Meat
Cinta Senese
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Cinta Senese is an ancient Tuscan pig breed from the province of Siena, instantly recognised by its black coat and white belt (cinta) across the shoulders and forelegs. Medium-sized, rustic, and excellent at woodland grazing, it deposits fine intramuscular fat veining rather than a sharp separation of lean and fat, producing distinctive fresh pork and salumi under free-range systems. Since 2006, animals raised in Tuscany under specified rules may be marketed as Suino Cinto Toscano DOP. Meat is used for prosciutto, capocollo, lardo, salame, rigatino, and high-quality roasting and grilling cuts that showcase the breed’s sweet fat and pasture-influenced flavour.
Also known as: Cinta Senese, Suino Cinto Toscano DOP
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History
Belted pigs of the Sienese countryside appear in Tuscan art and farm records as a long-established local type.
Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s frescoes in Siena’s Palazzo Pubblico depict belted pigs resembling the modern Cinta Senese.
Industrial white breeds nearly eliminated pure Cinta Senese as commercial pork production modernised in Tuscany.
A handful of remaining herds enabled last-moment rescue of the breed from effective extinction.
National conservation under ANAS listed Cinta Senese among Italy’s six official autochthonous pig breeds.
Suino Cinto Toscano gained DOP status, linking purebred extensive rearing in Tuscany to protected product naming.