MADE IN ITALY: Italian prosciutto: not just Parma and San Daniele PDO

Italian PROSCIUTTO: not just Parma and San Daniele PDO

Giuseppe L. Pastori – Food Technologist

Italy is one of the Countries with the highest density of food and wine excellences: oil, cheese, wines or cured meat, many products are PDO, PGI, TGS certified, and more than five thousand agro-industrial products are registered in the list of foods (PAT) compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food on regional basis, because each product tells the story and the traditions of a specific area

Italy owns several leaderships in the world. It is recognized as the Country of Fine Arts that are integral part of its past; monuments and pieces of art are a sign of the civilizations that have come first and of our ancestors’ genius. And in the present, it’s a fashion leader, design leader and a motoring leader. Italy evokes a refined lifestyle that stands out from the mass, with its care for details and originality; we are appreciated for our ability to recognize beauty, for our joyful mood, our slow and natural pace of life. The Made in Italy is appreciated for the quality of its products, for well-done jobs; for the authenticity, the result of handcrafted and industrial jobs that are many and different, because we like feeling part of the land where we live. Who looks at Italy from outside, from abroad, can’t help loving our country and feeling moved every time he meets a part of it, either tourism or products: and for sure we are much more appreciated abroad than we, who live in Italy, may think. The art of doing things well expresses itself also in the production and preparation of food: in fact tourist flows towards Italy do

Consorzio del Prosciutto Toscano

not restrict themself to vising monuments and churches, art galleries and museums, or at doing shopping in fashion shops. Our cuisine is widely appreciated. Italy is one of the countries with the highest density of food and wine excellences, and tourists love stopping and tasting the traditional foods of specific areas. From north to south, islands included, each region (even each territory in the same region, because Naples is not Caserta, and Bergamo is not Milan…) distinguishes itself for the identity of its cuisine and the products of its land. It can be oil, cheese, wine or cured meats (and many other specialities), our excellence is in many PDO, PGI, TGS recognized products, and in more than five thousand agro-industrial products registered in the list of foods (PAT) compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food on a regional basis, because each product tells the story and the traditions of a specific area. The products of the excellent Italian art of cooking are genuine and enhanced by the Mediterranean Diet, that’s why they are appreciated all around the world, sometimes even imitated (with bad results) for the value they represent; they are one of the economic mainstays of our economy. Despite frequent attempts to copy them, which have been named Italian sounding because they copy the name and the image – in order to repeat the quality of our original products (and give rise to many problems because they steal important market shares of our economy, and need legal actions to protect our original products), many consumers all around the world recognize, appreciate and valorize the real production Made in Italy, which satisfies even the most demanding customers. Being praised by the international community and being recognized as a reference for the food markets all around the world was not an easy thing, and it wouldn’t have been possible if we had counted only on our forces, if we hadn’t been protected by European laws and regulations that have introduced the PDO acronym (indicating the Protected Designation of Origin), a brand for legal safeguard. This brand (more than the other two, PGI and TGS) connects the product and its organoleptic and qualitative characteristics with the specific area where it is produced, because it recognizes the unique natural, environmental and human conditions that are responsible for the final quality of a certain speciality in that specific area. All European PDO and PGI products are an

