Alma Gourmet Speck Alto Adige IGP 5 lb

Excellent product. Arrived in perfect condition.

Things you absolutely need:a SLICER ,things that help a lot: a cool basement in a Midwestern house.I stored 14 /16 months age dried prosciutto in my basement for years,until the old man died .His home made prosciutto and salami sold well in local family owned grocery stores.I own a lot of sharp knives,bread knives ,butcher knives etc.In my culture knives are not exclusively used as a defensive tool!(joke). Knives are adequate for prosciutto ,not compatible with "hard" dried speck(you'll have an accident). This speck came at 5,3 Lbs ,very hard and and very smokey.Did I say that my Grands owned a farm and pigs were the main stock? I let the Speck breath out in the home made wine cellar and three days later the smoke was just about gone.So I started slicing about 2 lbs (removing enough hard skin first)Everyone liked it,some loved it,remember we do know pork meat.I purchased this meat because of the Alto Adige designation and because the local Deli no longer slices the meats. So I ate few slices with rustic bread and I liked a lot with my home made 2016 Zinfandel.One final comment We cut in pieces the thin skin and some of the fat,we usually boil to add later to pasta and breakfast foods.I'm sure that I'll buy again.Some people asked about storage,where and how long ,well dried meat stores well in seasonal cool places and/or fridge,NOT FREEZER. I have A/C in my cellar because of the wine ,I'll say 6 months tops in the fridge,cool place less and depending on you geographical location.I don't think that'll be an issue,this much Speck will be gone before Spring.

Get a good meat slicer to cut it very thinn

I like pretty much all smoked meats. I have been a fan of Speck for years, but was a bit skeptical buying it from Amazon. I will say shipping took a long time, the ice packs were liquid and the box was in terrible shape. It is fully cured meat and chamber vacuum packed, so this didn't really concern me. My, oh my, this is an absolutely great product. The last speck I bought from a well know Italian website, was good, but over smoked and very tough.For those of you unfamiliar with Speck, it comes with the skin on one side. I think this simply must be removed as I have no idea what to do with it. The skin is tough as, well, pigskin. The piece I got was 5.4#. I trimmed off the skin and some of the fat cap - all told 13 or 14 oz. I think that is fantastic. The meat is very dense. It has virtually no water in it. It is very hard to slice thin (my preference is less than 1/16"). A meat slicer would be great, but I used a nice knife with a very keen edge and sliced over 100 slices. I vacuum pack in about 1/2 pound packs and freeze for future use. Use it the way you would use prosciutto with melon, parmesan, balsamic, or wrap it around asparagus. Personally, I generally like it cooked slightly. This reduces the stringy nature of the meat. One of my favorite uses is like bacon. Sautee it and use as you would bacon. Way good.

There's A LOT more fat on this slab than shown in the picture. Outside the fat, there's a tough outside pig hide on one side and some sort of skin or coating on the other side. Of course, both these rinds must be removed. This itself is a bit of a chore.The meat is quite tough. And there are veins of completely inedible gristle throughout, so you have to keep spitting out pieces that can't be chewed or swallowed. (After 5 minutes of continuous chewing on a bite, you give up.) Unless you have a professional meat slicing machine, like at the deli, you'll have a hard time getting the meat sliced thin enough to chew, given its toughness and the veins of gristle.The meat's flavor isn't bad, though the flavor is a bit "smoky" for my taste (and, of course, it is very salty).This would be a far, far better product had it been cut into thin strips, like thin bacon, prior to vacuum packing. But even then, I wonder about the inedible veins of gristle.This is not a deli meat.

I wanted prosciutto. I took a chance on purchasing this slab of speck, based on the positive reviews. I received it via FedEx, on ice (it was still cold when it arrived). I have a small residential meat slicer. The reviews of this speck were mixed about whether it can be sliced with non-pro meat slicers. Mine works great (OSTBA brand, purchased from Amazon). My slicer is not large enough to accommodate the entire speck, so I cut it in half. I wrapped one half in Saran wrap, then put it into a freezer ziploc, and threw it in the freezer. I then cut about one-fifth off the other half, and that’s what I ran threw the slicer. I was able to cut paper-thin, transparent prosciutto …. and this stuff is *delicious*. I would say the spices are perfect, literally perfect. Off of that one-fifth of one-half of the speck, I was able to make about 30 slices, which I put in a tupperware and kept in the fridge to snack on. This speck is so good that I would eat a slice, and I found myself craving more throughout the day, and would go back for more. It literally just melts in the mouth (just be sure to slice it very, very thin .... there was one review I read that sounded like the person was trying to eat this like a steak, like cutting off a chunk and eating it, and then saying it was tough — don't do that. You need to slice it paper thin).Bottom line: Very, very good. And it slices easily with my residential meat slicer.

Very good flavor. Tougher than expected and a lot of fat. If you can’t see through it after you slice it, it’s to thick to enjoy.