Salame di Varzi
A coarse, garlicky salami from Lombardy's Staffora valley
- Local name
- Salame di Varzi
- Served with
- Crusty bread
- Best eaten at
- An Oltrepò Pavese osteria
- Pairs with
- Oltrepò Bonarda
What it is
Salame di Varzi is a coarse, garlicky pork salami that comes from the Oltrepò Apennines, specifically the Staffora valley in the southern tip of Lombardy. It is one of Italy's most historic salamis and holds Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. The texture is distinctively coarse, with large visible pieces of fat and meat, rather than the fine grind found in many other salamis. Its aroma carries the garlic and red wine used in the seasoning.
The salami can only be produced in 15 municipalities of the Oltrepò Pavese hills and mountains, centred on Varzi, where the local climate is considered ideal for a slow and steady maturation. It is not a mass-produced item but rather a regional speciality tied to the land and the local pig farming traditions. The result is a dense, savoury product that serves as a substantial snack or a starter on its own.
Lombards, lords and the Staffora valley
Oral tradition traces Salame di Varzi back to the Lombards, the Germanic people who ruled northern Italy in the early Middle Ages and relied on preserved foods that kept well. The salami was later prized by the noble Malaspina family, who held the valley and are said to have served it at their banquets as early as the 12th century. Pork has always been central to the rural cooking of the upper Staffora valley, and the salami was valued by peasants and aristocrats alike.
Geography plays its part too. Producers describe the valley's climate, shaped by its position between the Po plain and the Apennine ridges, as ideal for natural curing, and the official rules require drying and ageing in well-aired rooms suited to the local conditions.
How it is made
The production of Salame di Varzi relies on heavy Italian pigs and a method that preserves the coarse texture of the meat. The pork is minced through a wide plate with holes of around 12 mm, so that the fat and muscle remain in distinct pieces rather than becoming a uniform paste. The seasoning mix includes sea salt and whole black peppercorns (never ground pepper), which provide a gentle heat without overpowering the other flavours.
A defining characteristic of this salami is the use of a garlic infusion and filtered red wine rather than raw garlic cloves. This technique imparts a subtle, aromatic depth without the sharp bite that fresh garlic can sometimes bring. The seasoned meat is stuffed into natural pork casings, tied with close-meshed string and aged for a minimum ranging from 45 days for the small filzetta to 180 days for the large double-cased cucito, allowing the flavours to develop and the texture to firm up.
How it is eaten
Salame di Varzi is best enjoyed simply, sliced fairly thick to appreciate its coarse texture and rich aroma. It is traditionally served with a slice of crusty bread, which acts as a neutral base that allows the strong flavours of the salami to shine. The pairing is often accompanied by a glass of Oltrepò Bonarda, a local red wine that complements the garlic and peppercorn notes without competing with them.
In the osterie of the Oltrepò Pavese, the salami is served as part of a larger spread of local produce or as a standalone starter. The setting is usually rustic and unpretentious, focusing on the quality of the food rather than elaborate presentation.
Curious facts
- Lombard roots. Oral tradition links the salami to the Lombards, and the Malaspina lords of the valley are said to have served it at their banquets.
- The garlic method. Instead of using raw cloves, the recipe employs a garlic infusion and red wine to ensure a mellow, aromatic taste.
- Four sizes. The rules distinguish formats from the small filzetta to the prized cucito, sewn into a double casing and aged longest.
- A climate-dependent cure. The valley's climate is considered essential for the proper natural curing of this salami.
- Coarse texture. Unlike many modern industrial salamis, Salame di Varzi retains a coarse consistency with visible pieces of fat and meat.
- Regional focus. It can only be made in 15 municipalities of the Oltrepò Pavese, centred on Varzi and the Staffora valley.
Where to try it
The natural place to taste Salame di Varzi is the Oltrepò Pavese in southern Lombardy, above all Varzi itself and the villages of the upper Staffora valley, where local producers and traditional osterie serve the salami. A meal in an Oltrepò Pavese osteria offers the most genuine experience, often paired with a glass of Bonarda and fresh bread.
