It is the various family recipes that make speck so unique. The customer can choose the speck that he or she likes best. Some prefer it herbier, others like it mild and others are partial to a smoky note,” says Günther Windegger.
Speck isn’t just speck: On one hand, it is important to give customers the taste they want. On the other hand, there are a lot of different kinds to choose from. Every family also has their own family recipe, which makes the product endlessly interesting.
Windegger was founded in 1901, and has been handed down to three sons since. Günther Windegger has been running the family business for eleven years now and has always had his priorities straight: He wanted to build upon what his father had created. The family recipe passed down from his great-great grandfather is still used today, and gives the Windegger Speck a very special flavour; over the past 100 years the recipe has been honed to perfection, but has not been substantially altered in any way. With its distinctive mixture of herbs and spices and long curing process, Windegger speck is something truly special. The perfect curing point is vital in the production of Speck Alto Adige PGI; producers also have to take the utmost of care during process in order to guarantee a consistent product. Günther Windegger eschews rapid drying of his meats, opting instead to leave them hanging for a couple of months longer so that he can achieve the precise consistency and the unmistakeable aroma that he wants. Customers can choose from a variety of specks at the Windegger butcher’s: Speck Alto Adige PGI and South Tyrol Bauernspeck, using pork sourced from local farms.
Around half of Windegger’s speck production is sold over the counter in the two butcher’s shops owned by the family, while the remainder is sent out to quality supermarkets and delicatessens in northern Italy. For the past 8 years or so, the Windegger family have also been receiving international orders.
Video
Production facility