Where do I go to sample cured meats in Italy?

Question

I'm spending 3 weeks in Rome, Florence, Venice, and Sorrento, and would like to eat at / tour places where they make cured meats (procuitto, pancetta, mortadella, etc.)

Answer 1

For the best hams you'll have to go to Parma or San Daniele (Friuli - sort of close to Venice). Mortadella - Bologna.

I'm a fan of cured meats and can tell you that you may not be able to find the places that do this kind of work exactly in the cities you mention but in the outskirts.

Popular places to find cured meats are now in the "Agri-turismo" or "Agricultural-tourism" or country-inns. Seems like many families with country homes are converting to meet the demand for those wanting to leave the cities for a comfortable country stay. I'm sure you'll find all you want on Google and in English.

Enjoy your 3 weeks as you eat your way through Italy!

Answer 2

There are a lot of food festivals (sagre) throughout the year, but you didn't say when you'd be here. This site has information by region and month; there are 433 listings for Emilia Romagna alone: http://www.prodottitipici.com/sagre_even...

If you're here in November, one particularly good option is the November Porc tour (http://www.novemberporc.it/). The events are in Sissa, Polesine, Zibello, and Roccabianca near Parma on the 4 weekends. This would be an easy trip from Florence. A lot of restaurants in the area offer specials tied to the events: http://www.novemberporc.it/november-porc... and there's a 2 day package tour that visits a culatello manufacturer, a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese farm, and castles in the area with an overnight stay at a hotel in the area. The tour includes lunch Saturday, a dinner featuring cured meats and a visit to the festival with lunch at the gastronomic stand on Sunday. This was one of the best tours I've ever done.

Another really good festival is the truffle festival in San Miniato the 1st 3 weekends in November. There are lots of foods from various regions in Italy with cured meats and pecorrino cheeses. San Miniato is a Tuscan hill town on the train line between Pisa and Florence. The festival is in the upper town (there's a bus from the station) or you can walk a couple of kilometers.

Answer 3

Cured meats are produced in Emilia Romagna region, the best city is Parma with the most famous prosciutto di Parma.

Answer 4

each region in italy used to have its' own city states & still have their own special recipes for everything from meat to sauces to pasta to cheese & even pizza.  there is really no such thing as "italian food" since every region varies!!  

you will find  cured meats in italy have a much higher fat content than usa.  find local delis in every city & town you trave thru.  they are beautiful & much more elaborate than you have ever seen in usa w/ extensive selections of more meat, vegies & seafood than you can imagine!!!  for example tho, tuscany has wild boar sausage as a specialty.  in some places a first course is an entire plate of proscuitto-- which is way too much for my taste-- but that's how it is...spain also has a broad selection of regional cured meats & they are entirely different than italy's...germany's sausage recipes are regional...you have to travel around to get a good sampling of a country's foods....

Answer 5

go to any salumi shop anywhere in Emilia Romagna. Try bresaola, proscuitto crudo, speck if they have it (it comes from Alto Adige) I didn't try zampone but should have.