When we tell you abou the meticulous care we take every day to grant the best possible product we are not ovedoing it! In the details of a San Daniele Dop you can identify the importance of all the elements involved in the production process!
Which pigs for the San Daniele Dop?
All the pigs picked for the production of Prosciutto di San Daniele DOP come from Italian breeds. Each thigh is obtained from selected Large White, Landrace and Italian Duroc heavy breed animals, born, bred and slaughtered in an area of production enclosed in ten Italian Central-Northern regions( Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Latium, Abruzzo, Marche, Umbria). Behind this there is a large study on allowed genetic types and all the rules are mentioned in our Production guideline.
How can you recognize a San Daniele DOP first of all? What is behind all this? A correct and respectful treatment of the pigs. The provisions on pig breeding – approved by the Health Ministry – determine that breeders and breeding farms must always comply with animal welfare conditions. Based on this, more and more attention is paid to the stay of animals in the farms, dealing strictly with any small detail.
We therefore admit animals, in purity or derived, from the traditional Large White and Landrace basic breeds. Animals from the Duroc breed or animals from other breeds, half-breed and hybrid are also approved, provided that they come from selection schemes or crossbreeding with purposes that are compatible with those of the Italian Herd Book. The establishment of a pig DNA data bank grants a strong control action of the used genetical types, in order to combat fraud and counterfeiting.
What kind of food?
What do we feed our pigs? According to the Production guideline update, our pigs’ food includes a diet based on vegetables and rich in noble grains, but also with an increase in the quantity of cereals and soy. All this by virtue of another point on which we do not compromise: the health of the animals and their physical well-being. This is due to a specific and controlled diet that defines, for each growth period, what products are given and in what measure. This too is very important for a quality product.
Can you tell that we are committed to our product?
And …which salt?
Also the salt has a main role. San Daniele DOP is born, grows and ages thanks to the salt, that gives it that taste you’d recognize among a thousand! This is exactly the reason why we choose only dry sea salt (coming mainly from the Center – South of Italy), that is sprinkled on and dehydrates the meat.Thanks also to the pressing procedure, the salt can penetrate deeply in the thigh, giving the meat that characteristic typical taste. We must also add that, with the new Guidelines, the use of this precious product has been reduced.
But this is not the only moment in which salt is used. Indeed, during the smearing – another essential step of the production process – salt is one of the main ingredients of the mixture that constitutes it.
We’ll never say this enough: details make all the difference.
