There`s nothing like the real thing and there`s nothing quite like prosciutto di Parma. Alas, not a sliver of this rosy, air-cured ham from the Emilia-Romagna region has made it to America since 1968, when it was banned after an outbreak of African swine virus. This year, that will change. And to that, American prosciutto lovers say ”Bravo.”
U.S. Ambassador to Italy Maxwell M. Rabb instantly became a gastronomic hero last spring when he announced a long-awaited change in the import regulations that will permit Parma ham back into the U.S. sometime between mid-1988 and early 1989.
The news was greeted with jubilation among America`s top Italian restaurateurs and Parma ham fanciers, for whom even the most valiant-and often excellent-efforts of Italian-based companies to produce a facsimile of Parma ham in the U.S. have offered little comfort. For them, no matter how perfectly these firms try to duplicate the Parmesan process, the result somehow falls short of the roseate color, velvety texture, subtle, salty sweetness and delicate aroma of the original. In their view, these American-made prosciutti are much like museum-quality forgeries of Old Masters; the materials and the technique may be the same, but the soul is missing.
Many believe the soul of prosciutto can only be found here, in Langhirano, a small town in the foothills of the Apennines, just south of the city of Parma. ”The ingredient which gives Parma ham its particular quality is not readily duplicatable elsewhere-the air,” wrote the late Waverley Root in his 1971 book ”The Food of Italy.”
”Nobody has ever been able to work out exactly what conditions are best for ham, but empirical observation has located Langhirano as the place where they exist.”
”The air gives the prosciutto its perfume,” said Antonio Bracchi, retired production manager of the Giuseppe Citterio factory here. ”We are in an ideal location because the air comes down through the mountains and up from the sea. When the air passes through the Alps, it is filtered so that it`s even purer, more perfumed.” A maestro del prosciutto, or master ham-maker, Bracchi made Parma ham for more than 50 years.
Langhirano is one of the many towns within the prosciutto di Parma production zone, a geographic area strictly controlled by Italian law, but it is known as the capitale del prosciutto. So prized are its perfect humidity and soft, dry air, that hams from elsewhere in the zone, and even from other European countries, are sent here to cure.
For most hams, the curing process takes a year; larger hams may take a little longer. Hams cured for a year will have a more delicate flavor than those cured for much longer.
But by law, only certain Italian hams, taken from certain pigs, raised in certain places, killed in certain slaughterhouses and cured in certain registered factories under certain legal guidelines will ever bear the distinctive five-pointed crown brand-mark awarded by the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma, certainly one of the most excruciatingly exacting regulatory bodies in the food world.
Officially chartered in 1970 to supervise the production of any ham bearing the proscuitto di Parma name, this consortium of almost 300 members produces almost 10 million hams annually. More than half of those hams come from Langhirano. In fact, a consortium of producers has vigilantly protected the ”recipe” for Parma ham since 1874, and continue to do so, staging two surprise visits to each producer every week. Until the proliferation of commerical refrigeration, the curing of Parma hams could only be started between September and March. Today, it`s a year-round affair.
Here at the prosciutto factory of the 110-year-old Citterio firm, one of Italy`s leading cured meat producers, more than 1,000 fresh hams arrive every week. Pale and conforming to the traditional ”chicken leg” shape, they are all heavy hams, weighing at least 24 pounds, taken from eight-month-old pigs raised on a high-protein diet, often including the rich whey from Parmigiano- Reggiano cheese. During curing, a Parma ham will lose almost a quarter of its weight and no finished Parma ham may weigh less than 15 pounds.
Already bearing an identity stamp from the slaughterhouse, each fresh ham must now pass the scrutiny of production manager Patrizio Alberghetti before it is tagged with Citterio`s metal disc indicating its date of arrival and induction into the curing process.
The opportunity to become a prosciutto di Parma is not an honor Alberghetti bestows lightly. The slightest imperfection, a blood spot, a split on the skin or even a bruise, is grounds for dismissal. Of every 1,000, about 50 will not make the first cut. Even after that, they all may not make it successfully through the year-long curing process.
”I control each one, one by one,” Alberghetti said.
