The fog: slowly rising from the ridge of the rivers, in the early morning, it creeps into the streets and alleys of the sleeping villages in the plain of the Po, coming to the city where the light of the street lamps becomes soft and the squares still silent become almost magical places , with enchanting atmospheres.
Parma and the fog, the Bassa and the fog, the Apennines and the fog, a unique relationship between the inhabitants of a territory and an atmospheric condition that finds its maximum expression right here.
The parmesan autumn is dotted with foggy days where the city moves slowly and quietly and the gaze strives to penetrate that cuddly, enchanting and embracing panorama. Wet, pale and gray days where fog or “fumära”, as it is said in dialect, envelops the territory, especially the Bassa, the lowland embraced by the river Po. It is here that the fog is ennobled and, from a mere weather agent becomes the fundamental ingredient of one of our most precious typical products: the Culatello of Zibello. The Culatello Consortium has established that this salume can only be produced in the lowland area and at a certain time of the year that runs from October to February. In the Bassa Parmense, characterized by cold and humid winters and torrid summers, the wet cellars where the Culatelli rest, have windows exposed to the east, west and north side that are kept opened to allow the fog to enter and act on the salt and white molds that transform the meat in salami. The wisdom of the master butchers, the quality of the raw materials and the unique microclimate, dominated by the fog, create a unique mix that guarantees an inimitable product.
It is when the fog invades the land and it surroundes it by extending the time that quality becomes unique.