| Headword | Bacon from Piacenza |
| Domain and subdomain | Food – meat products |
| Grammatical label | Noun, sing. |
| Definition | In gastronomy, the ventral region of the pig formed by adipose layers alternating with thin layers of meat, which, after slaughtering, salted together with the rind, or even decorticated and rolled, is used as a dressing or as a food by itself; sometimes it is smoked (p. smoked, or, with the term bacon. (1) |
| Note | The production area of Pancetta Piacentina PDO covers the territories located up to 900 meters above sea level within the area of Piacenza, in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna. Pigs used for its production must be born, reared and slaughtered within the territory of the regions Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna. After selecting the so-called “pancettone”, the piece is squared, trimmed and stood in the refrigerator until the moment of salting. The salting is done dry, manually, using a mixture of salt, pepper and spices. The salted product is stored in the refrigerator for a minimum period of 10 days. After scraping, the bellies are rolled and tied, adding natural pig casing to the uncovered ends of the rind or to the side seam. The salting is done dry, manually, using a mixture of salt, pepper and spices. The salted product is stored in the refrigerator for a minimum of 10 days. After scraping, the pancetta is rolled and tied; natural pig casing is added to the uncovered ends of the rind or on the side seam, with the possibility of adding lean pig meat. The following two stages are those of drying and maturation, the latter lasts for a period of not less than four months from the date of salting and it takes place in environments with a temperature between 10 and 18 C and 70-90% humidity. All processing takes place in locations below 900 m above sea level. (2) |
| Context | The finished product is cylindrical in shape, weighing between 4 and 8 kg. The Pancetta Piacentina DOP must be introduced into commerce, in possession of DOP mark, which guarantees its origin and compliance with conventional manufacturing practices. (3) |
| Phonetic transcription | [‘beɪkən ˈfrɒm pja’tʃenʦa] |
| Synonyms/ variants | Bacon |
| Etymology | Diminutive of the Italian term “pancia”, Eng. belly. It comes from Latin, pantex -tĭcis. (4) Piacenza is a toponym. |
| Product image |  (5) |
| Equivalents | ITA Pancetta Piacentina (6) ESP Pancetta Piacentina FRA Lard de Plaisance RO Pancetta Piacentina |
| Note of the equivalents | In Italian, the term is singular and feminine. “Piacentina” is used as an adjective indicating its typical place of production. |
| Institution | Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali |
| Date of the card | 26/07/2021 |
| Last modified | 25/04/2023 |
| Author Revisor | Chiara Buschi Gloria Zanella |
| Sources | 1)Giovanni Treccani, Enciclopedia Treccani – Enciclopedia online, ed. Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/pancetta/ 2)https://www.qualigeo.eu/prodotto-qualigeo/pancetta-piacentina-dop/ 3)http://www.tipicopiace.it/eng/piacenza-s-enogastronomy/typical-products/pancetta-piacentina-dop-eng.html%C3%B9 4)https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/pancetta/#:~:text=Pancia%20piuttosto%20prominente%2C%20in%20senso,mettere%20un%20po’%20di%20pancetta. https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/ricerca/pancia/ 5)https://www.dopitalianfood.com/it/marchi-dop-italian-food/insaccati-dop-igp/item/498-pancetta-piacentina-d-o-p.html 6)https://www.emiliaromagnawelcome.com/fr/top-experience/food-valley |
