Culatello di Zimbello or Culatello di Zibello?

Do you know what Culatello di Zimbello is? The pork ham par excellence, the most sought after on the web is indeed the Culatello di Zimbello. I know, you think I am mistaken, but that is not the case. Although I know its real name is Culatello di Zibello, apparently its alter ego is the most desired: everyone is looking for it, too bad it doesn't exist.

Let’s try to make some clarity regarding a renowned product known all over the world. Come, let's discover the origins of Culatello di Zibello.

CULATELLO DI ZIMBELLO OR CULATELLO DI ZIBELLO?

Zimbello is someone who is disregarded and subject to derogatory jokes. You can catch the play on words, the Culatello di Zimbello would be the ham derived from a man who is an object of mockery: a cruel end, don’t you think?

The Culatello di Zibello is a pork ham, a prestigious cured meat from Italian gastronomic tradition. Its name comes from the area of Italy where it is produced: a small piece of land called the Bassa Parmense, with the fraction of Zibello as its epicenter, from which it indeed takes its name.

The Culatello di Zimbello is therefore an interpretive error, probably due to the phonetic similarity between the small town of Zibello and the masculine noun “Zimbello.” I doubt that the resemblance of the term leads you to think of a bird, like the Zimbello: a bird used in bird catching as a lure to attract other birds. In any case, now you know that it is not even a ham derived from a bird.

The fraction of Zibello is located in the ideal center of an area bordered by the municipalities of Polesine Parmense (now Polesine Zibello), Busseto, Soragna, Roccabianca, San Secondo, and Colorno. A flat area that extends between the Po River and the Emilia road, where the climatic conditions make it ideal for the aging of pork ham.

The meat from the upper part of the pig’s thigh (from the lower part of the thigh comes the famous Fiocco) is slaughtered, salted, and left to age for at least 12 months. The Culatello di Zibello rests in the cellars of this calm and placid Po Valley area, where the air is fresh and rich in humidity.

Here is the mystery of the phantom Culatello di Zimbello explained. I hope I have been helpful and clarified the name of this prestigious pork ham, which D’Annunzio loved to describe as an idyllic “salty compactness of pork.” I know I might seem like a “Grammar Nazi” to you, but remember that it is said and written Culatello di Zibello.

Fabio De Vecchi