Consorzio del Prosciutto di Modena DOP

excellence: hams, the most beloved cured meats ever because they meet all tastes, from the most simple to the most refined, fall within the product group “Meat-based products (cooked, pickled, smocked, etc)”, where Italy boasts 43 certified products (21 PDO and 22 PGI, which represent the highest number of certified animal products in the EU). Hams, together with cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano PDO and Grana Padano PDO, are unique because they fully express the taste of our country, more than wine and oil that feel the effects of the competition from other Countries (from France the former, from Spain the latter). There are products in Europe that are processed in a similar way (for example Spanish hams), but we can’t say they are like our products, even how they look, which confirms the uniqueness of our hams. addition foreign pigs are allowed. There is even no obstacle to the use of preservatives, as it happens with PDO products. Every Italian PDO ham has special characteristics that make it different from the others, though the customers abroad sometimes confuse them and recognize only the hams that register the highest figures in term of value and exports, like Parma PDO and San Daniele PDO. Promoting their products in the marketing terms they believe more suitable is up to the Consortia. It is now clear to everybody that, in a global market with a strong competition from other Countries, sometimes with cheaper products, we can’t proceed in random order: we must act together to promote Italy in its whole. The bigger Consortia should drive the smaller ones to go beyond regionalism, and for this we need a common policy based on quality, beginning with raw material, respecting the genetical characteristics and the weight of pigs at slaughtering time, and on transparency towards consumers. For example, it’s a good thing that last year MIPAAF launched a communication campaign to support the 8 Italian PDO hams; the campaign addressed the consumers and was meant to favor informed and sustainable consumption of one of the excellences of Made in Italy [1]. The special features of Italian PDO hams begin with the selection of pig legs and continue in salting and ageing stages, but every processing stage is characterized by ancient and well-rooted traditions that have been handed down generation after generation, and that now have been perfected also in industrial production. On industrial level, we can exploit technological innovations and applications to adapt production guidelines to new climatic, environmental and market requirements, and guarantee that products continue to be successful. Producers’ associations are always alert on these evolutions and can modify the production guidelines to make them fit for the times, in full respect of traditions and inclinations of the gastronomic excellences.

Every day, fresh cuts! PDO Italian ham

Within this product category there are 8 PDO hams, for which producers use the legs of pigs born and farmed in Italy, preservatives are not allowed (sodium and potassium nitrite and nitrate, which are normally used in the ageing of preserved meats), in accordance with the guidelines fixed by the relevant Consortia. Among the products protected by the European regulations we should also mention the 3 PGI products (Prosciutto Amatriciano, Prosciutto di Norcia, Prosciutto di Sauris), and other hams produced from Cinta Senese, in this case the meat itself is certified. The guidelines for the use of meats and preservatives are less strict for PGI products. With regard to raw materials, producers are allowed to use “legs from heavy adult pigs, boars and sows excluded, that come from crossed and selected white breed farms”, but there is no reference to respecting the rules established for heavy Italian pigs; in

Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma DOP

Consorzio di Tutela del Prosciutto Veneto Berico Euganeo DOP

WHAT DOES GIVE VALUE TO PDO PRODUCTS?

EU quality policies are meant to protect the denomination of specific products to promote their unique characteristics that relate to their geographical origin and with traditional skills. Among product denominations relating to a “geographical indication” (GI), there are PDO, PGI and GST products. PDO is the acronym of “Protected Designation of Origin”, which is the first and most important system for the protection and enhancement of high-quality agricultural, food and wine products. PDO products are strongly tied with the place they come from. Each step of manufacturing, processing and preparation must be carried out in their specific region (and the raw materials must be guaranteed within a designated area). The GI system is ruled by specific European regulations [2 - 3], and the EU juridically guarantees protection against fakes and abuses within the European Community itself and in the third Countries that have signed a specific protection agreement: only the products that own specific characteristics can use the PDO brand or acronym. The GIs requested and filed in the Union’s register are available on eAmbrosia portal (the official data bank of EU’s GI books) [4]: the portal gives access to all the filed geographical indications, juridical protection tools and production guidelines included. The Guidelines is the document that specifies the entire production cycle, step by

Consorzio del Prosciutto di San Daniele

step, and the geographical area within which production must take place; it also provides the historical documents and its connection with the traditions of a specific geographical area which justify the application for and the concession of protection. The PDO product is certified and protected through the juridical acknowledgment of the member State and then of Europe, which issues specific guidelines; before this, the product must be carefully examined and approved by all the other member States without obstacles. Since the PDO system is the best of agrifood production about quality and taste, the consumer must be sure of receiving a safe product, produced from selected and carefully controlled raw materials, in traceable conditions.

