According to some records, the Lombards were the first to introduce, in the Staffora Valley, pig breeding and the practice of stuffing minced meat to make salami (a raw sausage), a nutritious food, that lasts long and that does not require cooking, therefore ideal for a nomadic people.
In the thirteenth century, the Marquis Malaspina, whose family made firm bonds with these places, offered to their guests this food which is so tasty and delicious. As time went by, salame became a basic food product of the peasants, who made pig one of the main resources of their economy as well as their survival.
Until not long ago, it was customary to raise at least one pig each year, which was then intended for slaughter to sustain the whole peasant family. Today, as then, the gastronomic practice and traditions are being respected, consolidated and improved, and have embraced modernity to give birth in the towns, to a product of excellence: the Salame di Varzi DOP
