TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Prosciutto e MeloneProsciutto and Melon
A simple antipasto of cured ham and ripe cantaloupe. The contrast of sweetness and saltiness is a summer classic.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
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Ingredients (4 servings)
- Cured hamThinly sliced120 g
- Cantaloupe melonUse ripe melon.1 piece
- Black peppera little
Method
Cut the melon into wedges
- 1 Halve the melon, remove seeds, peel and cut into wedges, about 8 from 1 melon.
Plate melon and prosciutto
- 1 Arrange the melon on a plate and add the prosciutto.
- 2 Grind over black pepper if desired.
About this dish
In the valleys around Parma in Emilia-Romagna, pork legs are cured with sea salt and aged in cool mountain air for 18–24 months. The resulting Prosciutto di Parma has a distinctive sweetness within its saltiness. Its partner, melone, is a sweet variety harvested in northern Italy in summer, and the pairing plays on the contrast between sweet and salty.
This antipasto became established only in the 20th century, relatively recently, but cured ham with fruit appears in medieval European cookbooks. At the time it was thought to aid digestion and was eaten in a medical context.
The thinner the prosciutto is sliced, the more its aroma emerges. Long-established Parma shops still pass down the craft of hand-cutting slices thin enough to see through.
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