The DOP raw ham of the Langhirano hills: pork legs cured with sea salt and mountain air for 12 to 36 months, sweet where other hams are salty, sliced to silk in the city's salumerie.

Parma ham was praised by Roman writers, but the modern Prosciutto di Parma DOP is a discipline of geography: legs salted and aged in the valley south of the city, where air moving between Apennines and plain dries them slowly. Only salt is permitted. The consortium's ducal crown brands each approved ham, Langhirano cures most of them, and the September Festival del Prosciutto opens the curing houses to visitors.

Where to eat Prosciutto di Parma in Parma

4 editor picks for Prosciutto di Parma in Parma, ranked by editorial score. All Parma signature dishes · Prosciutto di Parma across every city.

  • Trattoria Sorelle Picchi

    Order The salumi board from the counter, then anolini in brodo.

    Trattoria Sorelle Picchi grew out of a historic salumeria on Strada Farini in Parma, so lunch starts at the counter: culatello, coppa and spalla cotta.

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  • Salumeria Garibaldi

    Order A hand-cut culatello etto and whatever they will wrap to go.

    Salumeria Garibaldi slices Parmigiano aged up to 100 months and hand-tied culatello on Strada Garibaldi in Parma, a serious 1950s grocery institution.

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  • Trattoria del Grillo

    Order Torta fritta with prosciutto crudo, about 6.50 euro the basket.

    Trattoria del Grillo in Vigatto won TV Parma's contest for the city's best torta fritta, pairing the fried puffs with Ponte Romano prosciutto crudo.

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  • Taverna del Castello

    • ★ 4.0
    • €€
    • Torrechiara

    Order Prosciutto di Parma aged in the hills you can see from the door.

    Taverna del Castello sits below Torrechiara's frescoed castle south of Parma, feeding prosciutto-country walkers on the village's stone lane before the climb.

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Book food experiences in Parma

Tasting and Biking Parma★ 5.0 (239)

Viator · 4 h

Tasting and Biking Parma

Enjoy a easy bike tour to visit a Parmigiano Reggiano cheesefactory and see all production chain, to know the secrets of this great cheese and the huge storage with th...

fromEUR 90 Check dates

See all 242 food experiences in Parma

Make it at home

Serves Serves 4 as an antipasto15 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 200g Prosciutto di Parma DOP, sliced to order, 24 months if you find it
  • 1 ripe cantaloupe melon or 4 fresh figs
  • Torta fritta or good bread
  • Black pepper, nothing else

Method

  1. Buy the ham last and sliced to order; it dries within hours once cut.
  2. Bring it to cool room temperature so the fat turns translucent.
  3. Lay slices loosely over a platter rather than flat, so they stay airy.
  4. Serve with melon or figs in summer, or over hot torta fritta the rest of the year.
  5. Add nothing beyond a twist of pepper; the ham is the dish.

Editor tip. Ask the salumiere for the part near the shank, the gambetto, if you like it sweeter and drier.