Mangia! Mangia!

Emilia-Romagna is the food capital of Italy and maybe the world for that matter. This sole region in northern Italy is the birthplace of fettuccine, tortellini, lasagna, prosciutto, the famous balsamic di Modena vinegar and parmesan cheese.

A few weeks ago, I did some research online and I found a Parmigiano-Reggiano dairy offering free guided tours. The tours are only available from Monday through Friday at 8:00AM. We woke up early on Friday for the two hour train ride to Reggio. The lady told me on the phone that we’d have to take a taxi from the train station to the dairy because it was in the country. I hate taxis.

We found one shortly and I told him the name of the dairy and the street that it was on. He gave me a puzzled look and asked me to repeat what I had said. He still didn’t understand. I called the woman who I had been communicating with about the visit and she spoke to the cab driver. Still puzzled, he got out of the cab and asked one of his cab buddies for more directions. Then, he signals for us to hop in the taxi. Ok, I did not want to get into the car with this guy, but we did. Sure enough, the guy gets us lost and we are driving around in circles for like five minutes. Meanwhile, I’m watching the meter sky rocket. In desperation, he gets on the cell phone. Thank god something must have clicked and we finally found the place. Then! He tries making us pay the full fare! After some arguing in English, none of which he could understand, he got the hint and subtracted the proper amount of money from the fare.

Parmigiano-Reggiano has very ancient origins, dating back to 1200. It was created between the Po River and the town of Reggio. Overtime, the river shifted east and extended beyond the town of Parma. This is where the name Parmigiano-Reggiano comes from (Still today, some people in Reggio call the cheese Reggiano-Parmigiano, claiming it originated here first). Today, production takes place in Parma, Reggio, Modena and Bologna.

At the dairy, we witnessed the entire production process and met the cheese makers themselves. I’ll try to explain what I learned. The milk is produced by cows on a farm close to the dairy. They are milked twice a day and the milk is taken to the cheese house within a few hours. Milk from the evening milking is put into basins and the cream separates overnight. Then, the milk is poured into copper cauldrons and is mixed with whole milk from the morning milking. Next, rennet is added to the milk. It is an enzyme that causes the milk to curdle.

The milk is heated and the particles sink to the bottom of the cauldron forming a mass. Shortly after, the cheese mass is lifted and formed into special molds. It rests for a few days and then it’s submerged into a brine of sea salt for 20 days.

The salt flavors the cheese and allows its long aging. Next, the cheese is stored in a warehouse and the 24 month aging process begins.

After 12 months, each cheese wheel is inspected and if it passes, it receives a certification mark that is added to the exterior of the cheese. At this time, some cheese wheels are shipped off and sold as Prima Parmigiano-Reggiano (Younger cheeses, only aged 12 months. You’ll find these cheaper in the stores).

There are only four people who manage the entire cheese making process. The “master cheese maker” and his four apprentices. They work seven days a week with no breaks for holidays. The master cheese maker looked like a mad scientist. He had a long curly mustache, glasses, an apron, and a clip board. The whole time he was pacing around the dairy carefully inspecting each step of the process. I was too intimidated to take a picture of him. All of the guys work extremely hard, but the best part is that they absolutely love what they do. They had pride and excitement in showing us their work.

After the tour, we got to sample as much cheese as we wanted. FYI, the brown part on the outside of the cheese is edible (the exterior is cheese, just hardened from years of aging).

The tour guide was really nice and she gave us a ride back to the train station in her car. It was only 10 AM and we had the rest of the day free. Parma is only 15 KM away so I thought why not check out Parma.

Ham is the king of meats in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and nowhere is this truer than in Parma. Parma is the world’s capital of prosciutto, the famous prosciutto crudo di Parma originates here. Prosciutto crudo means raw ham and prosciutto cotto is cooked ham. They usually sell both in delis so you have to specify which kind you want.

When we arrived in Parma, I tried setting up a visit to a Prosciutto factory, but they don’t offer many to the public. We walked around for awhile and it was fun seeing big pieces of ham and chunks of Parmeggiano-Reggiano sticking out of deli windows.

By 12:00PM, it was time for lunch and I couldn’t wait. We went to Specialita Di Parma, Parma’s oldest and most reliable salumeria. I ordered the prosciutto di parma. A hard roll with razor thin slices of prosciutto. It was excellent! Naturally, the best prosciutto I’ve ever had.

Parma is a small city so we covered it in half a day. We still had a few hours of day light so I figured why not check out Modena. Modena is home to Maserati and Ferrari, but more importantly that brown stuff called Aceto Balsamico Di Modena. Balsamic Vinegar in Modena is unrivaled anywhere in the world.

After some quick searching, we found a store specializing in wine and vinegar. We tried a few samples and learned a bit about traditional Modena vinegar. The grapes are cooked and fermented for 12 to 25 years in wooden barrels. The balsamic vinegar sold in most stores is nothing compared to the real thing. It has a very syrupy texture and the flavor is extremely intense. Most locals like to put it sparingly on meats, strawberries, or cheese.

It was a long and exhausting day, but I went out for a couple of beers later that night for St. Patrick’s Day. On Saturday, I was hoping to make it to Bologna, the birthplace of Torellini, but my legs were hurting from all the walking around and I needed a rest. We’ll see, maybe Bologna next weekend.