Cuneo’s raw ham DOP
The processing of pig legs in Cuneo, Asti and a part of the Turin province has begun at least during the XVII century, where we can find the first written sources concerning the Norcia butchers’ work in Piemonte.
The selection of the best legs, the salting and seasoning process in the cellars and barns ensured a valuable product that during the years has been able to establish itself as the typical culinary excellence of the Piemonte territory.
An important element that has contributed considerably to the creation of this product is without doubt the climate, influenced by lukewarm and dry currents that rise from Liguria and Provence and converge with the currents that fall from Val Susa from north. The result is a constant trend of humidity that swings between 50% and 70%, perfect for the raw hams seasoning.
The DOP Cuneo’s raw ham originates from the human ability to take advantage of the excellent environmental conditions in order to obtain a product with peculiar and distinctive organoleptic characteristics. The consortium obtains the first designation in 2009 and today it counts 60 breeders, 2 slaughters and one seasoner.
The productive process is composed of these phases:
- Isolation
- Trimming
- Salting
- Resting
- Grooming and washing
- Seasoning
- Lard covering
The conditioning systems of salting, resting and seasoning proposed by Standard Tech ensure in the best possible way that these processing phases take place in the most suitable microclimates for the product.
Particular attention must be paid to the seasoning system since it is able to work automatically with the only help of the outside air, exploiting the climate during its typical favorable conditions and in the most natural way possible, without forgetting the major energy saving obtained from the shutdown of the refrigeration units.