If you've followed our blog for a while; you'll know that the Missus and I are not big on tours. We'd rather do our own thing at our own pace and rushing through things when on a tour is just not a lot of fun for us. We were however, in Emilia-Romagna, home to so many Italian gastronomic treasures. Trying to hunt them down in the amount of time we had would have been quite a task. While doing my research; I'd read so many good reviews of the Italian Days Food Experience. And it delivered. It was a small group tour, a must for the Missus and I, our guide Eleanora was wonderful; funny, enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable; especially when it came to all the questions I had. And I did have many of them. This experience changed our minds when it comes to actually doing a tour. We're still cautious about it; but we're now believers. Anyway; this is already 150 words and change. I'll try to keep the verbiage to a minimum; otherwise you'd easily have 10,000 words plus. I want you to go to Bologna and take the tour, experience what we did….it ain't cheap at 150 Euros a person, but well worth it. I now truly understand the hard work, dedication, and passion the folks who make that wheel of Parmesan cheese or prosciutto, and now when I look at a bottle of Traditional Balsamico; I'll know if it's the "real thing".
We were picked up right on time from our apartment in Bologna and after a quick coffee stop headed off to our first destination in Castelvetro; San Silvestro Societa Agricola, a cooperative that takes the local farmer's milk and produces Parmesan Reggiano.
We suited up and then walked into an area with large vats of milk.
Each vat holds 1100 liters; that's 290 gallons of milk. From which the curds makes…..
Only 2 wheels ("the twins") of Parmesan Reggiano!
We all had a chance to taste the curds.
And I got the most wonderful answer when I asked what was done with all the leftover whey. Eleanora explained that some of the whey goes to make ricotta cheese and the rest to local pig farmers….hmmm…..I always thought that the great Prosciutto de Parma and Culatello had a sort of cheesy finish. Could it be?
It is then put into the classic round mold; the "fascera".
The cheese rests for a couple of days. A band is placed inside the molds which have the distinctive marks; the number of the producer, the month and year of production. The cheese also has a specific ID number; this way the actual cheese can be tracked back to the dairy which produced the milk. Only one dairy's milk is used for each production, so things can be traced.
The wheels are then put into a salt water solution and turned daily.
For up to three weeks!
Then it's time for the aging process. After twelve months an inspector from the official agency called the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano-Reggiano will inspect the wheels. Those that….ahem, don't "cut the cheese" have all identifying marks cut off. Those that make it get branded with the seal of the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin).
The cheese wheels are turned on a specific schedule. This is what Parmesan heaven looks like.
I'll never look at Parmesan Reggiano the same ever again.
Next up what a stop was this lovely Farm House nearby.
And yes; those are grape vines……
This was the Antico Acetaia Cavedoni, a balsamic vinegar house that has been producing the product for 7 generations…since 1860!
The current head of the family; Paolo Cavedoni, a very energetic gentleman, led us on a tour of the "vinegar loft" and production.
He also explained the specifics of "DOP" ("Denominazione di Origine Protetta") designation; which is done by a panel of 5 master tasters. If the vinegar hits a certain "score" it will be labelled Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale. This is the good stuff and can only be sold in the specific 100 ml bottle that was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, a famous car designer….after all Modena is home to Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati.
The balsamic is aged in several successive aging barrels for a minimum of 12 years. Every year, vinegar is taken from the smallest barrel, and it is then replenished with product from the next barrel up, and so on. A barrel is never emptied.
Paolo explained that when girls are born into a household, traditionally they would start an entire line – such as "Beatrice" above; which was initiated upon her birth in 1972. In the olden days; the barrels were used as a dowry when the young lady was wed.
In the "back office" we saw barrels going back to the 1800's.
The oldest Balsamico here produces four bottles a year and is sold to one restaurant in Macau.
Can you figure out which is the bottle of Balsamico Tradizionale?
We had a nice "snack" break here….which included quite a bit of food.
What was really amazing was the ricotta cheese topped with Saba; this was amazing stuff and we ended up buying two bottles of it.
Our next stop was at the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Modena, a producer of Prosciutto, right outside Modena.
Eleanora went through the entire process….it was funny when I asked her where on the pig culatello came from and she proceeded to heartily whack a certain body part.
Everything is regulated; from the pig, what it's fed, weight, age…..
There's a specific salting process, and then the washing, drying, the long curing process.
Man, this place smelled amazing.
And the very generous samples….and Lambrusco went down real well.
So, after all of this? Well, it was time for a late lunch! Man, I was kinda full from all of the samples and such. But locale was quite nice.
And there was way too much food and drink…..
We wouldn't be having dinner tonight, that's for sure.
Like I said in the beginning; this small group (ten of us) tour by Italian Days changed our opinion when it comes to taking tours. Yes, you still need to pick well. And definitely read those reviews.
I had learned so much….food is "our thing" when we travel, and Italian Days really delivered. It was well worth the 300 Euros for the both of us.
I hope you get the chance to experience what we did.
Thanks for stopping by!