Where to try it
1 destination
Wine TastingSanta Maria della Versa
Oltrepò Pavese wine town producing sparkling and red wines.
Wine Tasting
1 region
Boat Rentals12 destinationsLombardy
Lombardy runs from Alpine peaks in the north down to the flat rice fields of the Po valley in the south, and this range sits behind almost everything the region does well for slow travel. Milan anchors it as a capital of fashion and finance, but the quieter pace that draws travellers who like to slow down lives outside the city, spread across lake villages, hill towns, and wine roads that ring it on every side. Lombardy rewards a traveller who picks one valley, one lake shore, or one wine road and stays with it rather than trying to cover the whole region at once. Lake Como is one of Lombardy's most recognisable landscapes, its stone villages stacked against steep slopes and its old villas opening their gardens to the water. Bellagio, Varenna, and Menaggio each keep a small working harbour where boats still connect the shoreline settlements. Further east, the region also touches the western shore of Lake Garda, where towns like Sirmione sit on a narrow peninsula with Roman ruins at its tip, and Lake Iseo sits quieter still, ringed by Franciacorta's vineyards on one side and Monte Isola, the largest lake island in southern Europe, on the other. Between the lakes, the Brianza hills and the lower Alpine valleys hold smaller villages built around a single church square, a mill, or a market that still runs on its traditional day, largely untouched by the crowds that gather on the main lake shores in summer. Wine gives the region another rhythm, and Lombardy's wine roads are built for slow exploring rather than a single tasting stop. Franciacorta, in the hills east of Brescia, produces Italy's best-known sparkling wine made in the traditional method, and its cellars sit among vineyards that climb gently toward Lake Iseo, many open for visits by appointment. Further south, the Oltrepò Pavese hills near Pavia grow both still and sparkling wines on slopes that agriturismo farms have worked for generations, offering rooms and meals built around what the land produces that season. In the far north, the Valtellina valley grows Nebbiolo on narrow terraces held up by dry stone walls, alongside the mountain cheeses and cured meats the valley is known for; the Strada del Vino e dei Sapori della Valtellina links the terraced vineyards to the villages and cellars below them. The hill towns carry this same unhurried character. Bergamo's upper town, the Città Alta, sits behind a ring of stone walls built by Venice when the city belonged to its inland territories; inside them, narrow lanes lead to a Renaissance chapel and a quiet main square that empties out once the day-trippers head back down. Mantua, ringed by three artificial lakes, kept its Gonzaga-era palaces and squares largely intact and shares a joint UNESCO listing with the smaller fortress town of Sabbioneta, built from scratch as an ideal Renaissance city. Cremona, on the Po plain, has built violins since the Amati and Stradivari workshops opened there, and the craft continues in small workshops around its cathedral square. Pavia, a university town south of Milan, holds a Carthusian monastery on its outskirts whose carved marble façade is one of the region's finest. Smaller villages such as Clusone in the Val Seriana or Gromo, with its old ironworking streets, keep the same rhythm on a smaller scale, each built around a single square, a mill stream, or a covered market. Food ties all of this together, and it is where Lombardy's slow food traditions show clearest. The region cooks with butter and rice rather than the olive oil of the south: risotto alla milanese, coloured with saffron, is the signature dish, while polenta remains a staple in the mountain valleys, often served alongside stewed meat or local cheese. Grana Padano is made across much of the Po plain, and the mountain dairies of Valtellina produce their own aged cheeses, including Bitto and Casera. Markets in the smaller towns still run on a weekly schedule, selling produce grown within a short distance of the stall, and many agriturismo farms across Oltrepò Pavese and Franciacorta serve meals built entirely from what they grow or raise themselves. Landscape and table hold Lombardy together: a lake village built around its harbour, a wine road that climbs from valley floor to ridge line, a hill town that keeps its own pace once the tour groups leave. The towns and wine roads below each hold a different piece of this pattern, from the Renaissance squares of Mantua to the terraced vineyards of the Valtellina, and together they map out a version of Lombardy built for slow travel rather than a checklist of sights.
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