Herb and Kathy Eckhouse founded La Quercia and work in all aspects of the business–selecting and buying pork, salting, trimming, and handling hams and leading the small group of dedicated staff who participate in our production.

La Quercia has a great team of dedicated people–Mike, Gladis, Maria, Javier, Antonio, Marcella, Nick, Larry,and Maricela--who learned the intricate work of making delicious prosciutto with the Eckhouses. No detail is too small to be examined and all practices are subject to continuous review and re-evaluation.

Mike started at La Quercia after 20+ years working with fresh meat--cutting, trimmming, QA, and management. He helped build La Quercia's prosciuttificio and was responsible for getting the specialized rooms set up right. He's been at La Quercia since the first piece of meat came in the door and keeps the place on keel and clean. Mike says, "Making Prosciutto Americano is an art form which I find very satisfying. At day's-end I feel that I helped to create a quality, world class product."

La Quercia (pronounced La Kwair-cha with a slight roll of the r if you can do it) means the Oak in Italian. The Oak is a traditional symbol of the province of Parma (where we lived) and, through its acorns, has been associated with the history of prosciutto for 500 years. It is also the state tree of Iowa. The name unites Iowa, Parma, and prosciutto, and is a symbol of patience, persistence, integrity and beauty -- values which guide us.