Italian raw ham
Italian raw ham, among the Italian cured meats, became one of the most popular cold cuts, both in and outside Italy.
I first noticed the confusion around raw ham when I saw speck being sold in Brazil as…Parma raw ham!
Well, let’s look at it, step by step.
It is produced in nearly the whole of Italy (and other countries as well). Producers change its characteristics depending on where it’s produced and the local traditions.
Parma is an Italian city. The ham producers of Parma decided to form a consortium in 1963, to preserve the characteristics of their product. There were less than 30 producers then and now there are more than 180.
They all produce in the same way, following the regulation disciplines, and Parma prosciutto was recognized in 1996 as a DOP (PDO - Protected Designation of Origin) by the European Union.
Speck is another typical Italian cured meat. It comes from the Bolzano region (north Italy). It is a raw ham that is lightly smoked. It has European Union recognition as well, called IGP (PGI - Protected Geographical Indication). It is very tasty too, but very different from Parma prosciutto.
There’s another famous ham in Italy that is often confused with Parma ham. It is prosciutto San Daniele. It comes from a small northeastern city – San Daniele. There are almost no differences between Parma and San Daniele ham, as neither of them makes use of any preservatives, apart from salt.
A little difference could arise from the pigs’ diet, as pigs from the Parma area have some parmigiano reggiano whey included in their diet.
Some differences between Italian hams are also due to cultural reasons. For example, Tuscan raw ham is very heavily salted. It was necessary because the shepherds were away from home for many days and it had to last for a long time , and was (and still is!) eaten with Tuscan bread, that contains no salt at all!
