The sixteenth most commonly seen items today at Italian restaurants in America is prosciutto as a starter. This is prosciutto crudo, thinly sliced ham cured in the Italian tradition. This is commonly served as part of a mix of cured meats increasingly called affettati or tagliere on menus now. Or it might appear in older school rendition, paired with melon when in season. In the New York area, prosciutto often loses a syllable and goes by “proshoot.”
Prosciutto is salumi, the broad term for cured meats that are ready to eat, usually pork, but also beef, wild boar, deer, and more. Prosciutto, salami, mortadella, coppa, pancetta, speck, and bresaola are some of the commonly found salumi in America. The name prosciutto refers to either cured or cooked ham. Prosciutto crudo is the good stuff. This is the more familiar cured version. Made from high-quality pork legs, which are covered in salt and left to rest, during which the salt draws out the blood and other moisture that makes it safe to eat raw. After this salting, the legs are washed, seasoned, and left to age at a controlled temperature from 14 months to three years. Prosciutto cotto is the cooked that resembles and tastes much like a familiar domestic boiled ham. Unless “prosciutto crudo” is specified on the menu, like in a sandwich, it is often this cheaper version that will be used. Both are served in slices. Made in much of northern Italy, the most well-known is Prosciutto di Parma and the slightly sweeter Prosciutto di San Daniele. Other top versions available to lesser degree in America are Prosciutto di Carpegna and Prosciutto di Modena. Though versions made domestically have improved in the last couple of decades, the Italian products are still clearly superior. For a great many years, Italian prosciutto was illegal in America. Only inferior, mostly domestic, cured ham under the name was available. In 1989, the ban on of imports of Prosciutto di Parma and Prosciutto di San Daniele was lifted. Just part of the reason why Italian dining has improved since then.
The long-popular prosciutto with melon and also prosciutto with figs are other items that are part of the influential Neapolitan dining tradition. The saltiness of the thin slices of ham pairs very well with the sweetness of the fruit.
Prosciutto, as delicious as it is, also works beyond the antipasti section. It is found in sandwiches and sometimes in pastas. Maybe most famously at the full-service restaurants, it is part of saltimbocca. After Parmesan, Marsala and piccata, this has been the most widely seen veal preparation over the years. Veal scallops are cooked in butter with white wine then topped with thin slices of prosciutto, hopefully large sage leaves and usually served flat but can be found rolled, affixed with toothpicks, or even stuffed. Dating from the 19th century in Rome, and at least the 1930s in America, this mix of tender meal, a hint of richness and acidity and then herbal piquancy is wonderful when done well and can work in the trattoria and ristorante there as well as Italian-American and Italian renditions here.
A visit to the only commercial prosciutto di Carpegna factory some years ago.
Prosciutto is salumi, the broad term for cured meats that are ready to eat, usually pork, but also beef, wild boar, deer, and more. Prosciutto, salami, mortadella, coppa, pancetta, speck, and bresaola are some of the commonly found salumi in America. The name prosciutto refers to either cured or cooked ham. Prosciutto crudo is the good stuff. This is the more familiar cured version. Made from high-quality pork legs, which are covered in salt and left to rest, during which the salt draws out the blood and other moisture that makes it safe to eat raw. After this salting, the legs are washed, seasoned, and left to age at a controlled temperature from 14 months to three years. Prosciutto cotto is the cooked that resembles and tastes much like a familiar domestic boiled ham. Unless “prosciutto crudo” is specified on the menu, like in a sandwich, it is often this cheaper version that will be used. Both are served in slices. Made in much of northern Italy, the most well-known is Prosciutto di Parma and the slightly sweeter Prosciutto di San Daniele. Other top versions available to lesser degree in America are Prosciutto di Carpegna and Prosciutto di Modena. Though versions made domestically have improved in the last couple of decades, the Italian products are still clearly superior. For a great many years, Italian prosciutto was illegal in America. Only inferior, mostly domestic, cured ham under the name was available. In 1989, the ban on of imports of Prosciutto di Parma and Prosciutto di San Daniele was lifted. Just part of the reason why Italian dining has improved since then.
The long-popular prosciutto with melon and also prosciutto with figs are other items that are part of the influential Neapolitan dining tradition. The saltiness of the thin slices of ham pairs very well with the sweetness of the fruit.
Prosciutto, as delicious as it is, also works beyond the antipasti section. It is found in sandwiches and sometimes in pastas. Maybe most famously at the full-service restaurants, it is part of saltimbocca. After Parmesan, Marsala and piccata, this has been the most widely seen veal preparation over the years. Veal scallops are cooked in butter with white wine then topped with thin slices of prosciutto, hopefully large sage leaves and usually served flat but can be found rolled, affixed with toothpicks, or even stuffed. Dating from the 19th century in Rome, and at least the 1930s in America, this mix of tender meal, a hint of richness and acidity and then herbal piquancy is wonderful when done well and can work in the trattoria and ristorante there as well as Italian-American and Italian renditions here.
A visit to the only commercial prosciutto di Carpegna factory some years ago.
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