prosciutto

The word prosciutto derives in turn from Italian asciutto ({{literally|dry}}), with prefix substitution,{{cite web|url=https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/prosciutto/|title=Prosciutto|access-date=18 December 2021|language=it}} or from Vulgar Latin pro (before) + exsuctus (past participle of exsugere, 'to suck out [the moisture]');{{cite web|url=https://www.archeofood.com/perna-e-perexuctus-il-prosciutto-nella-storia.html|title=Perna e Perexuctus, il Prosciutto nella Storia|access-date=18 December 2021|language=it}} the Portuguese presunto has the same etymology. It is similar to the modern Italian verb prosciugare ('to dry thoroughly'; from Latin pro + exsucare ('to extract the juices from')).OED sv. prosciutto, n.; Dizionario etimologico online sv. [http://etimo.it/?cmd=id&id=13746&md=bf5b334b7e9c7306aba943278d134d88 Prosciutto, Presciutto] and [http://etimo.it/?cmd=id&id=13745&md=cc8ef824b57ea2c585549455daee81d9 Prosciugare]; Lewis & Short sv. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3Dexsuco ex-sūco]

{{Refimprove section|date=September 2024}}

File:ProsciuttoSeaSalt.JPG

Prosciutto is made from either a pig's or a wild boar's hind leg or thigh, and the base term prosciutto specifically refers to this product. Prosciutto may also be made using the hind leg of other animals, in which case the name of the animal is included in the name of the product, for example prosciutto di agnello ({{literally|lamb ham}}). The process of making prosciutto can take 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:

{{blockquote|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.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}}}}

Today, the ham is first cleaned, salted, and left for about two months. During this time, the ham is pressed gradually and carefully to drain all blood left in the meat without breaking the bone. 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 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 18 months.

Prosciutto is sometimes cured with nitrites (either sodium or potassium), which are generally used in other hams to produce the desired rosy colour 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.

File:Plate_of_prosciutto.jpg

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) and other, less stringent designations of geographical origin for traditional specialties. Various regions have their own PDO, whose specifications do not generally require ham from free range pigs. The simple Italian description prosciutto, used alone or with crudo or cotto, is not in itself a protected term.

The two famous types of Italian prosciutto crudo are: 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.{{cite news | url= https://www.nytimes.com/1989/01/29/travel/fare-of-the-country-the-sweet-prosciutto-of-san-danieli-italy.html | title= Fare of the Country; The Sweet Prosciutto Of San Danieli, Italy | work=The New York Times | author= S. Irene Virbila | date=29 January 1989 | access-date=9 November 2009}} Prosciutto di Parma has a slightly nutty flavour from the Parmesan whey that is sometimes added to the pigs' diet. Prosciutto di San Daniele is darker, and sweeter in flavour. For both of them, the product regulations allow salt as the only additive to the meat,{{cite web |url=https://www.prosciuttodiparma.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Technical_fact_sheet_Parma_Ham_ENG_17.02.2016.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930081141/https://www.prosciuttodiparma.com/pdf/en_UK/Specifications%20short%20version.pdf|archive-date= 30 September 2018|title=Technical Fact Sheet of Parma Ham |author= |date=n.d. |website=prosciuttodiparma.com |quote=Additives: None. Only the use of salt is allowed (sodium chloride).}}{{cite web |url=http://www.prosciuttosandaniele.it/home_prosciuttosandaniele.php?n=17&l=en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221220445/http://www.prosciuttosandaniele.it/home_prosciuttosandaniele.php?n=17&l=en|archive-date=21 December 2013 |title=Production guidelines |author= |publisher=Consorzio del Prosciutto di San Daniele |quote=Sea salt is used exclusively for salting, as the use of other chemical substances, preservatives and additives is completely prohibited throughout the preparation.}} prohibiting additives such as nitrite and nitrate that are often used in unprotected products.

European protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI) apply for several prosciutto varieties in Italy, each slightly different in colour, flavour, and texture:{{Cite web |title=IBERIAN, YORK AND PARMA HAM DIFFERENCES |author= |website=Pata Negra Schinken |date=n.d.|access-date=24 October 2021 |url= https://www.patanegra-schinken.ch/en/help/unterschiede-zwischen-dem-iberischen-ham-york-und-prosciutto-von-parma-22.html}}

• {{ill|Prosciutto di Parma|it}}, Parma, PDO
• {{ill|Prosciutto di San Daniele|it}}, San Daniele del Friuli, PDO
• {{ill|Prosciutto di Modena|it}}, Modena, PDO
• {{ill|Prosciutto toscano|it}}, Tuscany, PDO
• {{ill|Prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo|it}} (or Prosciutto Veneto), Veneto, PDO
• {{ill|Prosciutto di Carpegna|it}}, near Carpegna, Montefeltro, PDO
• {{ill|Prosciutto amatriciano|it}}, near Amatrice, Lazio, PGI
• {{ill|Prosciutto di Norcia|it}}, Norcia, PGI
• {{ill|Prosciutto di Sauris|it}}, Sauris, PGI
• Prosciutto crudo di Cuneo, Cuneo, PDO
• Valle d'Aosta Jambon de Bosses, Aosta Valley, PDO
• Prosciutto di suino nero dei Nebrodi, Sicily, PDO
• Cinta Senese, Tuscany, PDO
• Prosciutto di Bassiano, Lazio
• Prosciutto di Venticano, Campania
• Prosciutto di Faeto, Apulia
• Prosciutto della Majella, Abruzzo
• Prosciutto di suino nero Casertano, Campania
• Prosciutto crudo dell'Irpinia, Campania

{{See also|Culatello di Zibello}}

File:La Culaccia di Parma 02.JPG

{{ill|Culatello con cotenna|it}} is similar to prosciutto, but is made from the filet or loin of the hind leg. It is aged in a cow or pig's bladder as a casing to prevent spoilage and contamination. Culatello di Zibello possesses PDO status. It is commonly served as an appetizer (antipasto).

Strolghino is a salami prepared from leftover cuts of culatello.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tsjgAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Strolghino%22 | title=Slow food revolution | pages=78| last1=Petrini | first1=Carlo | last2=Padovani | first2=Gigi | date=17 October 2006 | publisher=Rizzoli | isbn=9780847828739 }}

Prosciutto, locally called pršut, is produced in Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia (especially the Karst Plateau and the Vipava Valley), and Croatia (Dalmatia, the island of Krk, and Istria). Pršut from Dalmatia and Herzegovina are smoked, unlike the Italian product, while that from Slovenia, Istria, and Krk is not smoked.{{Cite web |last=Rowlands |first=Marc |date=10 April 2020 |title=Croatia's best delicacies: Dalmatian prosciutto |url=https://www.timeout.com/croatia/news/croatias-best-delicacies-dalmatian-prosciutto-041020 |website=Time Out}} The mountain village of Njeguši, in Montenegro, produces the smoked njeguški pršut.

The following types of pršut have a protected status in the European Union and the UK:{{Cite web |title=Kraški pršut PGI |author= |work=European Commission |date=25 July 2020 |url= https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/food-safety-and-quality/certification/quality-labels/eu-quality-food-and-drink/kraski-prsut-pgi_en}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.croatiaweek.com/dalmatian-prsut-given-eu-protection-status/|title=Dalmatian Pršut Given EU Protection Status|website=Croatia Week|date=February 15, 2016}}

{{Portal|Italy|Food}}

• List of hams
• List of dried foods
• List of smoked foods
• Jamón serrano – Spanish dry-cured ham
• Jamón ibérico – type of cured pork leg product
• Presunto – Portuguese dry-cured ham

{{Reflist}}

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

{{Commons category|Ham from Italy}}

{{Cookbook|Prosciutto}}

• [http://www.prosciuttodiparma.com/en_UK/home Official website (in English) of prosciutto di Parma]
• [https://www.prosciuttosandaniele.it/en/ Official website (in English) of prosciutto di San Daniele]

{{Ham}}

Category:Italian cuisine

Category:Croatian cuisine

Category:Slovenian cuisine

Category:Montenegrin cuisine

Category:Salumi

Category:Smoked meat

Category:Dried meat

Category:Ham

pl:Szynka parmeńska