Pork

In January every family of the village used to kill a pig; in this occasion all members of the family, old and young, collaborated in the production of meat supplies through the year.

From meat of the animal were derived different types of cold cuts, which still today save their typical names of the ancient peasant tradition of Grumento Nova.

Brawn

The mixture of brawn is composed by pork ham meat, seasoned with salt and pepper.

Sausage

The mixture of sausage is composed by pork shoulder meat, seasoned with salt, fennel seeds and chili pepper powdered.

Pigskin sausage

The mixture of this kind of sausage is composed by two parts of pork shoulder meat and one of pigskin, boiled and minced, mixed with pork shoulder meat, seasoned with salt, finned and chili powdered.

The "beggar" sausage

The mixture of this sausage is composed by pork shoulder meat along with meat coming from head and entrails of the animal. Everything is minced and seasoned with salt, wild fennel and chili powdered.

The taste of the “beggar” sausage is brought out cooking on the grill, under the ashes or cooking together with vegetables.

Vuccular' (Cheeks)

Pig’s cheeks is kept salted for about 15 days, than is hanged in pieces to exsiccate.

Bacon

To get pork bacon, obtained by the layer of meat placed at ribs height, is reduced the thickness, removing the pigskin, then remained layer is seasoned with fennel, chili powdered, salt, rolled on itself, tied and hanged up. The bacon can also be preserved entirely salted for 15 days, then hanged to exsiccate.

Pork liver

The pork liver is cut in pieces and seasoned with salt and laurel; then is sacked in a wrap, that envelop the pig’s intestine, called “zeppa” in the local dialect. The zeppa envelops each single piece of liver, which after being fried is then preserved in lard.

Pork cutlets

The pork cutlets are put in salt, then, after 3-4 days, are cleaned and washed off the salt and cutlets are fried and then preserved in lard.

Cleaned from lard, can be put in sauces or soups or simply heated.

Gammunciedd'

Gammunciedd’ is the pig’s knuckle: is salted, hanged to exsiccate for some time and, after being carefully washed, is put in lard; when lard is removed it possible to boil it with beans and vegetables soup, or, the leaner part of the knuckle, after being boiled, can be unraveled and put in the dough of cazzola.

Black pudding

The pig, before being killed, was placed on a kind of large wooden tank having the bottom shelf horizontal, upside down, called avton’: the pig was slaughtered, and during this operation a person collect the blood in a big bucketful, mixing continuously using a rolling pin. Then the avton’ was capsized and the pig placed inside the tank, and wetted with piping hot water poured from the r’zzul (clay jug with just one handle) to make easier the peeling. So, once skinned, the pig was hanged up and could begin the butchering.

After mixing the blood for 5-10 minutes to prevent the clotting, it was used to leave it resting for one day with some sugar. The day after it was put in a pan together with sugar, bread cutters minced, coffee, cocoa powdered, cinnamon, chopped almonds, chopped orange peel boiled with water and sugar, chocolate dissolved in boiling water, it was mixed and let it cook constantly mixing until the mix becomes a cream.

The mixture was kept in clay jars and after  15/20 days, for a better preservation of the product, jars were baked.

Sangiulo

After carefully cleaned and boiled an head of large intestine long about 30 cm, it was used to fill with black pudding, tied and boiled in water suspended with a perforated spoon, for about half an hour; then it was made cold and hanged for about a month.

The sangiulo has an hard consistency and is sliced as a chocolate salami, of which it represents the ancestor of Grumento.