HISTORY

In order to know the origins of this Umbrian speciality, we have to go back in time, to when the manual ability of producers meets the ancient methods of production handed down from generation to generation.

Its history, in fact, is rooted in a rural and homely tradition: according to historical sources, pig breeding was a widespread practice in the mountainous and hilly area of the high Valnerina, in the area around Norcia, since Roman times. In fact, thanks to the abundance of forests – in particular, of oak trees and, therefore, of acorns – animals found here all the food they needed for their nourishment.

An ancient history, a combination of manual skills, craftsmanship and secular traditions now inherent in the soul of the place. The processing of pork meat and the manufacture of cold cuts began in the upper Valnerina, in spontaneous form, back in the thirteenth century. The phenomenon seems connected to the surgical school of Preci. The skill of the inhabitants of these places, until then handed down from father to son, became more and more appreciated and required, later developing, therefore, into the figure of the butcher.

As their fame grew, the pork butchers moved from the mountains to the city – first seasonally, then permanently – creating the first pork-butchery workshops. In 1615, the official recognition by Pope Paul V to a Norcina confraternity arrived, sanctioning the fortune of this prosciutto.