Buy Prosciutto di Parma Online

Prosciutto di parma is produced in the countryside around Parma, Italy and is considered to be the best prosciutto in the world.

Unlike American-style prosciutto, prosciutto di parma is not smoked. Instead, it is salt-cured and air-dried for a period of 1-2 years.

It owes its legendary flavor to the method of raising the pigs. The town of Parma is also famous for its delicious Parmesan (parmigiano) cheese, and pigs raised for prosciutto di parma are fattened on a combination of whey from the cheese factories and chestnuts and grain from the surrounding countryside. This diet imparts a slightly sweet, nutty flavor to the meat.

Prosciutto di parma also has some surprising health benefits. Although prosciutto di parma is significantly fattier than American-style lean pork, it is much higher in healthy unsaturated fats thanks to the chestnuts fed to the pigs. In fact, the Spanish, who also enjoy pork finished on nuts, call these nut-fed pigs "olive trees on four legs" because the health benefits are so similar to olive oil!

Chestnut-finished pork was once common in America as well as Europe, and early colonists to the United States considered chestnut-fed pork to be the sweetest and best variety. Virginia hams, one of America's most gourmet meats, were traditionally raised on a combination of chestnuts and peanuts.

Unfortunately, chestnut-fed pork largely disappeared in America following the destruction of an estimated four billion American Chestnut trees thanks to an Asian fungus called chestnut blight. In recent years, however, chestnut fed pork has been experiencing a revival in this country due the development of blight-resistant chestnut hybrids and renewed interest in humane, sustainable methods of pork production.