From the heights of the snowcapped Dolomites to the verdant Valle del Cibo, I recently had the delicious pleasure of visiting a number of the finest food and drink producers in northern Italy, taking in lots of pretty countryside along the way and getting to know some of the friendliest people I’ve ever met.
My afternoon of ham and beer tasting in Sauris was followed by a quick stopover about an hour down the road in the town of San Daniele di Friuli. I didn’t come across any beer during my short visit to San Daniele, but I did manage to sample some more extraordinary ham.
As in Sauris, prosciutto made in San Daniele is protected by the EU as a PDO product. With the Alps to the north whipping the area with cold mountain winds and the Adriatic sending warm sea air up from the south, San Daniele has a distinctive microclimate which results in singularly flavoursome cured meats.
Second only to Parma with respect to popularity and recognition (you decide for yourself which tastes better), San Daniele hams are pretty easy to come by in much of the world. If you’re interested in having a taste for yourself, I recommend keeping an eye out for the “simply luxury food” brand, DOK Dall’ava.
DOK Dall’ava
In San Daniele, I took a tour of the roadside DOK Dall’ava prosciutto factory and museum. The facility is a smart and attractive place to see how (and where) prosciutto is made as well as to find out what sets San Daniele hams apart from the competition. They even have their own Prosciutto Learning Centre that’s open to the public – and if that isn’t a good enough excuse to begin plotting a Ham Highway 2.0 return, I don’t know what is! There’s an excellent restaurant at the factory plus a well stocked gift shop with all sorts of other PDO and gourmet Italy food and drink products on offer (it’s not just about the ham).
What really blew me away during my visit was the chance to sample DOK’s range of prosciutto made from rare breed pork. Beyond a typical (if high quality) selection of hams and other products, DOK produces three uniquely special hams: Hundok, Nebrodok and Patadok prosciutto. The pork for this ultra-savoury trio is cured in San Daniele and seasoned for at least 24 months but sourced outside the region from what DOK founder Carlo Dall’Ava reckons to be the three best breeds of pigs in the world for making ham.
Hundok is made from Mangalitsa, a wooly breed of pig from Hungary (you’ve got to see these things!). Nebrodok are produced from a breed of Sicilian black pigs. And Patadok is produced from Spain’s famously happy free ranging Pata Negra porkers. Savoury and robust beyond belief, the Patadok prosciutto was one of the tastiest pieces of ham I’ve ever tried – salty and robust with an exceptionally long lasting finish.
San Daniele is the HQ for DOK Dall’ava, and the facility serves as its flagship retail space. However, the brand also has outlets across Italy including a new restaurant and shop in Venice just a few steps from the Rialto Bridge.
Find out more about DOK Dall’ava locations at dallava.com. For more about the brand’s history and products go to dokdallava.com.
For more about San Daniele di Friuli and other Friuli Venezia Giulia destinations go to turismofvg.it.
I would like to thank the fine folks at boutique digital agency, The 7th Chamber, for helping sponsor this trip.
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