You’ve likely heard of capicola, also called capocollo or simply coppa. In my experience, it’s referred to as capocollo or coppa by native Italians, or capicola in the U.S. Whatever you call it, it’s delicious when sliced very thin and eaten on its own or on a sandwich.

Coppa, as my Italian friends encourage me to call it, is a traditional Italian dry-cured pork salumi made most often from pork shoulders or necks.

Coppa is one of the easier, popular charcuterie cuts to make. You don’t have to own a grinder to make it, as with salami or sopressata. There are a few important tips to know when making homemade coppa, or you’ll get frustrated with the outside of the coppa becoming too dry and the inside remaining too soft and not dried out enough.

The word "coppa" comes from the Italian pork carcass chart. The coppa is the muscle right behind the back of the pig’s head, and part of the Boston butt. To get the best tasting coppa, source a heritage breed like Berkshire or Duroc. With the increasing popularity of heritage breeds in the U.S., getting a coppa is not too difficult if you call the local meat shops in your area.

The first step in making coppa is to trim, salt and season the muscle. Coppa is normally seasoned with a dry rub of crushed red pepper, coarse black pepper and Spanish paprika.

The dry rub is massaged well into every part of the muscle until all of it is colored by the deep color of the paprika. The seasoned coppa is rolled and tied with butcher’s twine or simply rolled over and stuffed into a tight fitting bag.

At this point, some coppa makers use a vacuum bag and a cold-cure step, while others go directly to dry-aging the coppa in a carefully controlled environment.

If using the small batch cold-cure method, next the coppa is put into a vacuum-sealed bag and cold-cured for up to 30 days in a cool room or converted refrigerator. This cold-cure step allows the spices to penetrate evenly into the meat and the fat and protein moisture to equalize throughout the muscle. The cold, cure, salt and lack of oxygen allow the nitrates to convert into their more useful compound, sodium nitrite, which preserves the meat when finished.

After a month, the coppa is removed from the bag or casing, thoroughly rinsed under cold water and patted dry with a towel. It is then dry-rubbed again with spices, stuffed into a collagen casing or a beef bung, sprayed with a beneficial bacteria starter and hung to dry for 30 to 60 days, depending on the diameter of the coppa. You know the coppa is ready when it’s lost 40% of its weight in the dry-cure environment.

My friend Mark DeNittis offers these tips for secrets to making a good coppa:

Having followed the USDA/FSIS regulatory process, we dialed into the modern side of this old- world salt only, air dried, uncured coppa using the "eye" of Boston butts (equivalent of Chuck eye in beef) for its size and drying time.

Per the process of making dry coppa, first salting and seasoning. Then encasing in a beef bung and tying or netting, then allowing for a minimum of 18 days equalization period allowing for salt primarily and flavor penetration equally as the start of removing moisture before its final days in a drying chamber at 50°F with 65% to 70% humidity to allow for proper full drying. At this time, it may take upwards of three months to achieve the proper water activity level by drying, aka lethality step, in combination with salt concentrations.

Note that too-low humidity will create an environment for case hardening wherein the outside dries so much that the center cannot release moisture, staying raw and possibly spoiling.

We did a traditional hot as well as a sweet that was amazing.

There’s more technical info and help available online if you’d like to try making your own coppa. Many helpful videos and recipes are easily found on YouTube.

While this process may at first seem intimidating, the end result is a culinary delight that will expand your horizons and satisfy the palate!

Coppa

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