You might be wondering what the heck this photo has to do with soup. The picture shows the unveiling of the speck at a Speckfest. David attended the festival in the mountains of Alto Adige near the Austrian border. Like so many of the edges of what is now Italy, Alto Adige was long considered part of another country—Austria, to be exact. In fact, it’s known in the local German dialect as Sudtirol, or South Tyrol.
Our soup this Saturday (when we are forecast to receive around 2 feet/60 centimeters of snow) is warming winter fare. The Alto Adige version of barley soup gets much of its flavor from speck, the smoked mountain ham that is something of a fetish in the region. It’s such a big deal in the cuisine it has its own festival. Locals celebrate on the first weekend of every October in Val di Funes with Tyrolean music, sport, displays of physical fitness, and a huge feast. Speck flavors everything but the apple dumplings. Classic dirndls and lederhosen make a show of Tyrolean pride.
Each year the organizers staple slabs of speck onto some fanciful form. (When David visited, it was the Austrian imperial eagle.) After the unveiling (shown above), every slab is pried off the form and handed out, one per attendee.
The production of speck is so ingrained in the culture that most farmers maintain a smokehouse to cure their own hams. This artisanal speck is highly respected and commands a considerable premium over the price of the excellent commercial speck from firms like Gasser and Alma. The ham is usually served thinly sliced as part of an antipasto plate or with cheese and beer. The gristly bits and the parts that cling to the hambone are used for flavoring stew and soups—like the barley soup in our recipe below.
The commercial Alto Adige speck is sometimes available here in the U.S., but usually in pieces that weigh 5 lb. or more. Once in a while, we can also find thinly sliced German speck at our local supermarket. For a few days around Speckfest, Alto Adige farmers are allowed to sell their own farm speck, and tourists from surrounding countries flock to the region to buy. Don’t even try to fly into the U.S. with this product. If you visit, you’ll have to consume it before you leave. For reference, MINESTRA DE ORZO
Most Americans think of orzo as a semolina pasta that cooks up like rice on steroids. But in Italian, orzo means barley. Typical of the alpine regions in Trentino-Alto Adige, this comforting soup is a staple in the mountain ski lodges in the Val de Non district. Every family has its own twist on it, and most make the dish with the hambone scrapings of smoky speck, the Germanic counterpart to prosciutto. Real speck is hard to get here in New England, we’ve settled for using smokehouse bacon trimmed of the fattiest edges. When chives are in season, they really brighten up the soup. With the garden frozen solid, we substitute the Justice spice mix from Penzey’s (penzeys.com). It contains dehydrated chives, shallots, onion, garlic, and green peppercorns. Serves 4 INGREDIENTS DIRECTIONS Place heavy skillet over medium heat and add barley. Stir to keep from burning and toast until barley is lightly browned. Remove and reserve. Dice bacon into 1/4-inch lardons. Add to hot pan with butter and cook until bacon bits are browned. Remove cooked bacon and reserve. Dice onion into small cubes. Add to pan and cook slowly to soften. While onion is cooking, dice carrot, celery, and potatoes into uniform pieces (about 1/4 inch). When onion is soft and beginning to color, add remaining vegetables and cook about 5 minutes. Add stock and thyme to large soup pot or Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Add the vegetables from the skillet along with reserved barley and cooked bacon. Simmer for 30 minutes. Taste soup and add black pepper to taste. Before serving, stir in chives or Penzey’s Justice seasoning. Simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with grated cheese to sprinkle on top.