Page 70 - Dreamscapes Magazine | Fall/Winter 2024

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 Spi- garoli—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 appe- tizer. 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 har- vested 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 mas- ters 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-
70 DREAMSCAPES FALL/WINTER 2024