ITALIAN HEAVY PIGS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ITALIAN PIG FARMING CHAIN FOR PDO

DOP Italian ham is a high-quality product based on pigs that have been born, farmed and slaughtered in Italy. Although the pig farming sector is not huge in Italy, the specification of PDO products has enabled to grow a typically Italian pig, which is different from the rest of the world and is tied to the Mediterranean production, completely different from the North European pig: it’s the Italian heavy pig. The Large White, Landrace and Duroc Italian breeds have been selected from the Italian genealogical Book for heavy pigs [5] and have always been the reference for PDO production since the guidelines approved in Europe have been put into writing. This breed of pig is farmed in the regions of the so-called “integrated chain” (11 regions: Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, EmiliaRomagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Tuscany, Marche, Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise, where there are Consortia that specify the characteristics), which provides premium quality raw material for the production of meats that can be consumed fresh or processed into cured meats or salami, following the long Italian tradition. The Italian heavy pig is farmed at least for 9 months, the final live weight is around 160+ kg and the leg weighs around 126 kg before trimming. The meats produced from this selection of pigs have a balanced lean-part and fattypart ratio, and lose less water in the salting and ageing processes [6]. From raw material selection to salting, to ageing and branding, every step guarantees that Consortia’s specifications are respected. After all the recipe to produce DOP hams is simple: addition of salt and minimum 12 month ageing. The result is a uniform product with better technological performance and better organoleptic characteristics. The uniqueness of Italian products is now also confirmed by specific scientific studies. A group of researchers of Bologna University, in collaboration with other Italian and foreign authorities, has identified the single genes connected with the main characteristics that define premium quality hams, right in the genome of the Italian Duroc breed, which is widely used in crossbreeds for this type of production [7].

CHARACTERISTICS OF PDO ITALIAN HAMS

The classes of ham recognized as PDO are 8, although there are product excellences also among PGI products as already mentioned, and among regional specialties that have a delimited distribution. In this article we will talk about PDO excellences in strict alphabetical order because there is no best product, there are rather many excellent products each with its peculiarities: Crudo di Cuneo PDO, Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO, Prosciutto di Modena PDO, Prosciutto di Parma PDO, Prosciutto di San Daniele PDO, Prosciutto Toscano PDO, Prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo PDO and Vallée d’Aoste Jambon De Bosses PDO.

1. CRUDO DI CUNEO PDO Crudo di Cuneo was acknowledged PDO in 2009, the year of the European recognition. It’s produced in the province of Cuneo, Asti and in a few municipalities in province of Turin. The meat comes from the same areas. At the time of slaughter, pigs must be at least eight months of age; minimum ageing is 10 months from the beginning of the process. Salting takes place with dry or partially humidified salt. Salt can contain small amounts of crushed black pepper and vinegar, which may be mixed with spices or spice extracts or natural antioxidants. Preservatives cannot be used. At the end of the ageing period, the weight must be between 7 and 10 kg, the colour uniform red when sliced.

2. PROSCIUTTO DI CARPEGNA PDO Prosciutto di Carpegna is processed and aged exclusively in Carpegna, a municipality in Marche region. The Consortium accepts pigs that have been born, farmed and slaughtered in Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Marche, and takes in the same specifications for raw material as for Parma and San Daniele. The pigs must be Italian heavy pigs and slaughtered when they are older than 10 months, the leg must weigh around 12 kg. Salting uses only dry ground sea salt, minimum ageing is 13 months, hams must not weigh less than 8 kg. The shape is curved, tending to flat. When sliced, the colour is salmon pink with suitable quantity of solid, rose-coloured white fat inside.

3. PROSCIUTTO DI MODENA PDO Prosciutto di Modena is not the less famous cousin of prosciutto di Parma, it originates in the same region but dates back to ancient times, probably as far as the Etruscan time or even farther. The production zone corresponds to the hills and valleys of Modena province, in a land that has always been inclined to pig farming. The meat comes exclusively from Emilia Romagna, Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont, Marche, Umbria, Tuscany, Lazio, Abruzzo and Molise regions. Pigs are slaughtered at 9 months at least, when they weigh 160 kg on average; usually pure sea salt is used for salting, which is repeated twice in 20 days without preservatives. The process lasts at least 14 months before applying the brand, often even longer. The weight is between 8

and 10 kg at the end of the ageing process. The colour is bright red when sliced, the flavour is savoury but not salty. Prosciutto di Modena PDO is the basic ingredient of tortellini stuffing.

4. PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA PDO Prosciutto di Parma is one of the most representative products of Made in Italy. It’s the product with the highest production and export volumes. It is produced in the Province of Parma, south of the Emilia way and bordered by the River Enza and the Stirone stream. The pigs suitable for Parma PDO come from Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont, Molise, Umbria, Tuscany, Marche, Abruzzo and Lazio. They use only Italian breeds registered in the Italian Breeding Book of Origin, slaughtered when they are older than 9 months with an average weight of 160 kg. Salting uses exclusively sea salt. Minimum aging is 12 months, though usually 18 to 24 months, sometimes more, which makes meat more compact though soft and flavored. Only then the hams are ready for firebranding. The origins date back to the II century BC, when Cato the “Censor” first mentioned production.

5. PROSCIUTTO DI SAN DANIELE PDO Prosciutto di San Daniele DOP is the second best known product among Italian PDOs, though with more modest figures compared to Parma. In fact Prosciutto di San Daniele is produced only in the area of San Daniele del Friuli, a land that covers only 35 Km², in the province of Udine. The Consortium accepts pigs from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont, EmiliaRomagna, Umbria, Tuscany, Marche, Abruzzo and Lazio. The legs must weigh at least 12 kg, and the paw must be preserved. Salting times depend on weight. Traditionally, each ham rests in this condition for the same number of days as its weight in kilograms, then it is cleaned and pressed 24-48 hours before the subsequent processes: this phase gives the prosciutto its characteristic guitar shape. Ageing continues for at least 13 months. The slice is rosy-red in the lean part and white on the fatty side. The flavor is delicate tending to sweet.

6. PROSCIUTTO TOSCANO PDO The production of PDO Tuscan Ham must be located in the territory of the Tuscan region, and uses pigs belonging to Italian Large White, Italian Landrace and Italian Duroc breeds, or other compatible breeds, which must have been born, farmed and

VACUUM TUMBLERS

BRINE MIXERS

TROLLEY TUMBLER MOULDS PRESSES DEMOULDING MACHINE TWIN RAIL SYSTEM

slaughtered in Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Marche, Umbria and Lazio. The thighs have the typical V-cut to reveal the lean part, subcutaneous fat is eliminated so that when completed, it protrudes no longer than 8 cm beyond the head of the femur. Legs are dry salted by using salt, pepper, aromas (typical aromas like garlic, rosemary, juniper berries and myrtle). Ageing must be at least 10 months long for hams that have a final weight of 7.5-8.5 kg, and 12 months for hams that weigh more than 8.5 kg. Its tasty flavor based on salt and aromas go perfectly with unsalted Tuscan bread.

7. PROSCIUTTO VENETO BERICO-EUGANEO PDO Prosciutto Veneto PDO uses pig thighs from Italian traditional breeds like Large White, Landrace and Duroc. The production area comprises 15 municipalities in the southern border of the provinces of Padua, Vicenza and Verona, in Veneto region. The pigs used for production must have been born, farmed and slaughtered in Veneto, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Lazio and Umbria territories; the animals suitable for production are tattooed within forty days from birth and fed with specific fodder. Slaughtering can’t take place before the pigs are 9 months old, when the animal weighs at least 150 kg. Salting takes place only with sea salt, then hams are lightly pressed and let dry naturally. The product is branded after minimum 12 month aging, which is protracted to 18/24 months to exalt flavor and taste. At the end of ageing the weight is between 8 and 11 kg. When sliced, meat is pink and lightly veined, which makes the slice tender and fragrant.

8. VALLÉE D’AOSTE JAMBON DE BOSSES PDO In spite of its name, Jambon de Bosses is truly Italian and is produced in Aosta Valley, in the area of Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, a municipality at approximately 1,600 meters above sea level. Fresh pig thighs come from Italian Large White, Landrace and Duroc breeds, farmed and slaughtered in Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. The thighs are salted with addition of pepper grains or ground pepper, sage, rosemary, garlic, juniper, thyme, laurel. After resting, washing and drying, the exposed parts of meats and of the head of the femur are covered with roughly ground pepper to avoid oxidation. Ageing lasts at least 12 months, and can be prolonged to 30 months. Jambon de Bosses PDO is ready when it has a minimum weight of 7 kg, semi-pressed shape and paw. When sliced – hand sliced to be precise – the colour of the meat is wine red, with firm and bright fat. The flavor is delicate, slightly salted, with typical aromatic profile.

