Grazing Item of the Week - Seaside Market, Cardiff and the Pio Tosini Prosciutto Parma

On occasion when creating our boards Ranch & Board takes the opportunity to try splurge products. This weeks grazing item in the spotlight was sourced by the amazing Seaside Market in Cardiff, California. Known for its location close to some of San Diego's best beaches, surrounded by an eclectic and funky beach town, Seaside or Cardiff Market as locals call it, has been a staple in the San Diego area for decades. People come for their prized burgundy tri-tip which you can smell being barbequed in the parking lot on most summer weekends. But what people stay for is so many other amazing specialty products. Many we will feature here over the course of this blog.

But today I want to introduce you to a cured meat I purchased recently from Seaside and it had me going back for more. The Pio Tosini Prosciutto Parma is by far the best cured ham I have tasted this side of the Atlantic. While I have tasted some brilliant Jamón Ibérico in Spain, the prosciutto di parma I sourced from Seaside Market will be a staple on any high end or luxury board Ranch & Board puts together in the future.

As part of this work in the grazing board industry, I am always interested in the details behind why ingredients stand out. So I did some research to what the difference is between prosciutto and prosciutto di parma. Both are cured but prosciutto di parma is dry cured versus regular prosciutto being wet cured. As we know, prosciutto is an Italian product and is produced in several regions where as prosciutto di parma is produced only in the region of Parma. Another key component to prosciutto di parma is that it is produced from purebred pigs that live on a strict diet of grains, cereal and whey from Parmigiana Reggiano cheese.

This particular prosciutto di parma is from a quaint storefront in Parma called Pio Tosini where they pride themselves on curing meat with love. This long standing family shop was originally started by Tosini and then carried on by his son Pio after he passed away. This meat is aged for 18, 24 and 36 months and utilizes time honored craftmanship and long family recipes to produce a very high quality cured meat product.

Seaside Market sells this product for $37.99 per pound and a little goes a long way. I would recommend this product to anyone making an antipasto board or for a little charcuterie and wine on a Friday night with a loved one. When Ranch & Board used this product, it was for a custom luxury charcuterie grazing board. It also went beautifully on a tea sandwich grazing board in a sandwich with fig jam and a dollop of creamy brie.

Happy grazing from Ranch & Board