NEW YORK — The Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma celebrated its 50th Anniversary last night with a media event befitting the world's most famous ham in New York City at Osteria Morini, hosted by Chef Michael White.
The event also marked the launch of the 50th Anniversary Ambassador Program that will recruit top chefs and retailers from around the country to celebrate Prosciutto di Parma with food lovers in their cities.
The Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma was formed in 1963 when 23 producers came together to establish a set of guidelines and procedures that would protect the unique product that had been produced in the area surrounding Parma for centuries and would become prized the world over as Prosciutto di Parma. Today the Consorzio has grown to represent 156 producers and oversees the production of approximately 9 million legs of Prosciuttos di Parma annually.
"We have come a long way since 1963, enjoying thousands of successes and enduring some unforgettable difficulties," said Paolo Tanara , Chairman of the Consorzio. "We owe it all to our forefathers, those producers who had the foresight and the intuition to see that only by working together would it be possible to protect the excellence of a product recognized the world over as a jewel of Italian gastronomy."
To distinguish their prosciutto, the Consorzio came up with a symbol that would be instantly recognizable. Since then, the Ducal Crown that is branded onto every leg of Prosciutto di Parma has become as essential an element to Prosciutto di Parma as the specially bred pigs and sea salt used to produce it.
When it comes to producing Prosciutto di Parma, the only ingredients, sea salt and pork, are simple. It's the terroir, painstaking process, and absolute commitment to quality that sets Prosciutto di Parma apart and that the Consorzio has worked, for 50 years, to protect and regulate. The Consorzio's efforts led to the recognition of Prosciutto di Parma as a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) Product in 1996, one of the first in the world to receive this status.
"Prosciutto di Parma is really a unique product that speaks so much to the place it is from and contributes so much to the culinary richness of the Emilia-Romagna region," said Chef Michael White . "The idea that the same process is used to cure this product as they did 2000 years ago is pretty amazing. There is nothing in the world like Prosciutto di Parma and I am proud to have it on my menus and in my home."
Americans have tended to agree with Chef White. Even as domestic prosciutto production rises, along with the growing trend in locally sourced food, Prosciutto di Parma sales increased 17% in 2012 with over half of a million legs of hams imported and nearly 1 million pounds of pre-sliced product sold.
The Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma will continue to celebrate its 50th Anniversary with a series of events and promotions in cities across the U.S. through the end of September.
For more information, please go to www.prosciuttodiparma.com/usa or www.parmacrown.com — Follow us on Twitter @ParmaHam_USA
Source: Consorzio del Prosciutto di Parma