Although a youthful 33, Alberghetti is a maestro del prosciutto, with 18 years experience, 13 of them as an apprentice to other masters, including Bracchi, whom he succeeded. As a master, Alberghetti has visited the U.S. on several occasions to consult with the workers at Citterio`s 13-year-old U.S. production facility. Located in Pennsylvania`s Pocono Mountains, the plant site was chosen for its similarity to the conditions in Langhirano.
In Langhirano, Alberghetti oversees every aspect of the Citterio factory, which has the look of a meticulously clean hospital and the air of a prestigious finishing school for hams. Every ham is individually shepherded through the lengthy curing process which begins on arrival with a massage to press out excess fluids and a light shower of sea salt. Nothing except sea salt, a sprinkling of pepper and an application of pork fat will ever touch these hams during the course of their curing.
The salt, which draws out moisture, is hand-packed onto the hams by workers. Placed on automated trolleys, the hams begin a year-long voyage, first lying on their backs and later hanging by their knuckles, through a series of temperature and humidity-controlled curing chambers. Many of the chambers are darkened, as for a napping child, because too much light makes the ham too yellow, Alberghetti explained.
Through a complicated series of exposures to cold and warmth, the hams slowly dry, flatten and almost magically change color from their fresh pallor to a bronze and finally to a gilded rosy hue.
Despite massive technological and hygenic advances, the production of Parma ham remains very much an artisan industry, heavily dependent on manual skill, time and on nature, particularly the Langhirano air.
”They call this the town of long windows,” Antonio Bracchi said, indicating the tall, shuttered windows which fill the north and south walls of one of the drying rooms. Citterio, like all prosciutto factories here, is built with its windows facing north and south to catch the air from the mountains and the sea. On the day of this visit, they are slightly ajar, allowing a cool, dry autumn breeze to filter through the racks of hanging hams. The angle of the windows, open only when the air is just right, is constantly monitored and adjusted. Too much air will dry the hams too much, not enough will leave them too damp.
Above all, the skill of the maestro remains crucial. Even the most sophisticated temperature and humidity controls require an expert to gauge their accuracy and answer their alarms. That person is ”me,” said Alberghetti, who lives with his family on the premises and makes his last rounds before bed, around midnight.
To this day, the master ham-makers use the traditional ago, or needle, to test the scent of the curing prosciutto. Finely crafted from the shinbone of a horse, this needle is quickly inserted into five key points in the ham. Horse bone, because it is porous, is ideal for the job because it quickly captures the exact scent of the meat and just as rapidly loses it completely.
”I personally check every prosciutto before it leaves the factory,”
said Alberghetti, whose factory produces about 70,000 hams a year.
Despite the almost fanatical perfectionism displayed in Parma ham factories, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has required that separate slaughterhouses be allocated for hams destined for export to the U.S., that USDA personnel inspect and approve the plants where such hams are cured and that U.S.-bound hams be cured for a minimum of 400 days, no matter their size. This accounts for the delay in the arrival of Parma hams in America.
Given the time and labor involved, a Parma ham costs roughly $150 to produce, which accounts for its expensive nature, even at Italian meat counters. At this point, retail price projections for imported Parma ham in the U.S. are between $15 and $20 a pound.
When curing is completed, the hams become more than mere hams. They have become Prosciutti di Parma. As such, each is branded with the name Parma and the coveted five-pointed crown.
Following are recipes using prosciutto in a variety of ways. The recipe below is adapted from Lora Brody`s ”Indulgences” (Little, Brown, $17.95). Brody suggests serving this as a first course or as an edible centerpiece for a cocktail party.
FIGS AND MELON WITH PROSCIUTTO
Servings as desired
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Fresh figs
Assorted melons such as persian, casaba, crenshaw, cantaloupe and honeydew
Prosciutto, very thinly sliced
Kiwi, for garnish
1. Slice the figs in half the long way. Cut the melons into cubes measuring 2 inches long and about 3/4 of an inch wide. Cut the slices of ham in half the short way and use them to wrap about half the melon cubes and half the fig halves.
2. Arrange the wrapped and unwrapped fruit decoratively on a platter, placing a small glass full of toothpicks in the center. Peel and slice the kiwi and use as a garnish for the platter.
The following two recipes are adapted from ”La Tavola Italiana” by Tom Maresca and Diane Darrow (Morrow, $22.95). The authors say the first recipe is a sample of the Italians creativity when faced with a nearly empty larder. They also advise using young provolone as old does not melt.
