Source · producer

Parma pork producer

Langhirano hills, Parma province, IT

Placeholder producer entry — the Langhirano valley south of Parma has been curing pork legs since at least Roman times. Cool, dry hill air with periodic Apennine breezes is the climate the cure depends on; modern producers still hang the legs in long racks behind open windows. Prosciutto di Parma DOP cures 14 months minimum; guanciale (pork jowl) and pancetta (pork belly) cure in weeks.

The reference for Italian cured pork. Prosciutto di Parma is what every other prosciutto is graded against; guanciale is what every Roman pasta — carbonara, amatriciana, gricia — assumes when the recipe says “cured pork.” The salt cure is unusually light by international standards; the time on the hook is unusually long.