The Cinta Senese breed is not only the most appreciated pork breed, but even the most frequently mentioned in history, in art and in myths.
It is still present in the fresco painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and located in the Public Palace of Siena and titled: “Effetti del Buon Governo” (”Good Government Results”).
The cinta senese breed, native to the Montagnola Senese area and the Chianti area, is the mother of all pork breeds in Tuscany.
The Etruscans already reared it and then it was among the Romans during their migrations; the farmers of the Middle Ages survived plagues and famines thanks to this animal.
Video preparation of Tagliata of Cinta Senese pork chop
It was a good reserve of food for everybody as it could be reared in the wild state for its resistance to bad weather.
In the past times, for the slow growing up of this breed (slaughtered after 12 months from its birth), quicker growing up breeds were privileged.
Following the trend of the most recent times towards a re-discovery of ancient values and tastes, the Cinta Senese is now breeded again.
The “Cinta Senese” breed is reared in a wild or in a half-wild “controlled” state.
The breeding area must be characterized by woods, sowable lands and grasslands; the feeding is integrated with vegetable origin flours as barley, corn and fava bean flour.
Nowadays every pork is registered in the Genealogy Book (as it is for Chianina breed) existin ever since 1934 (date of first breed selections); the Book is kept by the Agriculture Itinerant Chair of Siena.
The Cinta Senese meat is homogeneously veined of fat, while in the other breeds the fat side and the lean side are sharply separated.
For that reason the cinta senese meat is extraordinarily scented and tasty.
As the old saying goes, “of a pork, you never throw anything away”; so many different salami products can be prepared: bacon-fat, bacon, hogs jowls, ham, sausages, coppa and many others.
All that is well accompanied by the classic Tuscan saltless bread and by the Tuscan red wines (tannic and structured).
Nowadays the production area includes the whole Tuscan Region.