First-Taste Tastasal Competition in Lazise Showcases Veneto’s Sausage Styles

Tastasal literally means “taste salt”: it is pork meat prepared for stuffing into sausages, used to season risotto to check its level of saltiness. In the province of Verona, there are various techniques for preparing and cooking tastasal.

Now, there are some who have thought of organizing a real championship to compare the different styles. Tonight at 8 p.m., the first tastasal championship will take place in Lazise, at the La Meridiana delle Cantine Lamberti center.

Organized by the Garda veronese branch of Slow Food and the i Ghiottoni association of Torri, the event will feature tastasal from six different producers, prepared by as many chefs, who will cook a series of risottos using veronese vialone nano rice, a protected geographical indication: the organizers selected the sample from Melotti rice mill in Isola della Scala.

Participants and preparations

In this unique gastronomic competition, the butchery Sartori of Brenzone is represented in the kitchen by chef Mauro Harmaki. The Girardi butcher shop of Torri competes with Stefano Lorenzi. The Gazzani rice mill of Vigasio is represented by Gianni Cusini. The La Zona restaurant, affiliated with the restaurant association of Isola della Scala, is represented by Francesco Derani.

Aldrighetti, a salumiere from Pol di Pastrengo, entrusts his tastasal to Stefano Lorenzi (who thus represents two different producers), while the Lonardi butchery of Ponti sul Mincio (Mantova province, near the Veronese territory) will have Dorella De Franceschi and Angelo Manzati in the kitchen.

Tasting and tips

The risottos will be served alongside four wines selected by companies belonging to the Gruppo italiano vini. As a prelude, there will be cold cuts and sausages, just to keep it light.

After the tasty tasting, Renzo Girardi, a butcher-sculptor from Torri, will showcase some of his works made from olive wood. For those who want to cook risotto with tastasal at home, here are the tips from Flavio Tagliaferro and Isidoro Consolini, chefs of the i Ghiottoni association.

“To make a good tastasal,” they say, “you need excellent minced pork, preferably composed of eighty percent scannello and the rest guanciale. The rice, when fully cooked, should remain perfectly separate grains, having absorbed all the cooking broth.”