HISTORY

The Savoyard mountain has always required its inhabitants to keep their meat for a whole year, and to transport it easily to their various places of work or stay. Pork was the only meat used, with its many cured meats and delicatessen products: diots, bacon, bells, sausages, ham, cabbage sausage called pork trees. A dry climate and special techniques give the sausages and dried and smoked cured meats a very original flavour. Even today, even if techniques have evolved, Savoy sausages still draw their fondant, their softness, their fruitiness, from long months of preparation and meticulous care before being marketed... And if technology has made it possible to make certain changes, producers keep a know-how and a tradition of artisanal production, because for these passionate salamisers, repeated actions and patience remain the secrets of a good Savoy charcuterie. In the 1970s, one out of two dairy companies owned a pigsty, then gradually this trend decreased and is now disappearing, but in parallel with domestic farming, a very important artisanal and industrial activity involving the manufacture of hams and dry sausages has developed in Savoie and Haute-Savoie. These companies have managed to maintain the culture of the product, by perpetuating traditional recipes, whose family secret is often still firmly preserved ! The specific climatic conditions fully contribute to the inimitable flavour of Savoy's delicatessen products.

 

PRODUCTION

Originally almost exclusively made from pork meat, the Haute Savoie products are of very high quality: dried and smoked hams, sausages, diots, sausages, cabbage sausages, etc. More rarely, dried and smoked beef, donkey sausage or dried goat leg are all local specialities that very incompletely illustrate the richness of this type of local product. For dry sausages, the meat is coarsely minced, a quality index that makes it impossible to add a significant amount of fat. The resulting mixture is then seasoned and stuffed into natural casings. From there, the sausage is steamed and dried. The ham pieces are dried in sweet salt for 2 to 3 weeks, with different repetitions depending on the size of the piece. The ham is then steamed and left to rest for a few days at room temperature to obtain a beautiful pink colour. Then begins drying (or refining) in natural air for 6 to 7 months. The ham is hung in a kind of well-ventilated attic. During this long step, a layer of fat (lard) is applied to the slice to prevent any loss of moisture and allow the flavours to develop. A regional "Savoie" label identifies the production of high quality dried cured meats in smoked or non-smoked hams and sausages as well as the production from pig meat certified "Le Porc Français".

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