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OTT.NOV 2014 VIII
throughout the country that boast of
Community protection, the two large
Dop that characterize the production
of sausages and Italian are standard-
bearer of our culinary culture, which is
the Prosciutto di Parma and Prosciutto
San Daniele, the first made in more
than 9 million pieces per year, 30% of
which are exported all over the world,
the second in 2.4 million pieces, the
export share of 13%, small protected
products, real and their niches with a
total production of tens of thousands
of thighs year, such as Prosciutto di
Sauris PGI, from the homonymous
municipality in the province of Udine,
the numbers of which the production
is around 40 thousand pieces, but
with a precise identity on the palate
determined by lightly smoked over
beech wood, a feature that defines
the specificity at the table. But in fact,
many are the typical features that do
not come out even from their area of
origin, or Apennine mountain valleys
from north to south, and which have
characteristics derived from local
customs and the supply capacity of
local herbs and spices. Those are small
“gems” that become protagonists of
local restaurant menus, which have
increasingly typical and localism as a
guideline founding, also in a creative
way.
The ham as an ingredient
If the consumption of the ham is still
tied to the way the Roman period, so
sliced and accompanied by bread or
similar baked goods that are part of
the many local specialties throughout
the country, on cutting boards or
plates, increasingly the thigh salted
pork becomes an ingredient in more
elaborate preparations, in which
deconstructed from its original
form, gives the dishes a balanced
mix between sweetness and aroma,
tickling the palate and expanding
its presence from appetizers to main
dishes, accompanied by fruit, as part
essential casseroles and soufflés, to
“wrap” the meat or give an intense and
personal touch to sauces for pasta or
stuffed versions egg, in which the ham
is a must. Many different proposals,
characterized by a more or less high
content of innovation, prepared by great
chefs: some examples can be found,
for example, on the website of the
Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma DOP
one
dedicated to ham San Daniele
Composing a raw ham’s card
You can play with the typical, seeking
raw “special” from the production
niches, or offer the customer a tasting
“vertical”, varying degrees of maturation
of the same ham to understand how
important this operation transforms
the product, its texture, the its aromatic
bouquet. The ham “as is” must be
accompanied by quality breads or baked
goods such as bread sticks, wraps and
other local specialties such as fried
dumplings Emilia in its many nuances.
You can accompany the ham with fresh
fruit (melon famous summer, less ripe
figs or pears).
By hand or by machine?
The success of Iberian ham has given
new impetus manual slicing with the
knife, the oldest and most traditional
method. To realize this operation,
which has a strong impact on the
customer in terms of proximity to the
tradition and preserving unaltered the
characteristics of the ham, avoiding
overheating, the raw should be placed
in a special clamp that holds it in the
correct position and sliced with a bladed
knife rectangular, long and thin, which
allows to obtain slices rather thin and
with a homogeneous pattern. All hams
lend themselves to manual slicing knife,
but those are the most prestigious, with
a higher maturation, to submit the right
consistency of the meat and fat “mature”
that releases all its aromatic potential.
The slicing machine, instead, allows to
reduce the waste, to have slices with
a uniform size between them and to
reduce the thickness of the same. The
slicers can be electric or manual, that
is functioning through the actuation
of a flywheel that drives the blade
and carriage, best solution because it
reduces the overheating of the ham to
all advantage of freshness and quality.
A Overseas Look
Maurizio Di Benigno is the owner of
International Gourmet Foods, which
operates in the United States providing
over 55,000 food products to the
catering industry and specialized retail.
Among the most popular gourmet
products, do not miss the ham PDO.
What kind of ham Italian restaurateurs
propose to your customers?
We offer our customers the San
Daniele, Parma and Italian. I think
the results are excellent, considering
the difficulty importing due to the
thorough inspection of the USDA that
cause long delays on deliveries. Thanks
to the cooperation with our suppliers,
however, do not stay without ever
produced.
What is the characteristic most
recognized product from your
customers?
MAGAZINE