Yesterday we left Genova and travelled to Parma, a city in the centre-north of Italy. Parma and it’s surrounding region is famous for mainly one thing: parmigiano reggiano cheese. Now, do I like cheese enough to travel to a city specifically to eat that cheese? Absolutely.
The city of Parma is a charming place with lots of little stores, old streets, and quaint buildings. It’s definitely much more quiet here than anywhere else we’ve been; it’s been such a nice break from the hustle and bustle of big cities.
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| Walking through Parma |
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| Evening sunsets |
We walked around a little last night and visited the Duomo of Parma, a beautiful large cathedral filled with stunning frescos.
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| The Duomo of Parma |
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| Beautiful paintings in the cathedral dome |
We also enjoyed spotting cute little mosaics in the road, often representing the shop they were in front of. Apparently, these are made by a local mosaic artist who has been working with mosaics for over 20 years!
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| Little train in front of a toy shop |
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| Chair and canvas in front of an art shop |
The real highlight of our time in Parma has been a visit to Caseifici Ugolotti, a small local parmigiano reggiano producer. Just a 20 minute bus outside of Parma, this was the perfect place to learn about the making and history of parmigiano reggiano cheese.
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| At Caseifici Ugolotti |
Caseifici Ugolotti small, family-owned producer: they make about 10-18 wheels of cheese per day. However, there are producers that can make up to 200 wheels per day! Overall there are 2092 certified parmigiano reggiano producers in and around Parma.
A true parmigiano reggiano can only be produced in a very specific region of Italy, anything made outside this region cannot be called “parmigiano reggiano”. Each wheel of cheese must be inspected and approved by the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, a government-like body that oversees the quality and integrity of the cheese. This consortium is the one that can approve official “DOP” status.
For the cheese to be granted “DOP” status (which indicates Protected Designation of Origin) it must be made in the specific region, the milk for the cheese must also be collected from this region, and the cheese must be aged a minimum of one year.
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| The region where parmigiano reggiano is made |
Alright, some more fun facts about parmigiano reggiano. The cheese-making process starts with milk being heated in 2m deep vats. It takes 500mL of cow milk to make one cheese wheel, and each vat results in two wheels.
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| Vats with cheese! |
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| Bringing up the new cheese |
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| The birth of parmigiano reggiano |
Each wheel of cheese weights about 40kg, so the cheese makers working in these vats are strong! They perform what seemed like a well coordinated dance. No words were spoken, yet they did everything in perfect synchronicity with each other and with the cheese.
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| Takes two to lift up the new cheese |
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| Placing the cheese in plastic moulds |
The newly made cheese spends a day in a plastic mould gaining its shape and being imprinted with information. The imprint puts “parmigiano reggiano”, the year and month, and the ID of the producing factory on the cheese rind.
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| Rind imprint |
The wheels then spend 22 days in an extremely salty water bath. It’s so salty that the wheels float, so they need to be rotated every day. The cheese smell in this room was so strong, it was incredible!
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| Cellar with salt water baths |
The salt step is extremely important as salt acts as the only preservative for this cheese, it’s what allows the cheese to be aged for so many years!
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| Floating parmigiano reggiano |
One of the most glorious moments of the tour was the opening of the doors into the storehouse. In this storehouse, there were 9000 wheels of cheese, ranging from one to five years of age.
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| Stands of cheese! |
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| Happy happy happy! |
The wheels are kept at 80% humidity to help their maturation, and must be cleaned every few weeks to prevent mold from forming. In the end, a wheel of cheese can range from 500 to 1000 euros!
There are however, three different grades of parmigiano reggiano which can be distinguished by looking at the rind of the cheese. It’s good to note though, that the difference lies not in the taste, but in the quality of the cheese wheel. This quality is determined by an official cheese inspector who taps every single wheel of parmigiano reggiano with a little hammer and listens.
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| Parmigiano reggiano hammer |
If they hear uniform sound all through the wheel, it is first grade. If there are small differences in the sound, it is second grade; there are slight air bubbles or cracks on the inside. If they hear large discrepancies in the sound, it is third grade; there are many large bubbles and the cheese can actually no longer be officially called parmigiano reggiano. The cheese inspector then differentiates each grade by marking the rind.
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| Official seal marking first grade parmigiano reggiano |
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| Horizontally scored rind de marking second grade |
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| Third grade cheese (no longer parmigiano reggiano) with the official markings scraped off |
After seeing all this parmigiano reggiano, we finally got to taste it. We started with a 12-month which was very soft and gentle. Next, a 24-month which had started to gain that classic stronger taste. Finally, the 36-month which was super strong and… crunchy almost!
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| Our tasting platter |
As parmigiano reggiano ages, it naturally develops little crystals which contribute to hardening the cheese. These crystals are not made from salt as is commonly assumed, but are actually deposits of the amino acid tyrosine. These deposits form as the proteins in the cheese break down during aging. Another fun fact, all certified parmigiano reggiano is actually lactose-free as the lactose breaks apart during the aging process.
This tour was honestly one of the coolest things we’ve done on our trip so far! I will always remember the work and care that goes into making a true wheel parmigiano reggiano.
We decided to stay at Caseificio Ugolotti for lunch too and have some homemade pasta with parmigiano reggiano. Liam had anolini with ragù while I had tortelli with beet tops. Everything was covered and filled with delicious cheese and we had great wine as well.
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| Delicious lunch |
Since this was our first time eating in an Italian restaurant, we figured we might as well get dessert too. I got some fantastic tiramisù! It was so creamy and served nice and cold, perfect for the hot day.
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| Mouthwatering tiruamsù |
In the afternoon we returned to town and spent some time exploring the Parco Ducale and the Palazzo Della Pilotta. The parco is a nice green space full of trees just across the Parma River. It made for a nice shady walk and a was full of folks hiding from the heat.
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| Looking over the park |
The palazzo is a 16th century complex which houses the National Gallery, a Theatre, a library, and an archeological museum. As youth under 25, tickets were only 2 euros so we figured we might as well go visit!
The Archeological Museum was full of an eclectic combination of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian antiquity.
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| In the Archeological Mueusm |
The theatre was quite astounding. It was a beautiful wooden construction in fantastic condition as it was only used about six times before being added to the visiting complex.
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| Lovely wooden theatre |
The library was so quiet and had that wonderful old book smell.
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| Peaceful library |
The National Gallery was also lovely, full of many paintings. It was a huge, almost overwhelming collection, and is definitely a place to visit for art lovers.
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| Venice in paint |
To end the day, we planned on walking to the grocery store to get some dinner. We haven’t got a kitchen in this apartment, so it was going to be a cold dinner…. But then we got distracted by the thought of pizza.
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| Fantastic dinner |
The way I see it, you might as well take advantage of being in the food capital of Italy, right?
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