Anyone interested should head to Valceno every weekend from November to February. You will find restaurants, trattoria, osteria, agriturismi and locandas all offering a coordinated pork and ham proposal.

Other local towns and villages involved include Solignano, Varano de’ Melegari, Bardi, Varsi, Bore, Pellegrino Parmense, Fornovo, Medesano and Valmozzola.

On the menu expect to find the typical food products of the Valceno from ciccioli, cotechino, fried salame and liver to sanguinaccio, trotters, and boiled noses or 'musetto'.

If that's not enough then the 'maiale nero' or black pig in a variety of sauces.

Anyone with the stomach to view the ingredients of their lunch while they are still walking on four legs (that's the ingredients and not the diners) can sign up for guided tours of the farms or 'prosciuttifici'.

Also in the zone of note is the castle of Varano de’ Melegari, used for many film costume dramas, and the Dallara Automobili factory.

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