Di Gennaro

The famous German selector of Italian quality products presents the Salumificio Aurora (text taken from Di Gennaro's catalog following the visit to the company)

The Aurora over Felino

The town of Felino, near Parma, is famous worldwide for Felino salami. However, only a few culatelli, coppa and pancetta were produced here, only a few knew. Until now. Aurora is a philosophy, explains Francesco Bellò and laughs. Aurora is more than just another sausage factory on the wide Po Valley. Aurora is a philosophy, and Francesco must know it. For many years now he has been traveling the world and explaining to connoisseurs from south to north, from east to west, why the culatelli, coppa and bacon of the Aurora are so good and everything behind it. Behind it is the Dodi family. Founded by grandfather Dino Dodi in 1967, today his sausage factory is run by his sons Andrea, Simona and Alessandra, and the third generation is ready to go. The name Aurora "dawn" is a fancy name, it is a name that makes you want to try our specialties, explains Andrea, a gentle man in his fifties, who wears a colored shirt, which would also be liked by the fashionable Berlin inhabitants. Already from our first catalog, in the sixties, we printed the aurora on our cups and bacon, and put on an immaculate butcher's apron. Together with Francesco Bellò, his agile sales manager, we enter the seasoning area of the salami factory. The town of Felino is located on the edge of the Apennines, in the plain around Parma. It is no coincidence that salami, coppa, culatelli are seasoned so well here. Because the area is distinguished by the high humidity of the air and a particular thermal - the perfect microclimate for drying cured meats. In the first seasoning room, thousands of bacons hang like white curtains and red net from the shelves. Here the typical Italian bacon ages. Cubed is one of the main ingredients of Amatriciana spaghetti. Already at the slaughterhouse we choose the best pieces, explains Andrea. The bacon is degreased by hand, inserted into a cup and rolled up. Manual work and selection of the Italian raw material are two fundamental elements. In a synthetic casing, the meat dries faster, says Andrea and picks up one of his bacons, but the meat does not mature, it is only dry. We use natural papers and products that allow the product to mature naturally, forming its beautiful mold which is important for the maturation process of the cured meats, gives it that particular taste and indicates that it is a living product. Live product, says Andrea. The Aurora sausage factory is on three floors and two cellars full of specialties. Since the sixties, that is, since its foundation, it has been located on the same site, in the center of Felino. In the first basement there are the seasonings of the cup. Even these dangle from the shelves by the thousands, in the air smell of "noble" mold and ammonia. You hear the cellar says Andrea. The seasoning room really smells. The cup was tied and during the seasoning the fresh cup loses weight, from three kilos originally, there are approx. 2 kg after being left in the cellar for 120 days. Good mature, and these two pounds of cup have a distinctive taste. Geographical protection has been recognized by the EU since last year. It can be proclaimed Coppa di Parma PGI. Even further down we go to the underground cellars. Andrea opens the doors, steps aside and leaves us in amazement. The culatello is to be compared to the Ferrari of Italian delicatessen specialties. And here 2500 of these Ferraris hang. The value is hundreds of thousands of euros. The bank vault, Andrea tells us. Here we are truly in Aurora's security room. A culatello, in German "small backside" is made from the walnut of the thigh - naturally by hand. The characteristic binding must be done by our expert workers. With the large needle it is tied, twice horizontally and twice vertically. The result: the characteristic shape of the culatello. It is aged for 17 to 18 months in the basement of the cellar, and during this period it loses up to 40% of its original weight and acquires unique aromas and perfumes. Outside the cellars and again in the Po Valley, we are richer in an experience. Not only exceptionally good salami come from Felino.