If you are anything at all like me, one of the most appetizing aromas you can imagine is the smell of bacon sizzling in a skillet in the morning. If that is not one of your favorite smells then skip this post, this is all about the pork. Pork is extremely popular in Italy, and the array of preparations is truly mind-boggling. I will date myself here and say I remember the days when not only was there a neighborhood butcher, but also a butcher in the supermarket. I’m talking about a real butcher, with real meat, who can actually talk to you about what you are buying, not a guy who puts the prewrapped packages in the Safeway display.
In Italy, this is still extremely common. And they love teaching people about it. This is one tasty lesson to learn, and keep learning, because failure only means you must try again and eat more!!! My favorite lesson is, hands down, prosciutto. Prosciutto is to ham what Champagne is to a $5 dollar bottle of sparkling wine. If you have not yet acquired a taste for prosciutto, I highly recommend adding it to your to-do list. True DOP prosciutto is a bit pricey when tariffs and shipping do those nasty things they do. But one great thing about prosciutto is that a little goes a long way.
Prosciutto is pork that has first been salted, pressed, washed and then left to dry and age and become the addicting taste sensation that “prosciutto crudo” is. There is variation in the flavors of different prosciutto from different regions, whether nuttier like Prosciutto di Parma or sweeter like my personal favorite Prosciutto di San Daniele, which are both imported to most parts of the United States. Prosciutto is sliced very thinly, think of an old school deli guy layering piece after piece of paper thin slices of pure heaven while you wait, this is not your grandmother’s ham.
Prosciutto can be used through almost every course of an Italian meal. It is one of the most common things in a plate of antipasto and in the summer when melons are in season, wrapping slices of the melons with room-temperature prosciutto is one of the most popular appetizers. In a pasta course it blends best with cream style sauces and vegetables. If you combine a tagliatelle with prosciutto, cream sauce and asparagus you have a dish you will make again and again. In main course it is almost always used to accent the flavor of another meat. My favorite of this type of combination is Saltimbocca “jumps in the mouth” a name that could not be more appropriate. Traditionally veal, but chicken is also common, layered with fresh sage, prosciutto a few splashes of Marsala and a touch of unsalted butter. If you can’t find true prosciutto at a gourmet grocery store, and you don’t have a local Italian deli, then igourmet.com sells both the Prosciutto di Parma and the San Daniele.
