This recipe was created in partnership with Icons of European Taste, a joint promotional program to promote Prosciutto di Parma–whose cured hams I dream about on a regular basis-Grana Padano and Prosciutto di San Daniele.
For whatever reason, I didn’t grow up eating cured ham in my house.
You could say things changed drastically when the Pancake Man came into my life in terms of the frequency and devotion level with which I now embrace weekend charcuterie and breakfast bacon.
But really, my tastes evolved about 10 years ago when I was studying abroad in Rome. There, you didn’t go to the deli counter and get a pound of turkey for sandwiches. Instead, you chose from an array of giant hanging ham legs from various regions, each with its own texture, saltiness and funk.
Needless to say, I spent my semester falling out of love with a boy I left back home at college, and into the throes of a mad deep passion for prosciutto. I ate it in loose-leaf piles when I needed a lazy snack, wrapped it around figs for our collegiate version of a “fancy” dinner party with 5 euro jugs of wine, and papered ciabatta with thin slices for my lunches.
When I got back to the States, I realized how hard it was to find authentic prosciutto from the old country in most supermarkets, not that I could really afford it at the time. Now though, I know all the tricks for seeking it out. My usual go-to is to ask for Prosciutto di Parma, which is made with traditional methods using only two ingredients—pork and sea salt—and has a subtle salty, sweet flavor. At the deli counter, you can ask to see the Parma crown branded into the leg to ensure it’s …
