A fatty work of art

A unique product made at 1,500 metres above sea level. We paid a visit to the Kral family and their Alpine pigs.

For pig lovers ...

“The most important thing for us is the welfare of the animals,” explains speck producer Mario Kral, who produces the delicacy together with his son Benjamin on a mountain farm in the Sarntal Valley in South Tyrol. “For example, we have crossbred different breeds of pig again and again to get a pig that is hardy, robust and can cope with living at an altitude of 1,500 metres.” The welfare of the pigs on Unterkranzer Farm is of the utmost importance to the Kral family. When you love pigs so much, they love you back. The speck from these pigs is so legendary that it comes with a fairly hefty price tag.

Speck is a type of cured and lightly smoked ham produced in South Tyrol. Nowadays, with meat being viewed rather sceptically by many, its an almost atavistic term. The food industry with their salty, insufficiently cured speck from pigs that had a worthless and short life played its part in this too. Speck represents a rural tradition; it’s a tasty refreshment in a harsh lifestyle characterised by plenty of work and constant exposure to the elements. If you look long enough, you still find many speck producers that are incredibly passionate about what they do and have an innate understanding of their work. Like those based here in South Tyrol.

A tunnel to speck

The Sarntal Valley isn’t far from Bolzano, the bustling capital of South Tyrol in the valley basin. But when you pass through the tunnel to get there, it’s like entering another world. Few hotels, hardly any restaurants (those that are here are excellent, though!), an outstanding vegetable farmer, tablemaker and milliner. Craftsmanship is at home here and has no intention of leaving. When you head north towards Merano, crossing Penser Joch (2,211 m) on the way, the villages get smaller and smaller and the roads narrower. To visit the Kral family’s famous speck factory, you have to turn left off the main road and follow a smaller serpentine road up the mountain to Unterkranzer Farm, which sits at 1,540 metres above sea level.

They sell their products for up to € 95 per kilo and the price tag can even get as high as € 320 per kilo for their 48-month cured premium speck. This is significantly costlier than the prices set by the members of the Speck Alto Adige Consortium for their products, which can be bought at markets and in supermarkets. The community of speck producers in South Tyrol apparently don’t speak too highly of the Kral family and the speck that they produce.

[Translate to English:] Speck Stall Blick

Pigs are training on the ladder

Anyone paying a visit to Mario and Benjamin at Unterkranzer Farm needs to be curious and a little patient. Before Benjamin Kral presents the first slice of speck, he builds the anticipation – it’s almost as if he has a second job as a playwright. Just past the cow stables is the housing for the pigs. The pigs have plenty of space to move around and places to relax in their open pens. They get the best hay and plenty of fresh air all year round, even in winter. The various generations of pigs are left to grow separately for a while. “The older, stronger pigs would make short work of the younger ones,” explains Benjamin to the visitors. Near the pig housing is a wooden ladder. “The pigs have learnt that by climbing up the ladder, they get a treat.” The training on the ladder helps to reduce the animals’ stress.

The pigs decide

So, how did the family end up in the Sarntal Valley? Mario tells us their story. “I was working as a contractor in South Tyrol and had 90 employees but, at some point, I thought‘there must be something else’ and ended up selling everything. We moved to Unterkranzer Farm in 2011 and starting breeding pigs.” The family have named their pigs ”Alpine pigs” because they’re a cross between German Landrace, Duroc, Swabian-Hall and Black Iberian pigs “We’re constantly learning on the job, we were always laughed at and even reported to the police because we put our cows outside in winter. The pigs can go out whenever they want,” he explains.

18 months in pig's heaven

Their pigs have a happy, calm life for 18 months. Mario explains: “In recent years, we’ve been looking at the composition of our pigs’ feed and have changed it so that the animals now grow more slowly.” While feed is relatively straightforward, making speck is a little trickier. First you have to salt the meat. “We use a mixture that isn’t too aggressive, as speck can often be too salty when producers skip a good, long curing period and simply add salt to make up for it. Really good, well-cured speck is never salty.”

Speck has to cure like a good wine

Afterwards, the meat is put into the curing cellar and is left there for four years. “Many speck producers wonder what is so special about our curing cellar,” explains Benjamin. His father shares their secret, without giving too much away. “It’s the micro-organisms and that certain something from the fresh mountain air.” It also maintains a constant cool temperature that allows the speck to cure and develop, like a good wine. The entire process, from the birth of the piglet to having fully cured speck lasts almost six years.

After a good two and half hours of visiting the farm, you finally get your first bite of speck. It starts to melt as it comes into contact with the warmth of your body and a cloud of flavour develops in your mouth, nutty and delicate. You can’t find the Krals’ products in a delicatessen, you can only buy them from the farm directly or at weekly markets, also in Germany. “We closed the stand we had at the market in Bolzano after a couple of years because we simply didn't have enough time,” explains Mario. What he didn’t say, the author knew though: people come to visit the farm and try the products, but they don’t buy anything because it’s too expensive. Like any good artisan, the family hasn’t become rich off the back of their products. A lot of work goes into them, which is why they’re so expensive.

Text: Alexander Rabl Photos: Axel Martens

www.kral.bz.it