It's not often that you get a chance to surround yourself with your favorite food. Joe is delighting in the salty, pungent scent of 20,000 whole prosciuttos at the Nini factory.
The final stop on our full day tour, the prosciuttoficio was a non-descript concrete block building in a residential neighborhood outside of Modena. On multi levels we were allowed to see all the different stages required to make a DOP prosciutto. The whole fresh thighs of the Grande Bianco pigs come to the factory weekly from the slaughterhouse. They are first caked with sea salt and allowed to rest for a few days.
The salt is blown off by a machine, and another resting period follows. There is another salting phase, then the whole hams are allowed to dry for 70 days to reduce their moisture content by about 30%. After this period the factory workers massage a mixture of lard, salt and rice flour into the areas of the hams that are not naturally covered by fat--the top of the thigh and the area where the pig's knee would be.
They are hung to dry in a climate-controlled setting for a total of 14 months and then inspected by the consorzio which determines quality for production of artisanally-made foods in Italy. If the hams pass inspection, they are fire-branded with the official mark of the region and sold to shops and restaurants.
We learned that the hams can be stored uncut for six months and once sliced into, must be eaten within a month.
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