Parma Ham PDO
The production area includes the territory of the Province of Parma in the south of Via Emilia, at an altitude of no more than 900 meters. The ham must be obtained from the fresh legs of national pigs of the Large White, Landrace, or Duroc breeds, weighing at least 150 kilos, bred and slaughtered after the nine months of age.
Legs are trimmed by removing muscle, pigskin, and fat for at least the 24% of the total weight. Salting consists of two stages: pigskin is treated with wet salt, and the thin part with dry salt; after one week, legs are slightly salted again and rest for two, three weeks. After eliminating the remaining salt, they mature again for 60, 90 days in premises with the 75% of humidity. They are washed and dried in natural conditions, hanged and beat to give them a round shape. Afterwards, there is the greasing stage: the legs are covered with pork fat, salt, minced pepper, and sometimes with rice flour. The maturation process lasts for 10 or 12 months, according to the size.
The final product has no trotter. The weight must be no less than 7 kilos; during the cut, the color is uniform, from pink to red, alternating with the white color of the fat parts.
