Culatello di Zibello the superb Parma cured ham

The production of this King of cured meats is limited to just 9 areas within the province of Parma, and is tightly controlled to make sure traditional methods are used and high standards maintained, by a body called a Consorzio.

The meat has to come from traditionally reared adult pigs, butchered by experts in the months between November and February.
It is then very lightly salted, tightly bound in string and hung up to cure for at least a year.

Before being bound in string, Culatello has to be wrapped in a protective natural coating, as it is made from the "cheek" of the rump, the meatiest part, not from all of it as is usual for Prosciutto.

They say the secret of the Culatello from Zibello is in the air, the air of the pains along this particular stretch of the Po river, with its winter fogs and its suffocating humid summer heat, which flavour the Culatello in a way no other region can.
Enormous care goes into the selection of the right cellar to age it in, for this too is a crucial element in conveying "grace, fragrance and nobility", as one prosciutto producer put it, to this King of cured meats.

As with other cured meats, when the string is loose and the meat has shrunk, it is ready for consumption.
The custom with Culatello is to remove the string and then bathe the whole Culatello in red wine for 2 to 3 days.
After this it is very thinly sliced, and served with curls of pale unsweetened butter -  outstanding!