How to Make Istria Prosciutto
Prosciutto is a traditional staple of the cuisine of Istria, a Mediterranean region in Croatia. This delicious cured ham is used in a variety of Mediterranean dishes throughout the year. As with most cured meats, however, you must be willing to wait to taste the fruits of your labor. Istria prosciutto should be cured for a minimum of 8 months, but you'll be rewarded with a more taste-packed ham if you wait up to 10 months. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hind leg of pork
- Kitchen knives
- Chisel
- 1 lb. sea salt
- 1 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. whole peppercorns
- 1 tbsp. crushed peppercorns
- ½ tsp. saltpeter
- Large bowl
- Meat rack
- Stiff food brush
- Soft food brush
- Flour
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 tsp. water
Instructions
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1
Purchase an entire hind leg of pork with unbroken skin weighing about 20 to 25 pounds.
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2
Find the leg joint by bending the pig's foot and cut completely around the joint, then rotate the foot loose and cut it off.
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3
Place the leg with the inner thigh facing up and locate the aitchbone, which is underneath the butt. This bone creates a right angle with the thighbone, or femur. Then split the aitchbone in half with a chisel and cut out the part that is right near the thighbone knob.
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4
Start from the innermost part of the thigh and trim off about 2 pounds of excess fat and meat on the butt end, exposing the knob of the thighbone and the remaining half of the aitchbone.
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5
Squeeze out any blood along the inner side of the thighbone and hang the pork leg butt end down, leaving it for 48 hours at about 50°F.
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6
Mix together the sea salt, sugar, saltpeter and crushed peppercorns in a large bowl.
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7
Take a handful of the salt mixture and rub it thoroughly into the entire leg of pork so that all the exposed flesh can absorb the salt.
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Place the pork leg on an open-air meat rack with the inner thigh at the top and the knuckle positioned a bit lower than the butt.
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9
Use the rest of the salt blend to cover any other flesh on the ham and let the meat remain on the rack for 25 to 30 days (in humid weather, this should be 35 to 40 days).
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10
Check to see if any of the original salt mixture has melted away during this first curing period, then re-make and reapply the mixture where needed.
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11
Turn the meat horizontally on the rack every week for the next 3 to 4 weeks, then hang the leg butt-end down for 14 to 16 weeks, or until a layer of mold has settled.
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12
Use cold water and a stiff brush to remove this mold, then hang the meat outdoors in a shady place during daylight hours, hanging the ham indoors at night.
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13
Repeat the washing and airing out after two weeks.
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14
Let the meat hang inside for an additional 3 weeks, then wash the ham completely with cold water and dry it.
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15
Take a small knife and scrape off mold and any discolored ham around the knob of the thighbone. Blend these scrapings together into a paste and stick it around the knob of the femur.
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16
Mix 2 teaspoons of water with a teaspoon each of flour, salt, pepper, and fresh chilled pork fat, then brush this mixture all over the exposed meat with a soft brush to seal the ham.
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Let the sealed meat hang outside in a shady place for about 2 ½ hours, then hang it again inside at around 55°F for another 12 to 15 weeks, until it is ready for consumption.
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Tips & Warnings
Ask a butcher to help you find the best pork leg for curing, making sure that it doesn't have any breaks in the skin.
Do not hang your ham outside during inclement weather without some type of covering to shield it from rain or snow.
