Zampone Modena and Cotechino Modena are two sausages, made with pork meat, produced in a well-determined area of northern and central Italy according to a traditional recipe handed down for over 5 centuries. According to a popular legend, both products would have made their appearance in 1511 in the town of Mirandola, a few kilometers from Modena, when the city was besieged by the troops of Pope Julius II. On this occasion, to prevent the pigs from falling into the hands of the invaders, the townspeople would have slaughtered and bagged minced meat in the rind, giving rise to “cotechino”, and then in the skin of the forelegs, announcing the birth of “zampone”. Their spread in the neighboring markets was favored by the transformation of the first two butcher shops, Frigeri and Bellentani, into semi-industrial companies following the transformation of the economy from an agriculture system with craft production to an industrial one with a predominance of factory farms. The 1800 consecrated the large-scale success of the product, as attested by numerous literary evidence.
Maintain the traditional recipe
In 1999 Zampone Modena and Cotechino Modena have been awarded with the IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) certification. In 2001 the Consortium Zampone Modena Cotechino Modena was founded to protect, promote and improve the knowledge of the two specialties. In July 2012 the Consortium brings together 17 companies, which produce 97% of the total certified IGP.
The typical area of production is located throughout the territory between the provinces of Modena, Ferrara, Ravenna, Rimini, Forlì, Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Parma, Piacenza, Cremona, Lodi, Pavia, Milan, Varese, Como, Lecco , Bergamo, Brescia, Mantova, Verona and Rovigo, where the presence of highly specialized workers has maintained the traditions consolidated in time. Their total annual production is over 4.5 thousand tons.
Two excellent products of Italian charcuterie
Zampone Modena is made from expertly selected pork meat combined with rind, according to the dictates of the ancient recipe. Can be delicately flavored with pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and wine. The resulting mixture is then stuffed into a natural casing, represented by the skin of the foreleg of the pig, tied at the top, as tradition dictates.
Cotechino Modena is made up of noble parts of pork and rind, as required by tradition. The meat is minced and delicately flavored with herbs and spices (cloves, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and wine) and then stuffed into bowel.
Both Cotechino and Zampone in the pre-baked version are packed in closable bags and subjected to heat treatment at elevated temperatures for a time sufficient to ensure organoleptic stability; the raw product, instead, is dried in hot air ovens. To appreciate the typical flavor and taste it is necessary prior to boil it for about 2 hours.
Zampone and Cotechino, traditionally linked to Christmas, can actually be used for everyday recipes for a rational and balanced diet. This is the key concept of the new information campaign sponsored by the Consortium. There are several ways to enjoy in a simple and fast way Cotechino and Zampone Modena, in line with what is recommended by nutritionists: just think that a pound of Cotechino or Zampone contains about 300 calories, which is about the equivalent of a pound of mozzarella. Cotechino and Zampone Modena thus can be excellent allies in the kitchen all year round.
An "alternative" recipe: Cotechino Modena with green tagliatelle and zucchini
INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE:
• 1 Cotechino Modena
• 6 small zucchini
• 1 shallot
• 250 gr green tagliatelle
• thyme
• mint
PREPARATION
While you cook the Cotechino Modena saute the shallots in a little oil, slice the zucchini and cook them with scallions. Add the chopped Cotechino Modena. Boil tagliatelle slightly underdone and join it to the sauce making stir-fry along with the herbs.