PROSCIUTTO AND CHEESE CROSTINI
Eight pieces
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
8 slices country-style bread
4 tablespoons butter
4 slices prosciutto
6 ounces young provolone, in 1/4-inch slices
1. Trim the crusts off the bread and toast the slices lightly on both sides in the broiler. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly butter one side of each slice of bread. Lay them buttered sides up in a baking dish. On each, lay half a slice of prosciutto and distribute the cheese among the 8 pieces.
3. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and drizzle it over the tops. Set the dish in the oven and bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cheese softens.
Maresca and Darrow say the original version of this dish, known as saltimbocca in Italy, contained only veal, prosciutto and fresh sage. Tomatoes, cheese and fresh basil give this version a Neapolitan flavor.
VEAL SCALLOPS WITH PROSCIUTTO AND MOZZARELLA
Four servings
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
1/2 pound ripe plum tomatoes
1/4 pound mozzarella cheese
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
1 pound veal scallops
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 pound thinly sliced prosciutto
1. Drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 10 seconds, then drain, peel, seed and coarsely chop them. Slice the mozzarella thin.
2. Slice the garlic into 3 or 4 pieces. Saute it in the olive oil in a small pan until golden, then press and discard. Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes over medium heat, then set aside.
3. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In an ovenproof saute pan large enough for the veal to fit in a single layer, saute the scallops in the butter, for 1 or 2 minutes on each side.
4. Turn off heat, salt and pepper the veal lightly, lay slices of prosciutto over them, and the mozzarella over that. Spread a thin veil of tomato sauce over all. Put the dish in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cheese melts and the veal is heated through.
There are many versions of the classic Italian rice dish known as risotto. This recipe, complete with chicken and prosciutto is adapted from a new cookbook ”Risotto” by Judith Barrett and Norma Wasserman (Charles Scribners` Sons, $22.50).
RISOTTO WITH CHICKEN, PROSCIUTTO AND TOMATO
Four servings
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons finely minced onion
1 boneless chicken breast, about 1/2 pound, skin and cartilage removed, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 ounces prosciutto, diced, about 1/2 cup
2 small tomatoes, peeled, seeded, chopped or 1/2 cup canned Italian tomatoes, well drained, chopped
Broth:
5 cups basic broth, such as chicken broth
Soffrito:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon oil
1/3 cup finely minced onion
Rice:
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine or broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1. Heat the oil in a skillet over moderate heat; add the onion and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, until the onion begins to soften. Add the chicken, prosciutto and tomatoes and continue cooking, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes, until the chicken pieces are tender. Turn off the heat and set aside.
2. Bring the broth to a steady simmer in a saucepan on top of the stove.
3. For the soffrito, heat the butter and oil in a heavy 4-quart casserole over moderate heat. Add the onion and saute for 1 to 2 minutes, until it begins to soften, being careful not to brown it.
4. Add the rice to the soffrito; using a wooden spoon, stir for 1 minute, making sure all the grains are well coated. Add the wine and stir until it is completely absorbed. Begin to add the simmering broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently. Wait until each addition is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup, reserving about 1/4 to add at the end. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
5. After about 18 minutes, when the rice is tender but still firm, add the reserved broth, chicken, tomatoes and parsley. Turn off the heat and immediately add the Parmesan and stir vigorously to combine with the rice. Serve immediately.
The following recipe from the ”The New Complete Book of Pasta,” by Maria Luisa Scott and Jack Denton Scott (Morrow, $24.95) marries sauteed prosciutto and fettuccine noodles cooked firmer than al dente.
FETTUCCINE WITH PROSCIUTTO
Four to six servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
1 pound fettuccine noodles
8 thin slices of prosciutto, cut into julienne strips
1/4 pound plus 1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Cook fettuccine firmer than al dente. In a saucepan, over medium heat, saute prosciutto in 1 tablespoon of the butter until crisp. Add pasta and prosciutto to a chafing dish in which 1/4 pound of butter is melting. With 2 forks, toss together noodles and crisp prosciutto in the melting butter. Grate in cheese and grind in pepper. Serve in hot soup bowls.
