16. Prosciutto di Bassiano
History
The hills on which Bassiano stands, in the Lepini Mountains, are an ideal place for curing this ham. In fact, there are many pedoclimatic aspects that characterise its production: the right degree of humidity needed to obtain a balanced seasoning of the product, the altitude and the presence of the mountains that shelter the town from the sirocco and tramontana winds.
Traditional production starts with the careful selection of the pigs, which come exclusively from Italian farms. The legs are first trimmed with a knife, then cured with a typical sauce made of white wine and garlic. This is followed by 'dry salting' with which the hams are manually seasoned. The moulds are then subjected to a double sugnatura that seals the uncovered part of the flesh with a mixture of lard, salt, chilli pepper and rice flour. This is followed by a light smoking process using beech wood and slow ageing.
Several generations in Bassiano grew up eating what is still called a 'lòncio', a ham sandwich. The use of this term, a dialect transposition of the English lunch, used by American soldiers in the area during the last world war, testifies to the existence of ham production ever since. For fifty years, on the last Sunday in July, a historic festival has celebrated its excellence.
The product
Prosciutto di Bassiano, which is characterised by the trimming of the rind down to the stem and the curing process lasting up to 18 months, has a uniform red-pink colour of the lean meat and white-pink of the fat with good marbling. The high olfactory intensity is characterised by pronounced notes of seasoned meat, garlic and spices combined with hints of wine and, for the smoked version, of beech. On the palate, it is harmoniously salty and savoury, with a discrete sweet note and a slight sour note. Good chewiness and aromatic persistence.
THE SHRINE OF THE CRUCIFIX OF BASSIANO
Not far from the medieval village of Bassiano, immersed in the green Lepini Mountains, stands the Sanctuary of the Crucifix, a very ancient complex suspended between devotion and mystery.
According to tradition, the hermitage was built in the Middle Ages on the site of the cave that gave refuge to the Knights Templar who had fled the persecution of the Abbey of Valvisciolo in 1300. Later, the hermitage was to house a brotherhood of Franciscan friars. Apart from the various historical or legendary theories, the Sanctuary preserves valuable cave frescoes that testify to the importance of the place of worship. In the grotto, in fact, there are splendid wall paintings, dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, which have recently been restored. The Madonna Enthroned with Child, Mary Magdalene, the Crucifixion and the Blessing Christ with Four Saints are noteworthy for their colours and traits.
In the circular chapel, on the other hand, there is a famous wooden crucifix, carved in 1673 by the Bassianese friar Vincenzo Pietrosanti, which gives the sanctuary its name. Legend has it that the friar, who had to carve more than seven crucifixes in the course of his life, used to work only on Fridays, after a long fast and after having scourged himself. The drama of this crucifix is vivid and arouses deep emotion, so much so that tradition attributes the creation of Christ's face to a celestial hand.
