We awoke to a gloomy day, but were excited to be going on a little food tour of San Daniele. Our guide, Alessandra, picked us up and we drove northwest of Udine to the Prosciuttoficio/factory, Bagatto in San Daniele. (I found Alessandra through a generous email exchange with the author, Fred Plotkin. Thank you, Fred!)

They showed us a short video about their history and the production before we went into the rooms where they hang the already salted, pressed and rested prosciutto. Bagatto is a family run business with a limited and highly regarded production.

This day they were adding the brand of the Consortium, whose logo is the shape of the prosciutto, authenticating the finished product:

Signora Bagotta showed us around and showed us the horse bone they use to insert and smell the readiness of each ham:

Then we went into the tasting room and shop. The prosciutto was surely the best we’d ever had. Cut so thin you could see through it. Alessandra instructed us to smell it and then let it melt on our tongues before really eating it. The taste is so much sweeter than the Parma prosciutto, and a little less salty. Absolutely delicious!

They gave us a bag of bread sticks to wrap the prosciutto around for another tasting experience. We looked around the shop–probably 8 different kinds of polenta and pre-made “Frico” a typical of Friuli cheese pancake.

Then we walked up the hill to a restaurant, Al Cantinon, for lunch. It was a beautiful restaurant and the food was very good, but we were mainly focused on the conversation the super charming Alessandra.

We came back to our apartment and never left for the evening. Both of us so full, we just had little snacks before we called it a day.