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Fairway is good and you can get pre-cut (a sacrilege I know) Citterio at Costco that is ok. It is Di Parma. There are actually many gourmet markets in the city where you can get excellent Di Parma or San Daniele (I prefer this to Di Parma),.
Funny how you'll call out any Italian deli downtown or in Brooklyn as a tourist trap, while repping Mike's deli, the biggest tourist trap of them all.
it comes down to inventory, that's all that matters. i live in soho, and the deli's downtown don't carry 1/5th of the imported items in any of the places on Arthur Ave, especially Mike's Deli. Mike's Deli has marketed itself more than the other pork shops on the avenue, however this does not dispute the fact that their selection is huge. I would rather get my di parma, soppresata and grana padano at an establishment with high product turnover and leveraged capital, where i can rely on buying products recently produced as opposed to some dingy counter. having said that, "tourist trap" dean and deluca even trumps everything downtown for di parma. they were the first to carry toscano, when nobody did >3 years ago.
the italian deli's in brooklyn cater to sicilian-american and transplant preferences, as do the ones downtown.
italian deli's in the bronx reflect the enclaved calabrian immigrant population of past 60 years, and reflect a different palate and product demand.
Last edited by ControlJohnsons; 10-27-2015 at 08:32 AM..
Fairway is good and you can get pre-cut (a sacrilege I know) Citterio at Costco that is ok. It is Di Parma. There are actually many gourmet markets in the city where you can get excellent Di Parma or San Daniele (I prefer this to Di Parma),.
there are many places that sell di parma throughout manhattan, but their quality, storage and age is unacceptable, due to the limited demand by consumer shoppers, the price and how they handle it.. you will know the difference when you buy some and they are generally dried out with a sheen of rainbow. there are too many counters throughout the city that sell rancid improperly stored and outdated sopressata, cappocolo and di parma, it's shocking and they get away with it, because it's declared a cured meat. same can be said of other foods, like sushi in plastic containers that have been sitting there for god knows how long.. sure, they sell it at whole foods, and fairway, i wouldn't touch that stuff tho.
i see the same lump of di parma at a local market that hasn't been sliced at all for a month sitting lonely in the counter, whenever i pass by to pick up diapers for my baby.
Paninio Rustico in Bensonhurst, they use the best ingredients, it's more of a cafe then a deli, but I'm sure they'll sell some or direct you to where you can buy the best!
there's no doubt there are great restaurants in nyc that have excellent proscuitto di parma. it's alot more difficult to buy the stuff though when doing grocery shopping in nyc.
Di Palo's, hands down. Great speck, parm, ricotta and burrata as well.
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