Prosciutto

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Prosciutto di Parma

Prosciutto (/prəˈʃuːtoʊ/,<ref > Pronunciation of "Prosciutto". Cambridge dictionaries online.</ref> Italian: [proʃˈʃutto],[1] Italian ham) is a dry-cured ham that is usually thinly sliced and served uncooked; this style is called prosciutto crudo in Italian and is distinguished from cooked ham, prosciutto cotto.

Commonly associated with Friuli and Emilia, the most renowned and expensive legs of prosciutto come from central and northern Italy, such as those of Parma, and San Daniele, in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. However, it is also known in some western regions of Croatia and Slovenia (especially the Kras plateau and the Vipava Valley), under the name of pršut - a South Slavic adaptation of the Italian name prosciutto.

Etymology

The word prosciutto derives from Latin pro (before) + exsuctus (past participle of exsugere "to suck out [the moisture]"); the Portuguese presunto has the same etymology. Compare also the modern Italian verb prosciugare "to dry thoroughly" (from Latin pro + exsucare "to extract the juices from").[2]

Manufacture

Salt being added to the leg

Prosciutto is made from either a pig's or a wild boar's ham (hind leg or thigh). The process of making prosciutto can take anywhere from nine months to two years, depending on the size of the ham.

A writer on Italian food, Bill Buford, describes talking to an old Italian butcher who says:

When I was young, there was one kind of prosciutto. It was made in the winter, by hand, and aged for two years. It was sweet when you smelled it. A profound perfume. Unmistakable. To age a prosciutto is a subtle business. If it's too warm, the aging process never begins. The meat spoils. If it's too dry, the meat is ruined. It needs to be damp but cool. The summer is too hot. In the winter—that's when you make salumi. Your prosciutto. Your soppressata. Your sausages.
—[3]

Today, the ham is first cleaned, salted, and left for about two months. During this time the ham is pressed, gradually and carefully so as to avoid breaking the bone, to drain all blood left in the meat. Next, it is washed several times to remove the salt, and is hung in a dark, well-ventilated environment. The surrounding air is important to the final quality of the ham; the best results are obtained in a cold climate. The ham is then left until dry. The amount of time this takes varies, depending on the local climate and size of the ham. When the ham is completely dry, it is hung to air, either at room temperature or in a controlled environment, for up to eighteen months.

Prosciutto is sometimes cured with nitrites (either sodium or potassium), which are generally used in other hams to produce the desired rosy color and unique flavour but only sea salt is used in Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) hams. Such rosy pigmentation is produced by a direct chemical reaction of nitric oxide with myoglobin to form nitrosomyoglobin, followed by concentration of the pigments due to drying. Bacteria convert the added nitrite or nitrate to nitric oxide.

Use

Sliced prosciutto crudo in Italian cuisine is often served as an antipasto, wrapped around grissini, or accompanied with melon. It is also eaten as accompaniment to cooked spring vegetables, such as asparagus or peas. It may be included in a simple pasta sauce made with cream, or a Tuscan dish of tagliatelle and vegetables. It is used in stuffings for other meats, such as veal, as a wrap around veal or steak, in a filled bread, or as a pizza topping.

Saltimbocca is an Italian veal dish, where escalopes of veal are topped with a sage leaf before being wrapped in prosciutto and then pan-fried.

Prosciutto is often served in sandwiches and panini, sometimes in a variation on the Caprese salad, with basil, tomato and fresh mozzarella. A basic sandwich served in some European cafes and bars consists of prosciutto in a croissant.

Culatello

Culatello is a refined variety of prosciutto, made from heavier pigs, cut to a fraction of the normal prosciutto and aged, and may be cured with wine, with culatello di Zibello having PDO status. It is commonly served as a starter along with slices of sweet melon or fresh figs.

It is often served as a dish on New Year's Eve.[4]

European Union Protected Designations of Origin

Prosciutto di San Daniele at the Central Market in Florence, Italy

Under the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union (EU), certain well-established meat products, including some local prosciutto, are covered by a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) – D.O.P. in Italian – and other, less stringent designations of geographical origin for traditional specialties. Various regions have their own PDO, whose specifications do not in general require ham from free range pigs.

A complete list of agricultural products with an EU PDO, Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), or Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG), listed alphabetically by nation, is at the EU Agriculture site.

There are two famous types of Italian prosciutto crudo: prosciutto crudo di Parma, from Parma, and prosciutto crudo di San Daniele, from the San Daniele del Friuli area, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.[5] The prosciutto di Parma has a slightly nutty flavour from the Parmigiano Reggiano whey that is sometimes added to the pigs' diet. The prosciutto di San Daniele, on the other hand, is darker in color and sweeter in flavour. For both of them, the product specifications completely prohibit additives such as nitrite and nitrate that are often present in non-protected products.[6][7]

EU protected designations for prosciutto in Italy, each slightly different in color, flavour and texture, are:

See also

  • Dry-cured ham
  • Coppa or capicola, made in Italy from dry-cured pork shoulder
  • Bresaola, made in northern Italy from air-dried beef
  • Salo, salted Ukrainian pork
  • Pršut, the generic Croatian/Slovenian term for dry-cured ham; pršut from Dalmatia is smoked, unlike its Italian cousin
  • Country ham, a method of curing pork originating from the Southern U.S., also widely known as "Virginia ham"
  • Jambon de Bayonne (Bayonne Ham), a dry-cured ham made in France
  • Jamón serrano, a dry-cured ham made in Spain
  • Jamón ibérico / Presunto pata negra, a dry-cured ham made in Spain and Portugal
  • Presunto, the generic Portuguese term for dry-cured ham
  • Elenski but or ham from Elena, a dry-cured and air-dried ham made traditionally in Bulgaria, Elena region
  • Daniele, Inc., an American producer of prosciutto
  • List of dried foods

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Entry prosciutto in the Dizionario d'ortografia e di pronunzia, by Bruno Migliorini, Carlo Tagliavini, Piero Fiorelli and Tommaso Francesco Bórri.
  2. ↑ OED sv. prosciutto, n.; Dizionario etimologico online sv. Prosciutto, Presciutto and Prosciugare; Lewis & Short sv. ex-sūco
  3. ↑ Buford, Bill Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany Knopf, 2006 ISBN 1-4000-4120-1
  4. ↑ Made-in-Italy.com
  5. ↑ S. Irene Virbila (January 29, 1989). "Fare of the Country; The Sweet Prosciutto Of San Danieli, Italy". The New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2009. 
  6. ↑ "Technical Specifications of Parma Ham". prosciuttodiparma.com. 11 July 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2013. "Additives: None. Only the use of salt is allowed (sodium chloride)." 
  7. ↑ "Production guidelines". Consorzio del Prosciutto di San Daniele. Retrieved 20 November 2013. "Sea salt is used exclusively for salting, as the use of other chemical substances, preservatives and additives is completely prohibited throughout the preparation." 

Further reading

  • McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking (revised). New York, New York: Scribner, 2004. ISBN 0-684-80001-2

External links

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