The Tradition
of Norcineria Ansuini
Mastro Peppe
Since 1938 the historic Norcineria Ansuini Mastro Peppe of Norcia has been producing, as per the Norcineria Tradition, high quality cold cuts and sausages and guarantees the Genuineness, Typicality and Craftsmanship of its products.
The 3 Exclusive Guarantees
Mastro Peppe
Genuineness
This is a fundamental value of good pork products. We use only high quality raw materials from animals raised in Norcia with respect for their nature and hygienic rules. The ingredients used in the processing of our cured meats and bagged meats are free of chemical additives, nitrate-free, lactose-free and gluten-free.
Typicality
Norcineria is a profession that originated in Norcia, Umbria. We have developed typical processing and production techniques that have been handed down from generation to generation. We were the first and are the only ones with farming, processing, production and curing in the Norcia area, respecting local traditions.
Handicraft
Meat processing is an art that requires skill and expertise. Our pork butchery is run by artisans who know how to process meat with skill and passion, using traditional production techniques.We carefully follow all stages of the process to obtain high quality products with an authentic and inimitable flavor.
Don’t trust imitations
Only the “Norcineria Ansuini Mastro Peppe” brand guarantees you the freshness, authenticity and flavor of real Umbrian salumi
Buy only from this site or visit us at our only store in downtown Norcia.
A bit of history
To say Norcino is to say Norcia
The “Mastro Norcino”
Today the term “Norcino” refers to the skilled artisan who produces delicious cured meats, sold at Norcinerie. Historically, however, this term has indicated the inhabitant of Norcia, but also the surgeon of the Precian school, in other cases the butcher; he was also a theatrical mask. The historical story of the Norcino is very complex, and it is our intention to make it clear how much this trade is part of the Norcian culture and our personal story.
Every farming family owned a pig. Its diet consisted of acorns, corn, and potatoes, with the addition of “household leftovers,” such as bread crumbs and all the other few scraps of food. It was absolutely forbidden to waste these precious leftovers, which were gradually accumulated inside “lu sicchittu de lu puòrcu,” usually arranged in the kitchen. The pig of the house was housed inside “lu stallittu” and often children also had to take care of grooming it. It was usually killed during the month of January and its meat processed in the favor of low temperatures. The cured meats were then cured in cellars. Their consumption was dictated by maturation: the last product to be eaten, because it had the longest maturation time, was the ham. There were no large pig farms in Norcia; families, as already mentioned, owned their own head intended for self-consumption; at most, a few could be found loose in the woods.
A key date for Norcini was August 16. On that day the “sienti ‘n può” (listen to you) fair was held, and is still held today. During that day, in fact, the Mastri Norcini active mainly in Rome, Livorno and Pisa would arrive in Norcia to hire adults and young people, who had recently finished elementary school, to bring with them to the city as workshop help or “a fà la stagione.” Negotiations to determine the compensation for the work that the Norcians would do in the city would begin with the very expression “listen to you…”.
Our family also experienced this phase of seasonal migration; in fact, young Peppe worked for years in Livorno.
As Once Upon a Time
A Heritage to Defend
The Norcino is Norcia
Mastro Peppe comments:
“Important and hard experience; many times we could not set the table because we had to use it as a ladder to hang fresh cold cuts on it.”
He continues with remembrance:
“In each city there were different working techniques, watching I understood and learned which was right and which was not…as the saying goes, ‘impara l’arte e mettila a parte!’ (learn the art and set it aside!)”.
We still make our salumi as Mastro Peppe learned not only during these Tuscan trips but also from his parents and is passing on to us sons, Fabrizio and Emiliano.
Since 1938, our family now sees the fourth generation of Norcini, always continuing to produce and season the finest Norcinerie, just as in the old days.