Italian Prosciutto & Salami
‘Prosciutto’ – simply meaning ‘Ham’ in Italian, is the name commonly used when referring to Italian ‘cured’ or ‘raw’ ham, (in Italy known as Prosciutto Crudo – literally, ‘raw ham’), two well known regional variants being Prosciutto di Parma and Prosciutto di San Daniele. The first being the product of the northern Italian province of Parma and Emilia-Romagna while the latter finds its origins in the town of San Daniele, also in Northern Italy. Both hams are protected by strict PDO ‘Protected Designation of Origin’ regulations, also written as DOP, which stipulates the livestock, farming regions and curing methods to be used in the production process as well as the companies who are permitted to produce these products. 
Popular with Italians and just as well known around the globe are the specialist Italian Salami’s produced in specific regions across Italy.
Two of the most well known being Salami Milano and his somewhat spicier little brother from southern Italy, Salsiccia Napoletana Piccante, or better know as ‘Salami Napoli’ the original Italian pizza sausage, which today’s popular American style pepperoni was developed from.
While you will find all these items and more in top 
restaurants and delicatessens around the world, these products were originally borne of the necessity to preserve all available meats for long periods of time without refrigeration, being popular among the general population as opposed to the more affluent in times gone by.