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ITALY
Why Parma’s Culinary Scene is a Diner’s Paradise
Hint: It’s the Italian Royal Realm of “The King of Cheese”
BY ILONA KAUREMSZKY
Renowned Italian Chef Massimo Spigaroli—revered as the Salumi King for his unbeatable culatello—is busy rummaging for the perfect cheese to join his four-course dinner party at his castle-like domain, the Antica Corte Pallavicina.
Hours later, I’m revisiting the scene, a noblesse cheese cellar, on a tour of tours set in the bowels of the 14th-century country estate where endless rows of dried cured ham hang off the dank, dark rafters.
Situated in the gustation-rich region of Emilia-Romagna along the Po River, this fairy-tale location is where Chef Spigaroli has been churning out Michelin-stars since 2011. But then again, when you have the dynamic duo ingredients—Parma ham (prosciutto) and Parmigiano Reggiano—organic agri-products cultivated in the region for centuries, everything else is a gift.
In the Land of Dairy, it’s Easy to Find
Amid a dramatic candelabra setting you could almost hear Verdi’s Rigoletto (his father Guiseppi once had a farmhouse nearby) as a brigade of black-tied servers arrives, each holding a silver dome cloche of the star appetizer. A gasp ensues as three rosettes of the best culatello di Zibello shavings bloom on a custom-made glass platter. The artisanal cured pork is considered nobler than the finest prosciutto. The rare cured ham (culatello) I’m told is unavailable in Canada.
Of course, only the finest Lambrusco will do—the light bubbly Tamburen rosé harvested at the estate, mere metres from the kitchen. It is food performance at its best.
Last autumn, I avoided Italy’s overcrowded tourism hubs of Florence, Rome and Venice to visit the uncrowded plateau of the northern Emilia-Romagna region. Along a corridor of plenty that dates back to ancient Roman times (the Via Emilia funnelled commerce and culture), an array of establishments from landmark eateries and roadside restaurants to farmhouses and castle ramparts have become “the” dining backdrops.
Encounter age-old gastronomic traditions that are the hot nouveau trend by the region’s hottest Michelin chefs. Local culinary masters are teaching that back-to-basics is the key to good food, good living, and along the way you can enjoy some good old-fashioned foodie theatre.
Parma Please
For this Italian cultural foodie tour, start in the northern city of Parma. In under a one-hour drive dine at acclaimed restaurants, visit award-winning suppliers like Antica Corte Pallavicina and tour home-grown balsamic vinegar operations in neighbouring Modena as you enjoy cheese factory and tasting tours of Italy’s King of Cheeses—the Parmigiano Reggiano. The beloved title, while a marketing slogan, dates generations of a cheese tradition with production going back to the Middle Ages.
Cultural life is everywhere in Parma. See school buses transporting children in the ubiquitous “Happy Bus”—why would there be anything else in the land of Parma? Find a pair of theatres, one built during the reign of Maria Louise, Duchess of Parma (she introduced violet perfume in Parma) and an earlier Renaissance theatre built for a marriage that never happened. Ironically, my visit occurred at the height of truffle, pumpkin and chestnut season and a week prior to the release of Michelin Guide Italy 2024.
Food Valley
Wedged between the River Po and the Apennine mountain range, humid, foggy winters and hot, muggy summers in this northern region provide ideal maturation conditions for a trio of products that are deemed as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) under European Union law: prosciutto (Parma ham), traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. The latter was first produced by monks there in 1254 and has held the special PDO status only since 1992.
On a misty morning, fog blankets the valley outside the Azienda Agricola Bertinelli as Marco, a fourth-generation cheese master, muscles cheesecloth inside the factory. Tightening the edges, he rhythmically shifts the curds in a swaying cheese dance, oblivious to the spectators watching the gruell-ing task. “He does not take any time to break from this pattern,” says Giovanna Rosati, factory tour guide and cheese expert with Caseificio Bertinelli. Owner Nicola Bertinelli, whose family has manu-factured the hard raw cow’s milk cheese since 1895, is also the current president of the Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano.
Post tour, we huddle at the temple of Parmigiano Reggiano, the Bertinelli cheese shop, its seating area shaped as a cheese wedge, and dive into samplers.
For a true taste test, the aging of Parmigiano Reggiano has to be a minimum of 12 months. Today, the Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano represents roughly 1,000 cheese masters (casari), each officially regarded as Italy’s King of Cheese.
Cheese Please
In Parma, at the Ristorante Cocchi, the capon consommé, known as anolini soup, is legendary at this family-run roadside hotel restaurant, and tonight it’s on show. A favourite of soccer legend David Beckham, the golden broth bathes these bobbing veal pasta bambinos that are dusted by the obligatory grated formaggio parmigiano (parmesan cheese).
“We have had a difficult time to promote this very important cheese status,” shares Benedetto Colli, spokesperson for the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, the organization tasked to protect and promote this agri-bio cheese industry to a wider audience. However, he adds that Canada is becoming a growing market as I watch him spoon a mountainous heaping of the everyman’s staple into his soup. “The more, the better,” he smiles.
Parma Cooks
Along the Po River there’s a heritage farmhouse, the establishment of Chef Antonio Di Vita whose Parma Rotta is the setting for my pasta-making class. “It’s all in the wrist, shoulders and legs,” he explains as I start kneading dough into a glutinous ball for tortelli, tagliatelle and scialatielli. Amid framed polychrome plates of Dante’s Divine Comedy and Via Crucis by Venturino Venturi, the outcome naturally will be a delivery system for finely grated chef-approved Parmigiano Reggiano aptly sourced from Bertinelli.
Months after my return home I nibble on a 36-month aged parmesan cheese—its salt crystals dancing in the light. While my Parma trip is now but a fond memory, thankfully only a few blocks away a cheesemonger is selling Italy’s King of Cheese.
Parma Sleeps
The Renzo Piano-designed district Barilla Center is home to the Grande Hotel de la Ville, a 110-room property that is across from the Parma Ham consortium HQ. Enjoy a full breakfast buffet with prosciutto and Parmigiano Reggiano on offer. The independently owned hotel has two spacious elevators, a fitness centre, free in-room Wi-Fi and is conveniently located walking distance to the Old Town and shops.
Did You Know?
The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium identifies six fast rules for sourcing true Parmigiano Reggiano:
- Check the rind for a series of small, stamped dots.
- Look for the official Parmigiano Reggiano label.
- Authentic Parmigiano Reggiano has a granular texture that is firm and crumbly with a mild nutty sweet taste.
- Smell a nutty aroma that should not be strong or off-putting.
- A golden-yellow colour; anything too pale or too dark has additives.
- Check for the certification mark found on the rind.
Travel Planner
For more travel information about Emilia-Romagna tourism see emiliaromagnaturismo.it. Cheese factory tours at Caseificio Bertinelli require advanced online bookings. For tours and more Parmigiano Reggiano information, visit parmigianoreggiano.com. Air Canada has up to five times weekly year-round service from Montreal to Milan. Aircanada.com
