Think On It

Prosciutto

January 2nd, 2008

It just means ham in Italy now, so if you happen to be ordering it at a delicatessen counter say prosciutto crudo to get the ham sold in other countries under that umbrella term. If, instead, you want the familiar boiled or baked ham you may have eaten all your life, ask for Prosciutto cotto.

Prosciutto crudo is pretty special stuff, no matter where you get it. Try to find out from your vendor where theirs comes from. It has to be labeled, so they can tell you. I won’t tell you that if all they have is something that isn’t Italian you shouldn’t try it or use it in a recipe, because it doesn’t have to be Italian to be good, but your chances are higher if it is Italian.

Not all Prosciutto crudo italiano is the same. Through most of Italy there is a local type which will be called nostrano, meaning ours. Our local Umbrian is rather salty for me, so I order Prosciutto di Parma, or Parma ham, or Prosciutto San Daniele from Friuli Venezia-Giulia. Both of them are less salty, tenderer and moister than others I’ve tried. Read here about San Daniele. Trust me, it’s delicious. If you click onto the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma above, you’ll get a visual treat that will be as good as a meal and give you some ideas about what you can do with that glorious pig.

There are some don’ts about buying prosciutto crudo. Don’t buy too much at a time. A real purist would say to buy what you can consume that very day, but I think it’s fine to buy it a day ahead. Just leave it in the carefully wrapped package it came in and remove it from the refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes before you want to serve it. Here in Italy you can buy the number of slices you want or you can buy it by the etto, which is 100 grams and close to four ounces. Unless you are feeding a huge crowd, you’ll never need a pound, let alone a kilo of it.

If you see it at a counter already “shaved” and piled up like a mess, don’t touch it with a ten foot pole. No one would treat real prosciutto crudo that way, so it’s bound to be nasty, plus it’s meant to be cut one thin slice at a time and arranged carefully so that it is beautiful when it’s served. It’s never meant to be piled up on a chunk of bread like cheap bologna, which is pretty much what those piles of shavings can do.

Don’t put mustard or pickle with it as you might with ordinary ham. You’ll miss the true delight of this special thing if you kill it with strong flavors like those.

Don’t fry it. Really, just don’t.

So you’ve found it, you’ve bought 100 grams; what to do with it now? Most of mine gets picked up, slice by slice, and nibbled straight from the package. Maybe you’re a more disciplined type. I like prosciutto crudo with fruits, not just melon or figs, but any fruit. That’s a perfect antipasto course in almost anyone’s terms. Very occasionally I order prosciutto and eggs at a cafe. It’s served as a crunchy slab of toasted bread topped with fried eggs, and prosciutto is laid over all, so that the heat of the eggs starts to melt it a bit, draping it gracefully over the plate. It’s a lot better than it reads, or so I found after gagging at the thought for a couple of years, then finally giving it a shot. Nice.

Crudo is often use minced and added to things for its wonderful flavor; things like ravioli or tortellini stuffings, or minced fillings for involtini or meat roll-ups. I usually look for the end pieces too small to slice and sold at a bargain pèrice for those purposes. It makes a very unsatisfactory broth, in my opinion. Since it isn’t smoked, it turns back into pork and makes pork broth. There are easier ways to get pork broth.

If you are interested to know more about prosciutto, Wikipedia has a page on it. I can’t guarantee every word as I am more of an eater than a researcher when it comes to hams, but I did not see Prosciutto di Praga there, which I hear good things about. I also note a lack of detail in the handling of San Daniele, but it isn’t our only resource. If you know something that author didn’t know, fill in the blanks and I’ll go read it.

Speaking of smoked, there is smoked prosciutto in Italy. It’s called Speck and comes from the Austro-Germanic parts of Italy in the Dolomites.

You can read what Kyle Philips has to say about Speck and what to do with it at about.com. It’s approximate to Virginia country ham, and I use it as I would the US product, but I also eat it as it comes, which I never did with country ham.

A word on cotto? It’s just like what you are used to. It can be arrosto, or baked, or just cotto, boiled. There are grades and if possible get “alta qualità” which doesn’t have additives.

If you come to Italy, just go to a grocery store and order un etto of each kind that interests you, get a loaf of good bread. some fruit and a bottle of Prosecco. It may be a supper you’ll want only once in your life, but it will give you an education and an attitude on prosciutto. Or seek out a good source wherever you are, buy what you can find, following the few rules and when you come to Italy, you’ll already approach the deli counter with attitude, just like we do.

Entry Filed under: Italy, meat, pork, Italian food