since you learn something every day, i'm going to teach you a fun fact: how prosciutto (pio tosini prosciutto, to be exact) is made in parma, italy. this educational lesson is brought to you by our friends at the gourmet store Fox + Obel.

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The first step in the making of an inimitable Prosciutto di Parma consists of the careful selection of prime-grade hog. The meat must then be treated and seasoned using traditional methods carried out in a strictly delineated area of production within the Province of Parma. After the ham has been aged for ten to twelve months, salt, the only ingredient used in the treatment of the meat, may be added.

The hams are salted twice and rest for 24 days at one to four degrees centigrade before passing through a pummeling tunnel designed to take away excess salt and relax the tissue for even salt penetration. Then, one man steps forward and squeezes the ham around the bone to ensure that every last drop of blood is removed. After six months, the hams are hung to cure for the rest of their stay on huge wooden beams that stretch floor to ceiling.

The final touch in the prosciutto production is almost medieval. Each prosciutto is serially stamped with the number of the farmer who bred the pigs, the abattoir and the curer. The final stamp of the Consorzio di Prosciutto di Parma, the council that ultimately decides if a ham is good enough to bear the name of Parma, is bestowed by an independent inspector. This inspection is conducted by pentrating the meat with a pointed, four inch piece of bone taken from the femur of a horse. This instrument is quite similar to the cheese iron used to penetrate Stiltons, Cheddars, or wheels of Parmesan, but because it is porous bone rather than metal, it is far more sensitive to the sweet aromas of the ham. Once the ham has passed this final test it is on its way to customers around the world.