Bardiccio fiorentino facts for kids
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| Region or state | Toscana |
|---|---|
| 340 kcal. per 100 g. kcal | |
Bardiccio (say "bar-DEE-cho") is a special type of sausage from Tuscany, a region in Italy. It's also known as bardiccio fiorentino or salsiccia matta. This tasty sausage is made using different parts of pork, especially those that are rich in blood. This gives bardiccio its unique dark red color. Sometimes, a bit of beef heart is added too.
Bardiccio looks like a long sausage. It's packed into a pork casing and tied with string. People usually make and eat it fresh, without aging it, from September to May.
This traditional food is so special that it's recognized by Slow Food, an organization that protects local foods. It's also listed as a "traditional Italian agri-food product" by the Tuscany Region. You'll mostly find bardiccio made in the areas around the Valdisieve and Valdarno rivers in Tuscany.
How Bardiccio is Made
Every year, a lot of bardiccio is made in Tuscany. Butchers and special food shops produce hundreds of thousands of kilograms of it!
There isn't one single, official recipe for bardiccio. Each small producer and butcher has their own secret way of mixing the ingredients. This means every bardiccio might taste a little different!
It's usually made from parts of pork that aren't used for other sausages like salami. This can include chopped tenderloin, fat, and even parts like heart, lung, and liver. A small amount of beef might be added to make the flavor even better.
The meat is chopped up roughly with a meat grinder. Then, salt, pepper, and other spices are mixed in. The most important spice is wild fennel. This gives bardiccio its special fennel-flavored sausage taste.
After mixing, the sausage meat is put into a pork casing, which is about 30 centimeters long. The ends are tied with string. Often, they are tied together in groups of two or four.
How to Eat Bardiccio
Bardiccio is usually cooked by grilling it over a fire. You can also stew it in a pot, or sometimes even boil it. It's often served with plain Tuscan bread. Many people enjoy it with a strong Tuscan wine like Chianti Rufina.
Bardiccio Festivals
Even though bardiccio is mostly found in the province of Florence, there are many fun food and drink festivals that celebrate it! Here are some of them:
- Festa del bardiccio in Dicomano (December)
- Palio del bardiccio in Pelago (March)
- Sagra del bardiccio in Vicchio (October)
- Sagra del fusigno in Londa (December 24)
- Sagra del tortello e bardiccio in Rufina (fall-summer)
- Sagra della zucca gialla e del bardiccio in Pelago (October)
- Toscanello d'oro in Pontassieve (May-June)
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