Salama da sugo

Salama da sugo is a spiced, wine-cured pork sausage encased in a natural pig's bladder, produced within the province of Ferrara. It is sold either uncooked after drying and maturing, or cooked following heat treatment. Its distinctive melon shape, divided into six or eight segments by string, and its composition incorporating red wine and pork offal cuts set it apart from other cured meat products.

About this designation

Salama da sugo was registered as a PGI on 21 May 2013 under file number PGI-IT-1114 (eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000014335). The protected geographical area comprises the territory of the province of Ferrara, with the exception of the municipalities of Goro, Codigoro, Lagosanto and Comacchio. All production steps — trimming, mincing, mixing, filling, tying, drying, and maturing — must take place within this defined area; where the product is cooked, the post-maturation heat treatment must also be carried out there. The specification permits only pork cuts in defined proportions: neck, nape, belly, shoulder, tongue, and liver, with minced meat from below the shoulder also permitted. For each kilogram of meat, 15 cl of red wine (± 5 cl) is added; permitted varieties are Fortana, Merlot del Bosco Eliceo, Sangiovese di Romagna, Lambrusco, and Refosco. Mandatory seasonings are cracked or ground black pepper at 2.5 g (± 0.5 g) per kilogram and coarse sea salt at 26 g (± 4 g) per kilogram. Optional ingredients include cinnamon, nutmeg, or cloves at 0.75 g per kilogram of meat (± 0.5 g), and brandy, grappa, or rum as a partial substitute for red wine up to 1 cl per kilogram. Following the maturing process, a Salama da sugo typically weighs between 700 and 1 400 g. The maximum water content is 30 %, the maximum fat content is 50 % (± 5 %), and the maximum protein content is 20 % (± 5 %). Packaging labels must bear the name 'Salama da sugo', the abbreviation IGP or the words Indicazione Geografica Protetta, the Salama da sugo logo, and the EU symbol.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PGI on 21 May 2013 under file number PGI-IT-1114, eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000014335.
• The specification permits only five named red wine varieties: Fortana, Merlot del Bosco Eliceo, Sangiovese di Romagna, Lambrusco, and Refosco.
• Production is excluded from four coastal municipalities — Goro, Codigoro, Lagosanto, and Comacchio — within the otherwise qualifying province of Ferrara.
• The product is encased in a natural pig's bladder and tied to form six or eight segments with a constricting horizontal band, a shape documented on Ferrarese court pottery from the Renaissance era.

Tasting notes

Ferrara cooked seasoned pork salami, traditionally aged then long-simmered. Intense complex flavor of pork, red wine, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg; soft moist texture; distinctive sauce-like consistency.

HoReCa use

The product is sold whole when uncooked; if heat-treated in a sealed wrapper, it may also be sold in segments, provided it is cut prior to heat treatment.

Packaging

• whole-piece-vacuum-700g-1.2kg
• ready-cooked-vacuum-500g

Seasonality