Acorns, chestnuts and walnuts are not lacking in the Samnite land, like bran and corn. And, consequently, neither the pigs, the black one in particular.
They make typical products such as the soppressata, the capocollo, the Sannio sausage. In Castelpoto, in the Caudina valley on the slopes of Taburno, the sausage is red because the ground chilli is added to the pork with lard and bacon during the processing. That too is a local product: the smaller "papauli" are dried outdoors, then toasted in a wood-fired oven and then minced and added to the meat with garlic, wild fennel and salt. Slow Food red sausages can be sweet or spicy and can be eaten cooked or preferably sliced, on homemade bread or on Castelpoto cunzat bread, made with cracklings and raisins.
The mountain air, the climate at an altitude of 830 meters and a process refined over the centuries in its various stages are the "secret" of Pietraroja ham, already renowned in the eighteenth century. In addition to the quality of the meat and the careful seasoning, what makes the difference is the slow natural drying in the cool cellars of the town on Mount Mutria and a light smoking with wood from the nearby woods.
