A slim, gently spiced pork salame from the village of Felino in Parma's hills, IGP protected, cut on the diagonal into long ovals that show its coarse, wine-scented grain.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Felino, a few kilometres southwest of Parma, has cured salame since at least the 18th century, when parish records priced it above other salumi. The IGP recipe is lean pork, salt, whole peppercorns and a splash of wine, aged in the same hill air that cures prosciutto. Its museum sits in Felino castle's cellars, and the diagonal cut is orthodoxy: longer slices, more aroma, thinner skin-to-meat ratio.
Tip from the editors. The diagonal cut is not fussiness: shallow angles mean longer slices, more surface and visibly better aroma.
Trattoria del Tribunale hides in a lane behind Parma's courthouse, rolling tortelli, anolini and tagliatelle daily under a ceiling of hanging salumi.
Signature: Tortelli d'erbetta, Anolini in brodo, Salame di Felino
Order: The Emilian salumi board with Salame di Felino, then tortelli.
Tip: Open every day including Sunday evening, which is rare in central Parma. The lane entrance on Vicolo Politi is easy to walk past.
I Pifferi occupies an old post house from the era of Duchess Marie Louise at Sala Baganza near Parma, on the edge of the Boschi di Carrega woods.
Signature: Nonna Lina's herb tortelli, Timballo al tartufo, Salumi with torta fritta
Order: Nonna Lina's herb tortelli with melted butter and Parmigiano; in summer eat them in the shaded garden.
Tip: Combine it with the wine museum in Sala Baganza's Rocca and a walk in the Boschi di Carrega, the old ducal hunting forest.
Trattoria Sorelle Picchi grew out of a historic salumeria on Strada Farini in Parma, so lunch starts at the counter: culatello, coppa and spalla cotta.
Signature: Culatello di Zibello, Tortelli d'erbetta, Anolini in brodo
Order: The salumi board from the counter, then anolini in brodo.
Tip: The front counter is a working salumeria whose boards also sell to take away; tables book in two seatings at lunch, 12:00 and 13:45.
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