Pina and Vincenzo Agostino, Sicily. Ricotta Salata and Black Pig Salsicce

Pina's Rare Breed Nero dei Nebrodi pigs around Mirto, Sicily

Salumeria Agostino is a tight knit, family enterprise with Pina Agostino, the nearly 70 year old norcina at the heart of it. The family have 70 hectares of land high up in the Nebrodi mountains in the north of Sicily where they farm the black Nero Dei Nebrodi pig. These pigs live outside all year round and are only housed when the sows come to give birth – when they’re provided with shelter in the form of typical stone, gorse and fern strewn huts (zimme) which provide as natural as possible cover. They have so much woodland to range that they are wild, unpredictable animals; our other suppliers who keep rare breed pigs generally feed them once a day to keep them more tame but these Sicilian pigs are only fed in the most extreme conditions of heat and snow. They also keep goats, sheep and cows and Pina’s husband Vincenzo makes a range of traditional cheeses including our Ricotta Salata. Pina and Vincenzo are helped by their son Sebastiano and his wife Luisa