Is it possible for a prosciutto made in Iowa to be better than prosciutto from its native Italy? Chefs at restaurants across the country from Chez Panisse in Berkeley to Mario Batali’s Otto in New York can attest that La Quercia prosciutto from Iowa is indeed as good if not better than its cousins in Parma, Italy. And you now can try this prosciutto at Pagliacci.
We have wanted to serve an Italian prosciutto, but hadn’t found the right product for our needs. We also wanted to be mindful of buying a local, or at least domestic, prosciutto. La Quercia (say kwair-cha; it means “oak” in Italian and the oak is also Iowa’s state tree) prosciutto, with its nutty creamy taste and silky texture, fits the bill. The La Quercia prosciuttificio is based in Norwalk, Iowa, where the pigs apparently outnumber the people. Owners Herb and Kathy Eckhouse lived for several years in Parma, where Herb had been based as an executive with an American seed company. It was in Parma where the couple developed an appreciation for the prosciutto craft and they wanted know if it was possible to make a high-quality prosciutto in the United States, Iowa in particular.
Herb studied prosciutto making for four years and made some test batches in his garage to see if it was even possible, given that the pig breeds and curing environment were so different from that in Parma, to produce this kind of ham. They determined it was possible and set about building a state-of-the-art facility. The Eckhouses are conscious about minimizing their use of non-recyclable or non-biodegradable materials. They also use pigs that are raised and butchered at farms from within a 200-mile radius of La Quercia. The pigs are either 100 percent Berkshire or a Berkshire cross and are transformed into prosciutto and other products: guanciale, speck, lardo, coppa, pancetta.
Pagliacci is proud to be able to bring this prosciutto to our customers. You can taste it on any of our pizzas that include prosciutto.
For more information about La Quercia, visit www.laquercia.us.
This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 12:26 pm and is filed under Our Vendors, What's On The Menu. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 21st, 2009 at 9:21 pm
My wife and I paired the procuitto chanterelle mushroom pizza last night with a bottle of 04 Peju Napa Cab. It was awesome. It’s kinda funny because we go out for nice food and cheep wine, but at home we kill it with high end wine and Pagliacci Pizza delivery. I ate the leftovers for breakfast. Compliments to your pizza chef for making creative gourmet pizzas that work with our wine cellar.