Perna perexuctus San Daniele

Posted on | June 17, 2005

 
My interest in ‘prosciutto crudo di San Daniele’ was first kindled by an ageing Italian diplomat. I was staying with some friends in Tuscany and on the lunch table was a large plate of prosciutto crudo (the word prosciutto is derived from the Latin perexuctus meaning ‘deprived of all liquid’). This type of ham is generally, and often incorrectly, referred to as ‘Parma’ ham. An erroneous name if used to indicate a style, when in fact it proudly expresses the location of its origin and both Parma and prosciutto crudo di San Daniele have protected status — ‘denominazione di origine protetta (DOP)’ — under both national and European legislation (note 1). Anyway, said diplomat remarked (somewhat undiplomatically, I thought) that whilst Parma ham was OK as far as it went nothing could compare with ‘prosciutto crudo di San Daniele… tagliato al mano’. His face took on the expression of one who had attained some ineffable gratification in an exotic land. My gaze wandered over to my hostess to see if she had understood that she had been accused of being a duffer but she seemed not the least bit put out feigning (I presumed) an interest in this recondite revelation.

Shortly after this I came across a reference to the history of ham-making in San Daniele and remembering the diplomat’s ethereal visage when mentioning its ham I persevered with an article I might otherwise have confined to my shoe-cleaning box (which is where I kept all my newspapers in those days). Apparently, it was the Celts, who descended from the mountains above Friuli, who first made use of salt to conserve pork which they consumed in large quantities perhaps as early as 200-300 years BC. The invention of air curing is also attributed to the Celts: a simple, but miraculous technique when compared to humdrum salt preservation.

I thus headed for San Daniele, a picturesque small hill town in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia to discover the secrets of ‘prosciutto crudo di San Daniele’ and, in particular, just what made this so different from other ‘crudo’ in the market.

Fabian Cobb

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