Hello to the steemit community from Russia! I'm Maks, working and studying agricultural and environmental sciences.
In my blog I want to practice my English and educate people with any interesting info I enjoy. Disclaimer: this mostly will be related to the agriculture. Here is my first post on here, and it will be about prosciutto. Let's start!
Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham. Its usual style is being thin sliced and served uncooked, which is called crudo. The most prized and famous variety of this Italian ham is the Prosciutto di Parma. This type is produced only in Emilia-Romagna region. However, there are lots of different varieties such as Prosciutto di San Daniele, Modena, or Norcia. Each of them are produced in a specified region and marked with a unique sign.
For the meat production a pig’s or wild boar’s leg is used. However, some other animals might be used for prosciutto production, which should be later identified in the name of product. There are several steps in the processing. Firstly, the leg is cleaned, then it is salted. After that is the key process: the ham is left for about two months under a gentle pressure to remove all the blood from the meat. After that the meat is washed to remove the excess salt. After that the meat is left in a dark and well-ventilated environment. The environment, especially air condition and quality is very important for the final taste of product. In this environment a piece of meat is left until dry and then it is hung in the air. The whole process of prosciutto production might take up to two years.
Sometimes sodium or potassium is used in ham production to achieve a desired color and flavor. However, in the certified official prosciutto (the Protected Designation of Origin is responsible for checking this) only sea salt might be used to affect any properties of the final product. Another important aspect of producing a prosciutto marked official is the origin of the animal. As a result, the official product produced in a certain region and has a stable and recognizable flavor for years.
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That's it for now, thanks for your time! This was just the first introductory part of writing series on prosciutto (and other types of meat), feel free to subscribe if you don't want to miss the next one!