For as long as pigs have roamed the Italian countryside, Prosciutto di Parma has reigned supreme over the international delicatessen. No respectable Italian charcuterie board comes complete without the mild, sweet cured ham, which is a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) product. But Italy has been keeping another closely guarded meat secret for centuries: PDO Culatello di Zibello.  

Found near Parma in the north of Emilia-Romagna, the same food-obsessed region that gifted the world with prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano, culatello is a rare, small salumi made from the choicest section of the thigh muscle, from the rear to the inner leg. (Hence the name, culatello, which translates to “little ass.”)