Culatello is a part of pork haunch. It is made during winter season, from November to February.   The bone and the pigskin have to be taken out, in this way the muscle will have the typical pear shape.

After this there is the salting procedure, which is made soon after the pork has been butchered; the salting lasts six - eight days. During the first two days the culatello is massaged in order to allow the salt inside and soften its meat.  It's impossbile to know why someone has decided to salt down that very part of pork haunch, this memory has been lost in the mists of times.

Then culatello have to be put inside the pork bladder, covered and bind fast in it.  This procedure must be made from very skilled persons named "Norcini", which are considered real artists.

Culatello then hangs to dry for about four months and during springtime it is taken to dark cellars where it must remain until complete maturation.

After twelve months it can be eaten.  This is a rite too: the strings are taken out, culatello is washed and plunged in a pot full of wine for about three days.  After the third day it is ready, you just have to trim the grease away and slice it thin.

The climatic  and environmental conditions, the mist, the calm air and the humidity produced by the Po river allow the culatello to mature slowly and become the very special product we know !

Culatello is a cultural product that is made according to severe traditions, which are handed down from father to son.

This very precious food was used in the past by the farmers as a good for swap: one of the two culatelli was swapped with a young pig which was used to be grown for the following season.

Culatello hasn't been very known for long time and for this reason it has never been a business and it hasn't produced any touristic interest: this fact has granted its typicalness and has made its legend constantly grow.