Capocollo

''Capocollo'' () (in Italian). or ''coppa'' () (in Italian). is an Italian and French pork '' salume'' made from the dry-cured muscle running from the neck to the fourth or fifth rib of the pork shoulder or neck. It is a whole-muscle ''salume'', dry cured, and typically sliced very thinly. It is similar to the more widely known cured ham or prosciutto, because they are both pork-derived cold cuts used in similar dishes. It is not brined as ham typically is.

Etymology

This cut is typically called or in much of Italy, Corsica, and southern Switzerland (Ticino and the Grisons). This name is a compound of the words ('head') and ('neck'). Regional terms include (Campania and Calabria) and (Corsica).

Outside of Europe, terms include ''bondiola'' or in Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, and ''capicola'' or ''capicolla'' in North America. The pronunciation ''gabagool'' has been used by some Italian Americans in the New York City area and elsewhere in the Northeast US, based on the Neapolitan language word () in working-class strata of 19th- and early 20th-century immigrants. It was notably used in the television series ''The Sopranos'', and its use has become a well-known stereotype.

Varieties and official status

Four particular varieties (''coppa piacentina'', ''capocollo di Calabria'', ''coppa de Corse'', and ''capocollo di Martina Franca'') have PDO and PGI (''capocollo di Martina Franca'') status under the Common Agricultural Policy of European Union law, which ensures that only products genuinely originating in those regions are allowed in commerce as such.

Four additional Italian regions produce ''capocollo'', and are not covered under European law, but are designated as '' prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali'' (PAT) by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food, and Forestry Policies:

* ''Capocollo della Basilicata'';
* ''Capocollo del Lazio'';
*'' Capocollo tipico senese ''or ''finocchiata'', from Tuscany;
* ''Capocollo dell'Umbria''.

Outside Europe, ''capocollo'' was introduced to Argentina by Italian immigrants, under the names '' bondiola'' or '' bondiola curada''.

File:Sweetcapicola.JPG, Slices of ''Coppa Spécialité Corse'' (Corsica): a balanced quantity of white fat is important for flavour and tenderness.
File:Capocollo di martina.jpg, Slices of ''capocollo di Martina Franca'' served with figs

See also

* List of dried foods

References

Further reading

*

{{Cuisine of Italy

Italian cuisine
Pork
Salumi
Lunch meat
Italian products with protected designation of origin