and attention to raw materials.
We were among the founders
of the Consortium for protection
Speck Alto Adige PGI.
We have been first to qualify for Speck export to the United States.
The tradition of Speck
The tradition of the speck produced in South Tyrol is very old. It comes from the need of farmers to preserve meat, and has been handed down from generation to generation until today. In the territory of South Tyrol two traditions converged: that of Northern Europe which preserves ham through smoking, and that used to the south of the Alps in which the ham is hung to cure in the open air. These two methods met here to create speck: slightly smoked and cured in the mountain air. In fact, air is one of the most important elements for curing speck.
Mountain air
Ortles
At 3,905 m, the Ortles is the highest mountain in South Tyrol, and the north face in particular is considered the highest ice wall in the Eastern Alps. But why is it so important for Recla's speck? The company is located between the Ortles massif and the Palla Bianca massif. The glaciers in the area have a strong influence on the climate, the air is very dry, fresh and pure. Away from the high-traffic roads, Recla uses 90 percent of outside air for drying and curing. The excellent curing of the speck therefore depends firstly on the area and its climate. This is why the Ortles also appears on the Recla family speck packages.
Mountain air
Val Venosta and Silandro
It is precisely because of its ideal location that the Recla family has chosen Silandro in Val Venosta as the headquarters of the company. Val Venosta is characterized by the wind, as the name suggests, and by more than 300 days of sunshine a year. It is a valley located between high peaks and glaciers. Here the air is pure, dry, fresh: the ideal conditions for curing speck! The art of curing consists of the right combination of humidity that must be between 55% and 90% and an ambient temperature ranging from 10 to 16 ° C.