Prosciutto di Carpegna

Appearance & taste

The finished ham is rounded, but not spherical, rather flat, has a sufficient layer of fat under the rind and weighs at least 8 kg. The cut surface is salmon pink with plenty of firm, white to pink fat. It has a pleasant, strong smell of hung meat and an aromatic taste, and the meat is tender and elastic. The ripened ham contains 57 to 63 % moisture.

Its identifying mark is a brand with the lettering “Prosciutto di Carpegna”. The ham is sold whole, boned or sliced. Boned, it traditionally comes in two forms: pressed into a mould (pressato) or tied by hand (all’addobbo), each vacuum-packed. It may only be sliced and packed after ripening for at least 15 months. On the label the name is followed directly by “Denominazione di Origine Protetta”; references to other characteristics not provided for are not allowed.

Production

Only fresh legs of heavy pigs born, reared, slaughtered and cut up in the Marche, Emilia-Romagna or Lombardy are used. The animals are descendants of the Large White Italiana, Landrace Italiana and Duroc Italiana breeds or of crosses bred with these breeds for the production of heavy pigs; meat from boars and sows is excluded. The pigs are at least ten months old at slaughter; according to the specification, their slowly grown meat is better suited to long ripening. The carcasses weigh 110.1 to 180 kg. At least half of the dry matter the pigs eat in a year comes from the rearing area.

The short-cut legs weigh at least 12 kg; they are chilled but not frozen. Processing begins at the ham plant no later than 120 hours after slaughter. The legs are salted exclusively with dry ground sea salt; chemical additives are prohibited in all phases. Before ripening they are tapped by hand, trimmed and coated with a paste (stucco). The whole production lasts at least 14 months and takes place in the municipality of Carpegna; portioning, slicing and packing may also take place elsewhere.

Origin & history

Carpegna lies on the northern edge of central Italy not far from San Marino, at an altitude of 748 m on the southern slope of the mountain massif in the Sasso Simone e Simoncello nature park, about 50 km from the Adriatic. Beech forests shape the landscape. The first heights of the Apennines give protection from the cold tramontana and bora winds. The altitude, the proximity to the sea, the moderate ventilation and well-drained soils without standing moisture make for balanced conditions and mild, dry summers. The breezes from the Adriatic reach Carpegna as a light, steady draught. According to the specification, the meat ripens well under these conditions even with a low salt content.

Pork processing in Carpegna has been documented since the Renaissance: when Prince Malatesta Novello of Cesena sold the salt pans of Cervia to the Republic of Venice in 1468, it was expressly recorded that the county of Carpegna would continue to have free access to them. Later the producers followed the heavy Italian pig, whose breeding spread over the centuries into the Po Valley.