By Rosanna Caira
TORONTO — Not all food products are created equal. That’s a message the Protection Consortium of Grana Padano and Prosciutto di Parma wanted to share with media recently when it hosted a lunch at La Palma Restaurant in Toronto. The organizers of the lunch shared info about the Distinctly Deliciously European — an EU-funded campaign to raise awareness about these unique European foods at a lunch for media.
Chef Julian Ippolito of Restaurant La Palma created a three-course menu highlighting both the cheese and the prosciutto, while chef Roberto Fracchioni, ambassador of the Protection Consortium of Grana Padano and Proscioutto di Parma was on hand to lead a session highlighting the characteristics of the cheese, educating those in attendance on the qualities of both products and what makes them distinct.
Fracchioni said Grana Padano PDO cheese is made exclusively from partially skimmed, raw Italian milk from the production area in Northern Italy. It’s aged for a minimum of nine months with the flavour of the cheese evolving during this process. Its versatility makes it ideal to eat on its own for as part of a recipe. It’s also lactose free due to the characteristics of the production method and its long aging process. The history of this product dates back 1,000 years. The cheese has been an EU-certified Protected Designation of Origin since 1996.
Similarly, Prosciutto di Parma PDO has a long extensive history, born more than 2,000 years ago. The air-cured ham is made using traditional methods perfected over centuries. Salting is done by hand in the original way by the salt-master. The prosciutto is aged a minimum of 14 months and in some cases is cured for more than 36 months. The only ingredients allowed for the production specifications for Prosciutto di Parma are pork and sea salt.
Both of these popular Italian products carry the PDO stamp that guarantees the authenticity of certain high-quality foods.
