I tasted prosciutto, Italian dry-cured ham this dinner. I just had totia for my dinner and hesitated to taste proscutto because I have never had it before. Tina, my homestay hostess, encouraged me to taste it. I just picked a small piece of it and tasted it for the first time. It tasted a little bit sulty. As I chewed it repeatedly, It tasted like a silky ham. I feel inconvenienced by the lack of my english to descibe it. Anyway I think it goes well with strong and bitter beer like Hineken Dark.
Tina gave me some pieces of prociutto for my friends to taste during tomorrow lunch. Next day, I took it for my friends to taste. They wondered what it was because most of my friends except professor Moon have never had it before. I explained it with my a little knowledge from my landload. They ate it and talked about what it was like one by one. Here is the picture I took. It is made by my Tina's father at his home. Does it make your mouth warer?
Prosciutto is an Italian word for ham. In English, the term prosciutto is almost always used for a dry-cured ham that is usually sliced thinly and served uncooked; this style is called prosciutto crudo in Italian and is distinguished from cooked ham, prosciutto cotto.
The process of making prosciutto can take anywhere from nine months to two years, depending on the size of the ham.
Today, the ham is first cleaned, salted, and left for about two months. During this time the ham is pressed, gradually and carefully to avoid breaking the bone, to drain all blood left in the meat. Next it is washed several times to remove the salt and hung in a dark, well-ventilated environment. The surrounding air is important to the final quality of the ham; the best results are obtained in a cold climate. The ham is then left until dry. The amount of time this takes varies, depending on the local climate and size of the ham. When the ham is completely dry it is hung to air, either at room temperature or in a controlled environment, for up to eighteen months. (Apr. 18th, 2010, Coquitlam BC, Canada)