Coppiette

Originating from Lazio’s Castelli Romani, coppiette, meaning little couples, is a variety of traditional Italian salami consisting of long, thin strips of salt-cured and dehydrated meat flavored with fennel seeds and flakes of Italian hot chili pepper known as pepperoncino.

In the past, this cured meat product was a staple of poor farmers who didn’t waste any part of their precious animals. Coppiette is traditionally dried in pairs - hence its name -  and it used to be prepared with the sinewy hind limb muscle tissue of sheeps, goats, donkeys, and horses.

Donkey coppiette remains a gourmet specialty even nowadays and is mainly prepared in the town of Genzano, while most of the coppiette produced these days comes from pork tenderloins. The drying period for the meat used to take about two months, but it is nowadays much shorter since the current drying process is typically done in special drying rooms.

Distinguished by a reddish hue and a chewy texture, this meat specialty is generally served with other salumi varieties or as part of an aperitivo, and it is usually enjoyed with a glass of red wine, sparkling wine, or a crisp white prosecco.