Culatello di Zibello PDO

Nicknamed the 'King of Cured Meats', the culatello di Zibello is a charcuterie masterpiece, the most prized cured meat in Italian culinary culture. It owes its origins to the resourcefulness of the butchers of past  who lived in the Bassa Parmense - Parma's low-lying lands.  They would choose  a leg,  trim off the rind and the lean part (known as the fiocco), remove the bone, and then place the remainder in a natural bladder casing. Finally, they would carefully  truss the resulting form. As per PDO labelling rules, the freshly selected legs come from pigs born and bred in Italy's Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy regions. The culatello is left in the centuries-old damp terracotta cellars of Antica Ardenga,  where -  with the changing seasons - it takes on its characteristic flavours and aromas. The result is a unique product, with a full and complex flavour, for connoisseurs.