History, region, spices and a strict production specification are the peculiarities that the Consorzio di Tutela is preparing to tell Australian consumers about through the campaign “The Eu Gem Ham: Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO ”
Carpegna (Pesaro-Urbino), xx June 2024 – In an era of Italian Sounding, gastronomic excellence guaranteed by the quality mark must be told and tasted.
It is in this direction that the Consorzio di Tutela is moving, which through the project “The Eu Gem Ham: Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO’” will reveal to Australian consumers the numbers and secrets that have made Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO an undisputed protagonist of European charcuterie.
Time is, first and foremost, the guardian of a gastronomic history that has its roots in the Middle Ages, at the beginning of the 1400s, and arrives to the present day, maintaining intact the rigorous traditional methods and curing recipes that expert pork butchers have handed down and preserved with pride.
If history has forged prowess and processing techniques, the land from which Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO is made has contributed significantly to its performance. In the green heart of central Italy, amidst hills, natural pastures, woodlands and a total absence of industrial settlements, the Adriatic sea breeze meets the mountain air of the Apennines that favours the development of a pure microclimate particularly suited to the processing of this ham, synonymous with authenticity, safety, traceability.
What makes it even more unique, among cured raw hams, is the special secret mix of putty spices. It is the processing phase, known as “stuccatura”, which consists of protecting the surface not covered by the rind with a pepper and paprika-based putty, that gives Carpegna PDO its sweet, penetrating aroma of cured meat and its tender, elastic texture.
Marco Pulici, vice-president of the Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO Consortium points out: “This campaign ‘The Eu Gem Ham: Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO’ is also an opportunity to shed light on the numbers that allow our product to be recognised with the quality mark i.e. just three Italian regions allowed for the origin of the ingredients, 10 months the minimum age of the pig before it can be slaughtered, 12 kg the minimum weight that the hams must be during the curing phase, 14 months the time required for curing and, lastly, a brand marking that certifies its origin”.
More in-depth information and details on Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO can be found on the Consorzio di Tutela website www.consorzioprosciuttodicarpegna.it, and soon on the official website of the European Union co-financed campaign “The Eu Gem Ham: Prosciutto di Carpegna PDO”: www.gemham.eu, as well as on the Instagram account @consorzio_carpegna.
