THE WINNERS
The Masters of Blade
Cutting is one of the oldest workers association associated to the art of cured meats. A profession and a specialization that, however, has been lost since the economic boom.
THE WINNERS
I Maestri di Lama
Cutting is one of the oldest workers association associated to the art of cured meats. A profession and a specialization that, however, has been lost since the economic boom.
But the rediscovery of ancient breeds, now revived thanks to passionate, meticulous and dedicated breeders, has rekindled the interest of the production chain around this type of profession, thus favoring its specialization. Artifacts of this type, in fact, require training that teaches, first of all, how to debone by hand, which is with a knife. Like any new profession and although this is truthfully very ancient, its practice profoundly modifies the community that exercises it, requiring a change of paradigm.
Italy, which has always been a proud spokesperson for the traditional circular blade cutting perpetuated by a meat slicer, is thus being called upon to rewrite its own rules. Indeed, the very meat slicer, so valuable for the spread of Italian cured meats throughout the country and the world, now finds in the human factor, which is in the cutting master, its competitor and, in some cases, even a rival. He, in fact, becomes the custodian of the recovery of traditional knife slicing methods, borrowing them from other schools such as the Spanish ones, and older professions brought back to memory and updated in compliance with what are contemporary sensitivities and that meet everyone’s needs.
In a nutshell, we must establish new concepts standardized to the sophistication of the contemporary palate and ask ourselves innovative questions. The size of the slice and its thickness become elements to be negotiated according to the type of product, its degree of aging and the precise chewing effect to be obtained in order to determine a specific taste-olfactory prominence. By doing so, a real style of slicing can be created little by little. Not only in gestures but in techniques as well, through the choice of blades, their thickness and distance to be calibrated according to the occasion of consumption.
These are the new professionals of cutting and boning – the Maestri di Lama – whether it’s done manually or with a meat slicer. And it is we at Gurus, with our untiring work of discernment in the territory of Italian cured meats, who appease the birth of a real professional category that can safeguard them and recognize their exceptional cultural value. For this reason, every year, we award the unrivaled individual who distinguished himself or herself in terms of sensitivity and propensity to disseminate this delicate profession.
This year, the prestigious award of “Grande Maestro di Lama” goes to…
Ivan Bertelli
Claudio Cialini
Benedetto Colantuono
Marco Dallabona
Carmine De Cristoforo
Matteo Morandi
Stefano Panciotti
Davide Tanzi
Salvatore Nicolai
Learn more about the project
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