CONCLUSIONS

Our PDOs are a strong point in the Italian economic agri-food sector but they must always be protected: of course the Consortia can do it themselves but nowadays we deal with complex relationships which involve fragile market equilibria, or we must convey several values, including sustainability [8] and animal well-being. We have to deal with market crisis outside Europe, between protectionism and attempts to counterfeit our products; on the other hand, in Europe, especially from the North Countries, there are simplistic pressures towards nutritional models like the Nutriscore, which favour complex foods at the expense of single-ingredient foods (or with a reduced ingredient list), like most of the DOPs, whose peculiarities are intrinsic in the product and can’t be changed as they respect precise procedural guidelines. Moreover our PDOs products, meat-based included, acquire value in the Mediterranean diet, which is acknowledged as balanced food regimen but is challenged every time it is compared with elaborate products whose colour is more appealing than PDOs, or are penalized for a characteristic, for example fat or the content of salt, in fact the reference value of 100 g (as Nutriscore reports) does not represent the real portion. These days the consumption of meat is the object of an ever more critical attitude on consumers’ side, in terms of nutrition, ethics and environmental sustainability. We can’t convey just the value of a product connected with its land, we can’t minimize the obstacles and just defend it. We must put aside the dialogue of the traditional system and highlight new and unexpected potentialities. According to Claudio Peri, professor emeritus at University of Milan and popularizer of Food Science and Technologies, we should get organized and found a Community of Purpose of the land, meant to establish synergies between the meat production chain and other chains of production and service, from winemakers to museums (not just the food and wine question). It’s Professor Peri opinion that the economies of lands that are rich in traditions, natural and artistical beauties, handcraft jobs can be successfully revamped connecting these chains together on operational, service and communication levels. When we convey information to the consumer, we can’t work only towards the history and the tradition of a product, we must rely on a strategy where the quality of the product is recognized also in terms of sustainability and is identified in the chain of services that characterize a territory in its entirety. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Decreto delle politiche agricole, alimentari e forestali del 7 aprile 2020, recante «Istituzione del Fondo nazionale per la suinicoltura», adottato in attuazione dell’art. 11-bis del Decreto-legge 29 marzo 2019, n. 27, 2. Regolamento (UE) n. 1151/2012 del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio, del 21 novembre 2012, sui regimi di qualità dei prodotti agricoli e alimentari (GU L 343 del 14.12.2012, pp. 1–29). 3. Regolamento (UE) 2017/625 del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio, del 15 marzo 2017, relativo ai controlli ufficiali e alle altre attività ufficiali effettuati per garantire l’applicazione della legislazione sugli alimenti e sui mangimi, delle norme sulla salute e sul benessere degli animali, sulla sanità delle piante nonché sui prodotti fitosanitari, recante modifica dei regolamenti …, (UE) n. 1151/2012… (GU L 95 del 7.4.2017, pp. 1–142). 4. Commissione Europea – Registro delle indicazioni geografiche dell’UE. https:// ec.europa.eu/info/foodfarming-fisheries/food-safety-and-quality/certification/ quality-labels/geographical-indications-register/ 5. Gallo M. (2012). Suino pesante, con Anas razze italiane migliorate. Suinicoltura, n. 11 pp. 42-46. 6. Rossi A. (2015). Qualità della coscia e carcassa. Professione Suinicoltore, Luglio/Agosto 2015, pp. 12-14. 7. Bertolini F., Schiavo G., Galimberti G., Bovo S., D’Andrea M., Gallo M., Buttazzoni L., Rothschild M.F., Fontanesi L. (2018). Genome-wide association studies for seven production traits highlight genomic regions useful to dissect dry-cured ham quality and production traits in Duroc heavy pigs. Animal (2018), 12:9, pp. 1777–1784 8. Arfini F., De Roest K., Belletti G., Menozzi D. (2016). La sostenibilità del prosciutto crudo in Italia: tra filiere locali e globali. Agriregionieuropa, 12 (44).

The authors are responsible for the opinions expressed in the articles and relevant bibliographies