Prosciutto di Parma

Prosciutto di Parma is an Italian PDO raw ham made only from the leg of Italian heavy pigs and sea salt in the hills south of Parma. A bone-in ham weighs 8.2 to 12.5 kg, is aged at least 14 months and carries the five-point ducal crown; in 2025, 6.75 million hams were branded. ¹³

The pigs. They are born, raised and slaughtered in eleven regions: Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardy, Piedmont, Molise, Umbria, Tuscany, Marche, Abruzzo and Lazio. They are offspring of Italian Large White, Landrace and Duroc boars, slaughtered at 9 months or older with a carcass of 110.1 to 180.0 kg. Cereals make up at least 45% of the dry matter, at least half the feed comes from the area, and the liquid mash may include whey, up to 15 litres a head a day; the specification does not name Parmesan. ¹

The fresh leg. Apart from chilling, the leg may not be preserved in any way, freezing included. The fat over the head of the femur must be at least 22 mm thick, the bare muscle beyond it no longer than 9 cm, and the fat must have an iodine number of at most 70 and no more than 15% linoleic acid, so that it stays firm through long ageing. ¹

Salting and rest. After 24 hours of chilling to 0 °C the leg is trimmed into the rounded «chicken thigh» shape and salted with sea salt only, wet salt on the rind and dry salt on the lean. The first salt lasts 4 to 7 days at 0–4 °C, the second 10 to 21 days depending on weight, and salting and rest at 0–5 °C last at least 90 days in all. The hams then warm slowly for at least 12 hours, are washed and dried. ¹

Maturing and the horse-bone needle. The hams hang in airy rooms, traditionally with opposite windows opened according to the humidity inside and out. From the fifth month the bare muscle and cracks are covered with sugna, a paste of pork fat, salt and ground pepper, sometimes with rice flour. During maturing an expert pushes a horse-bone needle, which quickly takes up and then loses aromas, into several points and smells it; at 14 months inspectors check the ham and fire the crown onto it. ¹

What the test measures. Before branding, the lean of the biceps femoris must show 58 to 63% moisture, 4.2 to 6.0% salt and a proteolysis index of 25 to 32%. The cut is uniformly pink to red, broken by the pure white of the fat, and the taste is delicate and sweet, lightly salted. Nothing but leg and sea salt goes in: no preservatives, no additives, no smoking. ¹⁴

Zone, law and traceability. All processing, slicing and packing included, takes place in the province of Parma south of the Via Emilia, at least 5 km from it and up to 900 m, between the river Enza and the Stirone stream, an area set by Law 506 of 4 July 1970 and Law 26 of 1990; the PDO dates from 1996, Regulation (EC) 1107/96. The piglet's legs are tattooed with the province, a letter for the month of birth and the farm code, the slaughterhouse brands PP, and a metal seal records the start of curing. ¹²⁴⁵

The consortium and the trade. The consortium was founded in 1963 by 23 producers and has been the official guardian of the name since the 1970 law. In 2025 there were 124 producing companies, 3,500 pig farms and 84 slaughterhouses; production was worth 810 million euros, exports 315 million, and 92 million pre-sliced packs were sold. Pre-sliced Parma must come from hams with less than 60% moisture and carries a black triangle with the crown. ¹³

Why it matters to you. The crown guarantees leg and sea salt, Italian heavy pigs and 14 months, not acorns: Parma differs from San Daniele, which keeps its foot, and from Jamón and Jabugo; more in the comparison Jamón or prosciutto: 7 differences and on the pages Dry-cured hams and shoulders and Prosciutto crudo in the theme Cured meats & charcuterie. Serve paper-thin slices at room temperature with the fat on; a vacuum-packed boneless ham keeps up to 6 months at 8 °C and about a month once opened, and should not be frozen. ¹⁴ WHO classes processed meat, ham included, as carcinogenic to humans. ⁶