The Goat Ham

This unique cured meat made from the goat's thigh is really shaped like a violin, with the leg acting as a handle and the muscle mass as a chest. The Goat Ham is a typical product of some Italian regions. It can be found in the food and wine tradition of Sardinia, Puglia, Val d'Aosta and Valchiavenna in Piedmont. Precisely in Valchiavenna, once a crossroads of travelers who passed through Italy from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the tradition of processing and salting meat is lost in the mists of time, but can be counted on the fingers of one hand craftsmen who work this goat ham according to traditional rules. In some families it is still customary to work it "at home", jealously keeping it to offer at Christmas and New Year's dinners. Even the cutting technique has the solemnity of a rite in which to perform convivially. To slice this ham, in fact, you lean on the shoulder and handle the knife in almost the same way you use a bow. Tradition has it that the violin passes from hand to hand and that each diner affects their portion. The size is reduced: from about two kilograms for the front shoulder to three and a half kilograms of the rear thigh. The tastiest and most fragrant are those aged longer, slowly and naturally (in airy cellars but without forced conditioning). The goat violin traditionally matured in crotti, to be precise in the anticrotto, a room with ideal humidity and ventilation suitable for slow aging, which must last from three to six months. The crotti are typical structures of Valchiavenna, carved into the rock, used not only to refine meats and cheeses but also as places to meet with friends, have dinner.

The seasoning must not be less than 60 days.