Foodies all over the world know Prociutto di Parma, the unique cured ham, but if you go to Parma, you´ll look in vain for the ham factories. In fact, the real Prociutto town is Langhirano, a small town 20 km south of Parma, most of the factories are located on the surrounding hills and they are not open for the public, except during the “Festival del Prosciutto di Parma”.
Open Parma ham factories
During this week it´s possible to get to see and explained the whole process, not only how the Prosciutto is made, also what makes the Salami and Culatello so special. While it´s still true, that only good pigs make good Prosciutto, there`re other reasons why the rest of the world will never reach the goal to produce a ham as good as the one from Parma:
Special climate and knowledge
First of all, this area has a very special climate – foggy and cold in fall and winter, which provides enough moisture to slow down the drying process, and hot, salty breezes from the sea in summer to enrich the taste. As important as the climate is the 2000 years old knowledge of farmers and producers on one hand and the appreciation of Restaurants, Chefs and customers on the other hand – they all work together. It´s this exchange, that ensured a constant improvement and since there´re not that many products out there, which are handled with this kind of care for hundreds of years, don´t miss to go to the Festival!
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