Crocedelizia - Soragna (PR) - Emilia Romagna

The history of Crocedelizia is the story of family Carraglia that renews the handcraft tradition of the norcinis of Bassa Parmense area, preserving the knowledge and the taste of local charchuterie. Heirs of the ancient profession of "masalen" - people who used to raise pigs and transform the meat in the ancient farmhouses of Bassa Parmense area -. Ernestino Carraglia founded his laboratory in Soragna, in the province of Parma, to produce and mature the most typical salumi of Parma area, like Culatello and Spalla Cotta. Ernestino works according his long family tradition and matures his products in a cellar made with terracotta red bricks under the laboratory. When we visited him, Ernestino told us some of the differences among the small producers like him and the industrial producers. One of these particularly impressed us: Ernestino need to buy the whole mezzena and use all the meat, as in the past, with no waste, whereas big producers buy just the cuts they need e.g. for Culatello. A choice that goes also in the direction of sustainability. One more reason, for us, to support the handcraft job of small artisans like Ernestino.