For this particular tipe of salami are used all those parts of a lesser quality of the pig that would not be used otherwise. It is presented in different the forms depending on the type of casing in which is bagged, generally has the shape of a round loaf, of a dark brown color. It is very fragrant and leaves an intense taste in your mouth. It is produced throughout the Garfagnana. In a boiler the whole pig’s head, the heart, the tongue, the pork rind and in somecases the lung re cooked for about two hours. After thoroughly boned, all theboiled meat is cut into small pieces which are then mixed with blood, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. We then proceeds to the manual casing into the bladder or stomach (Buzzetto) of the pig which is then stitched and placed to boil for another three hours into the broth where we previously cooked the meat. Biroldo Garfagnana is available throughout the year, with a decline in the summer months. It is marketed mainly locally, in small part in some cities of Tuscany such as Lucca, Pisa, Livorno and Massa. It is recognized as a Slow Food Presidium and some producers of Garfagnana have formed a group for the enhancement and preservation. Biroldo Garfagnanacan be eaten fresh as seasoned or as an appetizer, cut into thin slices or heated in a pan and served together with chestnut polenta.
For more information about biroldo, you can consult the website of SlowFood presidia
The Biroldo of Garfagnana is a particular black pudding very flavoured and spiced, produced with pork’s blood and meat.
For its production it is used the head, as the less noble part of the pork. The head is boiled for three hours then, boneless, is salted with spices like fennel, nutmeg, cinnamon and pepper.
After the seasoning, the butcher package into natural porcine casings and it must boil for at least five hours, then it is cooler at the open air with a weight on it to encourage the lost of all the liquids.
The Biroldo of Garfagnana is characteristic for the absence of sweet elements, like cacao or candied fruit or pine nut, which are typical of every other Tuscany black pudding, like that one from Lucca or Apuano which produced using internal organs, instead of the Biroldo, of Garfagnana, produced using just the head of the pork.
This sausage is produced following the traditional recipe, and the result is a sausage with round shape, with the weight of 1,5 kg, with an intense spices flavour and a red-brown colour.
To enjoy the fullest its taste, it is recommended to cut it in 1 cm thick slices and eat it with the bread of Garfagnana, or with the potatoes bread.
The biroldo is a “Slow food presidia”, a project that gather on it every producer of this ancient speciality with the purpose to preserve ancient food from disappearing.