Ristorante Cocchi
Just as we finished up our delicious lunch at Ristorante Cocchi, which included fried zucchini blossoms filled with vegetables mozzarella and sardines and braised stuffed veal breast, our guide for the afternoon, Mirca, arrived to whisk us away to the Parma hillside.
San Pietro Prosciutteria
Nestled in its own microclimate where the dry winds blow down from the Apennines carrying the soft perfume of pine, olive and chestnut groves, sits the San Pietro Prosciutteria, perfect for the dry curing of their Prosciutto di Parma.
We pulled in to the San Pietro production facility where we were greeted by one of the owners, Annalisa Sassi and shown into their conference room. Sitting at the conference table she briefed us about what we would be seeing and explained a little of the history of making prosciutto and the San Pietro company. Producing around 300 000 legs of ham per year this is not a small operation (in fact it’s the largest in Parma) and San Pietro is known as having the highest quality facility and finished product.
As Annalisa continued, I was completely distracted by the largest and most beautiful slicer I have ever seen. Equipment like this really excites me and as she showed me how it could swivel and adjust I imagined cutting perfect slices of factory fresh Prosciutto so thin the flavour would have nowhere to hide.
Our briefing now over, we donned our factory apparel of booties, caps and lab coats and were ushered onto the production floor.
Starting at the beginning we watched as refrigerated trailers of pigs’ legs were unloaded and racked up to be inspected for their quality.
The process of becoming Prosciutto
The pig legs must meet some high criteria before they are allowed to enter into the long process of becoming Prosciutto di Parma. This includes having the proper amount of fat around the leg, no cracking or breaks in the skin and no unusual marbling that would affect the outcome of the finished product. After inspection, the legs are cleaned and sent through a machine that massages them in preparation for their first salting.
The first salting is done using 2 kinds of salt; a wet salt (done by machine) and a dry salt that is applied by a professional, by hand, in different amounts on the exposed meat.
Racked up and moved to a cold room
The legs are then racked up and moved to a cold room (1 to 4 degrees) where they are left for seven days. The legs then receive a second, lighter salting that is left on for 15 to 20 days, still under refrigeration. Next, the legs are washed and cleaned again and hung to dry for a few days. When they are ready, skilled butchers remove the hip bone and give the legs their final trimming ready to be hung for their initial curing of 3 months in large dark and well-ventilated rooms. This is what many consider the most important stage of the cure and where the dry sweet hillside breezes traditionally played a strong roll. In fact, in the old factories, they would open up large windows (weather permitting) to let the legs dry using this age-old method.
When the legs emerge from their first curing period the exposed flesh has become dry and tough so a coating of pork lard sometimes mixed with pepper (called a “sugna”) is applied by hand to the cut end of the leg.
This will effectively seal up the leg allowing the curing process to continue within, slowly and evenly. The legs are now ready to be hung and finish their curing for a minimum of twelve months (from the beginning of the process) in order to meet the D.O.P. (protected designation of origin) standards.
Their final curing
During their final curing, each leg is also checked by hand using a needle-like tool fashioned from a porous horse bone. The bone needle is inserted at five different points around the flesh of the leg and then smelled for quality and uniformity. The master prosciutto maker, who quietly accompanied us, showed us exactly how he does it quickly jabbing and smelling while covering the hole he left by pushing some “sugna” over it with his finger. He then handed me the needle and let me give it a go, needless to say, this is a job for a very experienced prosciutto maker.
All of their inspections
After the legs have passed all of their inspections and have cured for the mandatory amount of time they are ready to receive their fire branding with the mark of the Ducal five-pointed crown confirming them as true Prosciutto Di Parma
As we slowly walked down the length of the oldest curing room, with its wooden racks and thousands of legs hung by twine, Annalisa pointed out the shuttered windows that are still opened when conditions prevail and reminded us that this amazing food is made with only three things; pork, salt and time.
Our tour had now ended as we returned to the conference room to remove our protective garments. Entranced by the smell and beauty of the gigantic curing rooms, surrounded by one of my all-time favourite food products and filled with respect for how this incredible food undergoes its transformation, I was now ready to sample this delicacy right from the source. Yet the slicer of slicers remained empty!
Scanning the room
I spun around scanning the room for a tray or plate of the goods but no, nothing. A slightly awkward silence filled the room and then it was broken by Annalisa very graciously thanking us for coming while motioning us towards the door. Slightly stunned, our best Canadian manners kicked in and we thanked her very much for an incredible tour, waving goodbye while heading for the car.
Half an hour later we plunked down in our seats on the train, absolutely exhausted from what was an extremely long and wonderful day and ready for the long ride back to Rimini.
“I still can’t believe we didn’t get to sample that beautiful prosciutto!” I said to Nat. “It was like receiving communion without the wafer.”
* We were in Parma as part of Blogville Emilia-Romagna for more information please visit their website. The opinions in this post are our own.
I want to visit the ham leg room!
I could have slept in there, cool and smelling like pork 🙂