Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tourist office
(
0432 94 07 65; Via Roma 3;
9.30am-noon Mon-Fri, 4-6pm Tue, Wed & Fri,
10.30am-12.30pm & 4-6pm Sat & Sun)
.
Eating & Drinking
DELI
Bottega di Prosciutto
(
www.bottegadelprosciutto.com
;
Via Umberto I; 9am-1pm & 3-7pm, closed Mon & Wed afternoon)
Buy all the ham your heart and stomach desire at Bottega di Prosciutto, as well as brows-
ing the regional cheeses and wines and an excellent selection of pan-Italian produce.
Osteria di Tancredi
(
REGIONAL CUISINE
€€
0432 94 15 94;
www.osteriaditancredi.it
;
Via Sabotino 10; plates €8, meals €25-30;
noon-10pm
Thu-Tue)
Serves up the Friulian classics:
cjalcions
,
frico
and apple gnocchi.
Enoteca la Trappola
( 0432 94 20 90; Via Cairoli 2; plates €8)
Head to dark and moody Trappola for crowd-pleas-
ing platters of prosciutto or trout and well-priced wine by the glass.
WINE BAR
Getting There & Away
Regular buses run to San Daniele from Udine (€4.50, 45 minutes), 25km to the southeast.
HAMMING IT UP
There are two world-revered prosciuttos manufactured in Italy: the lean, deliciously nutty (and more
famous) ham from Parma, and the dark, exquisitely sweet Prosciutto di San Daniele. It might come as
a surprise to find that the latter - Friuli Venezia Giulia's greatest culinary gift to the world - comes
from a village of only 8000 people, where it is salted and cured in 27
prosciuttifici
(ham-curing plants)
safeguarded by EU regulations.
Standards are strict. San Daniele's prosciutto is made only from the thighs of pigs raised in a small
number of northern Italian regions. Salt is the only method of preservation allowed - no freezing,
chemicals or other preservatives can be used. The X factor is, of course, terroir
,
the land itself. Some
prosciuttifici
claim it's the cool, resinous Alpine air meeting the Adriatic's humid, brackish breezes
that define their product, others argue that it's about San Daniele's fast-draining soil: such effective
ventilation makes for perfect curing conditions.
In August the town holds the
Aria di Festa
, a four-day annual ham festival when
prosciuttifici
do
mass open-house tours and tastings, musicians entertain and everyone tucks in. San Daniele's tourist
office has a list of
prosciuttifici
that welcome visitors year-round; call ahead to book.
