By Vincenzo Velletri

During our latest holiday in Europe last August, Rosalba and I had the privilege to visit a farmer in the Basque Countries who produces traditionally cured meats from Euskal Txerria pigs. This breed is the last one remaining of the 3 native pig breeds from this region and it was saved from extinction thanks to Pello Urdapilleta.

Pello invited us to visit his farm in Gipuzkoa, in the Pyrenees Mountains in the Iberian Peninsula. He showed us his farm, which has belonged to his family for over 400 years, and has a mixture of oak, chestnuts and hazelnuts where the pigs graze freely.

Pello is the first Slow Food Presidium producer and transforms their full-flavored meat into a range of meat products cured in the traditional way: chorizo (7 months aging, 70% lean and 30% fat, sweet paprika, salt, garlic and no other additives), lomo (5 months), salchichón eaten fresh (made using pepper from the Rimbas Pepper Presidium) and prosciutto, experimenting with times of aging and the most suitable method for the difficult local climate.

We had a very interesting conversation on how to make these products and we discovered that it takes 5 years to have a prosciutto ready for the market, 2 years to raise the pig and 3 years of curing. He also showed us the curing chamber underneath the family home and shared a platter of his amazing products with us, together with a lovely bottle of local white wine.

We were humbled by his hospitality and willingness to share all the information about his work and his family, and to give us a guided tour of his farm. We were able to connect and overcome the language barrier, as he spoke little English and we didn’t speak any Basque at all, but that’s the beauty of the Slow Food networking community. We wish to thank Pello again for the opportunity and the wonderful experience.