Capicola vs. Prosciutto. This comparison has most people confused and it is very easy to find a person using Prosciutto thinking it is Capicola.
If you are reading this post, you must be wondering about the difference between these two. So, let’s take a closer look.
Capicola
Capicola is one of the traditional Italian meat that is Cold Cut and Dry-cured. It is a muscle salume. It is also referred to as Capocollo in certain parts of Italy, or Coppa if you like. It is carefully dry cured before it is sliced thinly. It is a slice of pork meat gotten from the fourth rib to the neck.
Prosciutto
It is also an Italian special meal that is dry-cured. On most occasions, it is served uncooked, or sliced thinly.
It is a slice of fatty meat when it is sliced thinly with a sort of buttery texture. Therefore, you can expect that it will melt inside the mouth when you eat it. It is a very popular meat and you can expect different regions to have their version of this meat.
This meat is gotten from the thigh or hind leg of a pig. After cleaning the leg, salt is added and left for at least two months in an environment that is controlled and cool. After salting, it is cleaned again and aged for 18 more months. Sounds astonishing, doesn’t it?
Differences in Meat
Capicola will always be pork meat produced from Coppa muscle. However, prosciutto can come from another type of animal. When you mention it as prosciutto, it will be assumed to be pork meat. Nevertheless, you will find lamb prosciutto, which comes from lamb hind leg, and there are more similar variations of prosciutto. In some cases, for instance, the beef version, the name changes completely to Bresaola.
Size Difference
You can expect that prosciutto will be bigger than Capicola. The reason? Prosciutto comes from a pig’s entire ham and bone. Capicola, on the other hand, is a muscle that runs through the pig’s entire neck.
The Cost
Prosciutto is a bigger, whole slice of bone-in ham and it is usually prepared that way. With that in mind, you can expect it to take more preparation and curing time. Therefore, you can expect more costs.
You can even find the cost to be double that of capicola depending on the amount of work done to prepare the meat.
Texture and Appearance Difference
Capicola has an even fat distribution across the surface. On the other hand, prosciutto will have more fat that is around the outside part of the cut.
Since capicola has a more even distribution of heat, it looks better and has a more tender texture and better flavor.
Conclusion
You can note that there is quite a difference in prosciutto vs. capicola when you consider all the facts about these two types of meat. When capicola will only take several months to prepare, the prosciutto will take more months, ranging from nine months to two years.
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Feel free to share your observations with me in the comments section!
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