17.8.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 312/13
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4.
Concise definition of the geographical area ‘Pitina’ is produced exclusively in the Province of Pordenone, in the municipalities of Andreis, Barcis, Cavasso Nuovo, Cimolais, Claut, Erto Casso, Frisanco, Maniago, Meduno, Montereale Valcellina, Tramonti di Sopra and Tramonti di Sotto.
5.
Link with the geographical area The specificity of ‘Pitina’ is based on the intrinsic properties and the originality of the product, which can be summed up in the unusual use of game, sheep or goat meat, not seen anywhere else in the Alps, and in preservation methods which, unlike other preparations based on meat, do not involve casings or a rind, but a thin layer of maize flour which, together with judicious smoking, allows the product to age and prevents it from drying out.
‘Pitina’ is produced in an area with distinctive eco-environmental conditions, which the Regional Meteorological Observatory (OSMER, 2011) has defined as ‘a pre-Alpine enclave with a separate climate profile marked by record annual average rainfall and the frequent mixing of air masses, together with the specificity of the mountainous landscape that hosts the “lowest permanent snowfield in the Alps”’.
In geographical terms the production area for ‘Pitina’ is located in three valleys — Valcellina, Val Colvera and Val Tramontina — within the mountainous region above the Western Friuli high plains, between the Tagliamento and Piave rivers.
Part of the area is within the Friuli Dolomites Natural Park.
This region was historically blighted by poverty, emigration and a subsistence economy in which meat was a precious commodity and pig-farming was extremely rare.
Animal proteins were provided by sheep and goats slaughtered when they reached the required age, or perhaps injured or killed in ravines or, occasionally, by ungulate game hunted, in most cases, by poachers.
The need to preserve what little meat was available for as long as possible, particularly during the winter, led to the development of preservation techniques which, for that matter, are common to the entire Alpine region and to northern Europe, such as smoking meat and stabilising it with pork fat.
In the case of ‘Pitina’, the leftover meat, more often the less popular cuts, was roughly cut up, the fat and tendons removed, and chopped on a board called a ‘pestadoria’ with a heavy knife called a ‘manarin’; the mass was formed into meatballs with the addition of salt, spices (sometimes soaked in wine) and wild fennel.
The meatballs (‘pitine’) were then rolled in maize flour and smoked in the hearth (‘fogher’ or ‘fogolar’).
A series of oral testimonies collected by local historians from 1978 onwards (in the degree thesis by Renata Ventorelli entitled ‘La cultura popolare di Andreis e la sua valle’ (Popular culture in Andreis and its valley), Urbino University, academic year 1981-1982) has led us to firmly believe that ‘Pitina’ was widely prepared and eaten in Val Tramontina and its neighbouring valleys in the early 1800s.
It is also important to note the reference to ‘Pitina’ and its specific characteristics in the book ‘La valle del Colvera’ (Mazzoli, Maniago, 1973): ‘...
Pitina was made from sheep and goat meat ...’, as well as the more detailed description found in the book ‘Civiltà contadina del Friuli — architettura spontanea e lavoro a Navarons’ (Peasant life in Friuli — spontaneous architecture and work in Navarons) published in 1979: ‘Pitina is a rolled ball (eight centimetres in diameter and three centimetres thick) of sheep, ram, she-goat, he-goat or chamois meat.
The meat is boned, the external fat having been removed, and ground in a machine or by hand, then seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic and a certain amount of fat is added.
The paste is mixed well and rolled in maize flour.
The balls are smoked over the embers of juniper wood.
The “pitini” can be kept in a dry place for over a year’ (‘pitini’ is the author’s attempt at the plural of the name).
The tradition of ‘Pitina’ in Val Tramontina is mentioned in the V Comunità Montana ‘Tourist Guide’ of 1989: ‘... particular mention should be made of “pitina” ... made of ram’s meat smoked with rare aromatic herbs and spices, added skilfully, according to an old, jealously-guarded family recipe’.
The name ‘Pitina’ originates from Val Tramontina.
The first people to produce it, according to historical evidence, were the villagers of Inglagna and Frasaneit, in the municipality of Tramonti di Sopra, and it is here that, from 1969 onwards, the Pro Loco association