| Headword | Culatello from Zibello |
| Domain and subdomain | Food– meat products |
| Grammatical label | Noun, sing. |
| Definition | High-quality sausage made from the upper and inner part of pig’s leg, shaped like a pear, salted, spiced and stuffed in the pig’s bladder. (1) |
| Note | Culatello is obtained from the thigh of adult pigs selected and bred following traditional methods. At first, a poor-quality meat is removed from the thigh, deprived of the bone […]. The remaining part, the best in terms of quality, the most tender and valuable, is carefully trimmed and formed, sprinkled with salt and massaged vigorously so that it is well incorporated, then it is put to stand. After standing, it is put into pig’s bladder and artistically tied in order to give it the classic “pear” shape. The minimum maturation of 10 months in the humid cellars, with the contribution of the typical climate of the Po River, will result in the typical Culatello di Zibello, enriching it with unique and unmistakable flavours and aromas. At the end of the maturation period the culatello will have to weigh between 3 and 5 kilos, Culatello di Zibello is recognized at a European level with Protected Designation of Origin. (2) |
| Context | Culatello di Zibello PDO has deep historical roots in the memory of rural culture. It is documented that Culatelli were already appreciated in 1332, when they were given as a gift to the newly-weds at the wedding banquet of Andrea dei Conti Rossi and Giovanna dei Conti Sanvitale. The first official citation dates back to 1735, in a document written by the Parma Town Council. During this period Culatello was probably a used as a Royal gift: a pledge that loyal subjects paid to their Lords. (3) Thanks to much care in its production, even the writer Gabriele D’Annunzio celebrated its flavour already in the 19th century. (4) |
| Phonetic transcription | [kula’tɛllo frəm tsi’bɛllo] |
| Synonyms / Variants | ND |
| Etymology | The noun culatello derives from “culo”, Eng. backside. It comes from the Latin word cūlus, ordinary speech. – The back and the fleshier part of the human body, used for animals as well. (5) |
| Product image |  (6) |
| Equivalents | ITA Culatello di Zibello ESP Culatello de Zibello FRA Culatello de Zibello RO Culatello di Zibello |
| Note of the equivalent | In Italian, as well as in Spanish, the noun is masculine. Although it is much less used, there is also the plural form, culatelli. |
| Institution | Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Studi Linguistici e Culturali |
| Date | 26/07/2021 |
| Last modified | 25/04/2023 |
| Author Revisor | Chiara Buschi Gloria Zanella |
| Fonti | (1) AA. VV., Dizionario di enogastronomia in cinque lingue, Academia Universa Press – Edizioni Plan, Milano, 2012; (2) https://www.parmagourmet.it/culatello.htm (3) https://www.dopitalianfood.com/en/brands-dop-italian-food/sausages,-salami-pdo-pgi/item/495-culatello-from-zibello-p-d-o.html (4)https://trueitaliantaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Programma_tour3_LOW.pdf (5) Giovanni Treccani, Enciclopedia Treccani – Enciclopedia online, ed. Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/ (6) https://www.taccuinigastrosofici.it/ |
