The municipality of Zibello has less than a thousand inhabitants but is famous all over the world thanks to the skill of its pork butchers and its fog. The small town of the Bassa Parmese is in fact kissed by the sun in the torrid and humid summers and characterized by harsh winters and buried under a blanket of dense fumära – as they call it in dialect in those parts. It is precisely the aroma of the fog that makes Zibello's cured meats unique: sweet, soft, capable of facing slow ripening which determines an unmistakable taste.

Negroni, the star of the Italian delicatessen since 1907, in his laboratory in Zibello, produces the King of cured meats, the Culatello di Zibello D.O.P. together with cups and pancetta to offer them to the most demanding palates both as a cut specialty and sliced ​​in a tray in thin slices and moved, to preserve for a long time all the essence of taste and perfume The three typical local specialties are traditionally accompanied by a glass of Lambrusco and slices of typical bread, the micca: today, however, La Cucina Italiana for Negroni has reinvented the "usual" cutting board with creativity to make it the protagonist of the summer and a dish that is a hymn to conviviality and made in Italy. Here are three ideas for serving "Zibello jewels" as you don't expect.

Culatello di Zibello DOP, melon and figs

The Culatello di Zibello D.O.P is produced according to the rules of the specification with heavy Italian pork legs. Handmade, it is bagged, tied, dried and then left to mature in the ancient cellars of Villa Gambara in Zibello. Due to its unmistakable aroma, it lends itself well to being savored with simple ingredients such as on a slice of homemade white flour bread, not too acidic and with a good degree of salt. As tradition dictates, spread it with a curl of butter, but also try to accompany it with melon and figs, for a fresh contrast.

Cup of Zibello Negroni and dried fruit

Sweet, with a surprisingly soft consistency and intense aroma, the Coppa di Zibello Negroni is a specialty of the Italian high-quality delicatessen tradition, which is salted by hand, embellished with natural flavors, stuffed in a natural casing and left to mature for a long time. An unusual pairing? The one with the nutty notes of salted almonds, burnt wheat taralli and bread with sesame seeds.

Zibello Negroni bacon and bubbles

This exclusively Italian specialty is salted, spiced, rolled and left to mature for a long time, until obtaining a bacon with a sweetish taste, an intense aroma and a consistency that melts in the mouth. That's why it goes so well with warm rustic bread, as well as with fresh and fragrant crunchy fruit. To drink, a glass of Malvasia Colli di Parma Doc, slightly sparkling.