| I first noticed the confusion involving italian raw ham when I saw speck being sold in Brazil as… Parma. Well, let’s go step by step. It is produced in quite all Italy (and other countries as well). They change characteristics depending on where it’s produced and the local traditions. |  |
Parma is an Italian city. The ham producers of Parma decided to make a consortium in 1963 to preserve the characteristics of their product. There were less than 30 producers then, and now they are more than 180. They all produce in the same way, following the disciplinary, and Parma prosciutto was recognized in 1996 as a DOP (PDO - Protected Designation of Origin) by European Union.  | Speck is another typical Italian sausage. It comes from Bolzano region (north Italy). |
It is also a raw ham that is lightly smoked. It has an European Union recognition 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 one, it is prosciutto San Daniele. It comes from a northeast small city – San Daniele. There are quite no differences between Parma and San Daniele ham, as none of them uses preservatives but salt. A little difference could be …the pork’s diet, as Parma ones has some parmigiano reggiano whey included. Some differences between Italian hams are also dued to cultural reasons. For example, the Tuscan raw ham is very salted. It was necessary because the shepherds stayed days out of home and it had to last for long, and was (and still is!) ate with Tuscan bread, that has no salt at all! | 
