In the heart of the Emilian food valley, in Castelnuovo Rangone, a small town in the province of Modena about 25 km from our farmhouse, there is a unique museum, the MUSA – Museo della Salumeria, the first in Italy to celebrate the variety and nobility of the ancient art of Italian charcuterie. Incidentally, Castelnuovo itself is one of Europe’s most important districts for processing in the pork industry.
The museum is housed at the historic headquarters of Villani Salumi, a historic company that has been in business since 1886 and has been recognized for years as a benchmark for quality in the world of cured meats. The company, which has spanned as many as three centuries of Italian history, was the first to innovate the production process by introducing seasoning trolleys, a technique later adopted by all other salumi factories. Over time it has become increasingly established, showing since the 1930s its vocation for export. Today its regional specialties are shipped all over the world.
The museum aims to bring to life the story of the men and women who created one of the world’s most prized gastronomic deposits. The exhibition is spread over three floors and more than 200 square meters of exhibition space. On display are images, videos, descriptive texts with stories and anecdotes of individual productions, ancient machinery and other historical artifacts related to processing, raw materials such as spices and flavorings used in production, guiding visitors to discover the flavors and knowledge that have always colored our tables.
The exhibition itinerary is divided into 10 rooms: Fragrances and Flavors, dedicated to spices; Salumi, reserved for all the product families of charcuterie; Art of Cutting, dedicated to a practice considered as a true art; Territory, which describes the food district that revolves around Castelnuovo Rangone; Hot and Cold, which illustrates the charcuterie production process; and Mestieri, which tells about the most important craftsmanship related to production; Time, dedicated to the slowness of time, understood both as knowledge of the exact timing and as an ally for a quality result; Salumi d’Italia, in which Italian salumi traditions are presented; Legature, in which this particularly important technique for obtaining quality products is explored; and The Company – Yesterday and Today, dedicated to the past and present of the Villani Company.
For more information visit the official web site Museo della Salumeria.
(foto by Museo della Salumeria)
AGRITURISMO IL BRUGNOLO
Welcome to il Brugnolo
If you’re looking for completely independent apartments surrounded by greenery you really are in the right place here!
In fact, Brugnolo is immersed in the green nature of the Emilian countryside. For your relaxation, for that of your children, and again for the runs of your 4-legged friends, you will have 6000 square meters of park at your disposal!
