Gurùs team

What is it about? It is a laboratory, a study, a space where projects dedicated to the world of gourmet food and wine come to life, which Gurus is presently a point of reference. 

The company, in fact, dedicates itself to the study of the food and wine field, which emerges with the constant involvement of professionals in the field, such as chefs, sommeliers, hospitality schools, food technicians, oenologists and, of course, producers. Each of the performers of the production chain is called to contribute to the projects that, every year, come out of the Gurus lab in the form of tastings, seminars, work-shops and master-classes, as well as a lively editorial activity.

A deployment of resources, competencies and energy. Everything here converges towards food and wine, treated both as a subject of study and as an area of experimental research if it is true, and indeed it is, that the many projects dedicated to it contribute not only to the organization of knowledge but, above all, to the great development of humanity, marking year by year the most virtuous and innovative paths. The paths that are the most respectful of both mankind and its habitat, which are in essence the same thing. This contribution to the material and immaterial culture of mankind has always been one of Gurus’ priorities and the new item we are about to present to you is also part of this philosophy. 

A new, entirely online guide eminently dedicated to one of the most neglected, yet most characteristic, areas of Italianness at the table: the world of cured meats, which preserves, represents and celebrates so much of the territorial and cultural identity of our Bella Italia. Hence, we have dedicated the most current years of our activity to cured meats and, along with it, we have empirically organized a calendar of tastings, prepared technical and evaluation sheets and organized moments of in-depth analysis aimed at the drafting of texts, icons and iconographies that could respond to the complexity of the universe we are facing. 

We have, therefore, analyzed all the existing products, even those with obvious anomalies (very few indeed) due to transport or storage. And then all the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) cured meats, as well as all the national and regional types, traditional and without denomination which, nevertheless, have a strong territorial link. In particular, this edition differs in the attention shown towards those producers who have proven sensitive towards a production oriented towards Animal Welfare and ORGANIC Cured meats, yet without forgetting perhaps more conventional production chains which, for their history and prestige, have contributed to making the profile of national cured meats outstanding, both in Italy and worldwide. 

Thus, each individual tasting, has produced a score (for more in-depth information, please refer to the Criteria section) that we intentionally expressed in hundredths. A score that we have organized through a graphic symbol, the fibula (a thin pin made from the bone of a horse’s shin, the antique tool used by professional figures – known also as ‘spillatori’ – for the ‘spiking’, the olfactory test performed during maturation to evaluate the quality and characteristics of cured meats, as the most representative symbol of this wonderful and amazing Italian production chain.