Tuscan border. |
Only in Italy would a life-long devotion to producing pork products be considered an
art. We met an artist /
salumiere who combines craftsmanship, art, experimentation, and imagination to reach the ultimate mastery of the meaty genre. At a small
salumeria in the Ligurian town of Castelnovo Magra, Mirco Bertini is at the top of his game. He has
devoted more than 20 years to developing prosciutto, pancetta,
sausages, and the like, and they are ethereal bits of Mediterranean
heaven.
Signor Bertini is so devoted, he needed a new word to distinguish his product from prosciutt
o - thus was born his amazing Prosciutt
a. As Mirco puts it (loosely
translated) "The Prosciutta is the happy wife of ham . It's the perfect
fusion of the Ligurian tradition with that of Tuscany: it is a meat
unmistakable for its delicate aroma and delicious taste.”
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| Prosciutta C. , the patented ham. |
This all started with a family business: Mirco Bertini’s grandfather
raised remarkably good pigs, and in the 1960’s his mother and uncle made
it in to excellent sausages, mortadella, and pancetta. In 1967 his
mother, Elena Bertucci, opened her own store to sell the products, and
by 1973 she was working on making prosciutto from the very best cuts.
Her son got interested when he was 14, and started working on
methodology. His goal was to use all the traditional ways, but to
develop new flavors and techniques as well. For almost twenty years
Mirco thought about hams, experimenting with flavors, processing
methods, seasonings. Finally in 1997 his Prosciutta Castelnovese was
perfect. It was so perfect, so unique, that he patented it. Patented ham!
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| Prosciutta hanging out, aging, listening to music, inhaling aromas: like us. |
While the historic section of Castelnovo Magra is high in the foothills
of the Apenines on the border of Liguria and Tuscany, the town extends
down to the coastal plain in a sprawl of neighborhoods, vineyards, and
commercial lots. And in this tangle is Mirco and Elena’s
salumeria. See below for specifics.
When we visited the
salumeria, we didn’t know much about it, but it was
enticing, engaging, and we bought a whole armload of different specialty products from Elena. In addition to the salumi, there are specialty pastas, cheeses, wines, and preserves. Many are locally produced and hard to find. As we were leaving, a young man with slightly
spiky hair and a can-do attitude came in and said hello, and we idly
asked him what made his prosciutta different. “I’ll show you” he said,
rather mysteriously. He took us down the driveway, through a locked
gate, to a little building out back. The whole building is the most elegant meat locker
you could ever imagine.
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| Herbs and aromatics in the climate controlled meat chamber. |
As he opens the door to the dark room occupied only by hanging meat, we hear soft music playing. Music! For the ham! The room is decorated with stone statues, dried flowers,
antique furniture, there is soft lighting, the paint is fresh and clean. He keeps the two small rooms at a precise
temperature and humidity, and hangs organic herbs and long swirls of lemon peels and
orange peels from the low rafters next to the hams and sausages. The
aroma is exquisite. As Mirco put it in an interview with the magazine, L’Espresso "My
salumi should not be stressed, they must mature in an oasis of
tranquility and perfume. I gather herbs (fennel, wild laurel, lemon
verbena, tarragon, thyme) in July and August just after a summer storm. I
think I have won my bet: even near the sea you can have good meats
naturally seasoned." That's crucial to his formula, and it actually
works, the prosciutta is delicious. Mirco really knows how to treat his
ham like a lady.
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| Mortadella aging at Macelleria Elena & Mirco |
There are other amazing products, too. Mortadella in an accessible size,
coppa, sausages,
zampone, cotechino. The
macelleria offers ten (!) flavors of pancetta, and a hard-to-find regional specialty - pate di lardo. Not all products are available all the time, so visit twice.
If you
can visit, it’s worth the trip, or if you’re lucky enough to be in Italy for a while, you can even order on line.
You can also experience the prosciutta as an antipasto at
Alla Piazza di Sopra - the excellent restaurant in Filetto in Alta Lunigiana. For tempting details read our review:
New Restaurant in Old Lunigiana.
Macelleria Elena & Mirco
Via Canale 52 Castelnovo Magra (SP) Tel. 0187-673510 Website:
Prosciutta Castelnovese
Google Map: Shopping Along the Aurelia
Written by Martha
