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It
must be love: the British devoured over 12 million packets of Parma
Ham last year, making us the biggest consumers of pre-sliced Parma
Ham in the world outside off Italy! Our love affair with Parma Ham is
truly extraordinary with a huge increase in sales year on year with a
27% increase in 2007.
Parma
Ham is the ultimate fast food transforming a simple piece of fruit,
cheese or sandwich into something extra special. Why not try wrapping
wafer thin slices of Parma Ham around hot buttered toast soldiers to
dip into soft boiled eggs for a delicious breakfast treat?
Delicious
Parma Ham is a completely natural food with nothing added except
salt. Making a Parma ham is a long and painstaking process. The
curing is controlled carefully so that the ham absorbs only enough
salt to preserve it to retain its distinctive sweet flavour.
Parma
Ham, Prosciutto di Parma is produced in the hills surrounding the
Italian town of Parma. The air in the Parmesan hills is unique, dry
and sweet-smelling with breezes from the Apennine mountains creating
perfect environmental conditions for a natural "drying" of
the hams.
The
unique taste of Parma Ham is dependent on the traditional production
process passed down from Roman times, carefully controlled by the
Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma. Only hams that have passed
stringent curing regulations approved by the EU can be awarded the
stamp of the Ducal crown - a five pointed coronet logo with PARMA in
the centre which is branded onto the ham's skin. The Ducal Crown is
now a certification trademark.
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