Gourmet products
Prosciutto di San Daniele DOP. The jewel in the crown of Friuli, this DOP raw ham is made exclusively in the town of San Daniele del Friuli. Its geographical position plays a role in the curing process, as the town is located in the basin of the Tagliamento River, where the sea breeze from the valley meets the cool alpine currents, creating a microclimate that favors the curing of the ham. Prosciutto di San Daniele is made according to ancient production methods. The pork legs are first salted and then pressed, which gives them their characteristic guitar shape. This operation allows the salt to penetrate the flesh and the fat to spread throughout the muscle mass, giving the ham its softness. The legs are finally hung in maturing rooms where they mature for at least eight months. This ham has always enjoyed great fame, so much so that in the Middle Ages it was used by the people of San Daniele del Friuli to pay their taxes to the Patriarch of Aquileia
Cured meats and salted meats made from pork and goose. Prosciutto di San Daniele is far from the only cured meat product made in the region, and pork lovers will be spoiled for choice. In the Carnic Alps, the mountainous town of Sauris offers ideal climatic conditions for the production of speck di Sauris, a salt-cured and smoked ham, and prosciutto di Sauris, a cured ham, also smoked with resinous essences. The prosciutto of Osvaldo, made in Cormons, is also famous. Salumi (salami), salsicce (sausages) and guanciale (cold cuts similar to pancetta, but more fragrant) are produced in the province of Udine, in the Carso (province of Trieste), the Collio (province of Gorizia) and the hills of eastern Friuli.
More unusual, prosciutto crudo d'oca (raw goose ham) and salame d'oca giudeo (Jewish-style goose salami) are specialties produced in the vicinity of Chiopris-Viscone. Their origins seem to date back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when Jewish communities from north-eastern Europe settled in the Lower Friuli. As their kosher diet forbade them to eat pork, the local pork butchers had the idea of making goose-based products. The process of making prosciutto crudo d'oca is similar to that of cured pork ham: the goose legs are salted and then placed in a maturing room for two to five months. The region also produces cooked goose ham: the animal is boned and stuffed with the salted legs and sewn up. It is then cooked in the oven for about ten hours followed by a light smoking. For the salame d'oca giudeo, the goose fillets, salted, peppered and flavored with wine, are finely chopped. The resulting mixture is then wrapped in the neck of the animal, which is sewn up, and matured for one to five months.
Alpine cheeses. The region has a cheese with a protected designation of origin: Montasio DOP. It is named after the Montasio massif in the Julian Alps. It is a hard or semi-hard cow's milk cheese. The wheels, weighing from five to nine kilos, are matured between two and eighteen months. When eaten fresh, it has a mild flavor; when eaten half-aged or aged, its taste becomes stronger and fruitier. The alpine areas of Friuli also produce other excellent alpine cheeses: Latteria di Fagagna, Malga, ricotta affumicata smoked with conifer or beech wood..
The wine. Friuli-Venezia Giulia produces excellent wines, which can be tasted and purchased at the wine shop or directly at the farm. If you travel by car and you can store cases of bottles in the trunk of your car, you will save on shipping costs! If you are traveling by plane, you will have to make do with a few bottles in your checked luggage, or you can have the cases delivered to your home. Friuli is known worldwide for the quality of its white wines. It has two indigenous white grape varieties: Friulano, which offers the palate a light dry white wine with a finish on almonds, and Ribolla Gialla, which produces fuller and more sustained white wines. The Picolit variety is the basis of a sweet wine that was already appreciated in the time of the Habsburgs. The region also produces prosecco, a sparkling white wine made from the Glera grape variety and named after the town of Prosecco, near Trieste. Friulian reds, on the other hand, are traditionally light and fruity, but a period in oak barrels can give them more roundness and structure. The grape varieties used are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and a local variety, Refosco. The two most important DOC(Denominazione di Origine Controllata) areas are located side by side along the Slovenian border: Collio Goriziano DOC and Colli Orientali del Friuli DOC.
Olive oil. Olive cultivation is growing in the region. The provinces of Pordenone and Trieste and the hills of eastern Friuli are producers of quality olive oil. The most prized is theTergeste DOP extra virgin olive oil with its delicate and aromatic flavor.
Coffee. The only maritime outlet of the Austrian Empire, Trieste was a crossroads for the exchange of the most varied and exotic commodities. Today, the city remains the leading coffee port in the Mediterranean and twice as much coffee is consumed here as anywhere else in Italy. After enjoying a cup of this comforting beverage in one of Trieste's many historic cafés, stop by one of the city's roasters to purchase coffees from around the world.
Preserves and polenta. The products of regional horticulture are sold in preserves in the form of sott'olio (oil) greens or in brine. Among these, the crauti are abundantly consumed in winter. It is white cabbage fermented with coarse salt and herbs (cumin, juniper berries...), better known in our region as sauerkraut and therefore not the exclusive preserve of Alsace! Another specialty of the region that is sold in cans: the brovada, which accompanies roasted or simmered meats. It is a preparation of grated turnips fermented in grape marc. Friuli is also a corn-producing region and sells a quality polenta in bags, which is cooked with alpine cheeses, mushrooms or as an accompaniment to meat dishes.
Handicraft
The wood. In the Carnic Alps, the skill of woodworkers has been recognized for centuries. The village of Sutrio is called in Friulian the pais di marangons, the "land of the carpenters", and in the past its craftsmen made the wooden furniture and decorations of the Venetian palaces. In Sauris, cabinetmakers were famous for making carnival masks and dalmine, a kind of clog. This ancestral know-how has been passed down to the present day and is perpetuated by workshops scattered throughout the mountain villages. You can buy furniture with traditional or more contemporary shapes, as well as decorative objects and carved wood coverings. The furniture sector is also well represented in some of the industrial districts of the province of Pordenone and the Natisone Valley southeast of Udine. Oltralpe's furniture (chairs, coat racks, sofa structures, etc.) are made using a particular technique of hot bending of beech wood.
Wrought iron. Wrought iron craftsmanship is typical of the entire region and the most widespread objects are the weathervanes that adorn the roofs of the houses, the fireplace utensils and the household articles.
The mosaic. Spilimbergo is world famous for its prestigious school of mosaic and this link to thearte musiva is not new. Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, the inhabitants of the area went to Venice to work in the mosaic sector. With the Italian emigration, some mosaic masters from Friuli exported their skills abroad and made a fortune. The foundation of the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli in Spilimbergo in 1922 was the logical continuation of a very old tradition. The mosaic school of Spilimbergo welcomes students from all over the world. Its workshops can be visited and one can leave after having acquired a mosaic painting. Handicraft stores have also flourished in Spilimbergo and in the province of Pordenone. They offer various articles decorated with mosaics: various decorative objects, pedestal tables, jewelry ..
The textile. Textile handicrafts is a tradition rooted in the whole Friulian territory. Several workshops sell hand-woven household linen: tablecloths, towels, curtains..
The scarpet. They are the cozy companions of Friulians who slip their feet into them on cold winter evenings: these typical slippers of the region were made for centuries from scraps of fabric that were layered to make the sole. The scarpet have now become very trendy and are available in an infinite number of patterns and colors.
