Salame di Varzi
Salame di Varzi DOP is a pork sausage weighing between 0.5 and 2 kg approximately, depending on how long it is left to mature; it is produced from pigs reared in Piedmont, Lombardy and Emilia Romagna.
Salame di Varzi is produced in the Comunità Montana Oltrepò Pavese, adjoining the municipality of Varzi, as identified in the national legislation. The product's history is closely linked to the development of a typical rural culture common to the whole region termed "Padania"; the raw material is produced in the region and then processed in quite a small area using long-standing traditional methods that are typical of the product in question.
Salame di Varzi qualifies for designated origin status on the basis of environmental conditions and both natural and human factors. In particular, the characteristics of the raw material are absolutely particular to the strictly delineated geographical macro-area, while the Salame di Varzi designation itself is justified by virtue of the conditions pertaining in the delineated micro-area. The three factors of "raw-material - product - designation" taken together are linked to the specific socio-economic development of the area in question. A single-product economy has resulted, the areas of salami production being found where certain forms of pig breeding, based on cereal growing and milk processing, are traditional.