When Kathy and Herb Eckhouse started La Quercia, their cured pork processing business, in 2005, all they really had in mind at the time was producing prosciutto (Italian ham). It is made from the hind legs of pigs, and typically there are two types: prosciutto cotto, which is cooked, and prosciutto crudo, which is cured but uncooked.

In fact, when the company first got off the ground, the Eckhouses called it Prosciuttifio La Quercia. They later shortened the name to La Quercia, meaning “The Oak” in Italian, which is a typical symbol of the province of Parma, Italy, where Herb and Kathy lived for 3 ½ years, learning how to make dry cured pork.