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This episode features the apex of Italian cuisine: the foods of Parma and Emilia-Romagna. We interview Stefania Bertaccini: cook, teacher, food guide and scientist with a passion for nature. She operates Stefania's Cooking Classes and Tours in Parma and offers online cooking lessons.
Emilia-Romagna is to the Italian culinary world as, say, Lamborghini - also made in the same region - is to supercars. The boss. The ‘GOAT’. Michael Jordan. Maradona. Marlyn Monroe. It is the "Food Valley" of Italy and with its long history of wealthy courts and fertile land, Parma was and is central to origins and contemporary articulations of that quality.
It’s home to Parmigianno-Reggiano cheese, Prosciutto di Parma ham and Balsamic Vinegar to name a few of its more famous products. Parma is also home to other great cured meats like Culatello and Culatta - (real culatello di Zibello, now very to difficult to get hold of unless you’re Elon Musk, Obama or King Charles. If you have a vintage Lambo parked in your drive maybe you could trade it for one or two set aside for the king of Brunei in the humid, moldy basement Po river air. Maybe. Depends on the week. Anyway.)
It’s also home to abundant porcini mushrooms, truffles, great wheats and - derived from all that goodness - many fundamental recipes for pastas, ‘pasticcio’s’ and ravioli like Anolini, fried dough ‘torta fritta’… just a few highlights of a list that is vast.
Stefania guides us through the history and production process of Parmigianno-Reggiano cheese, from land and cow through tasting and digestion. She then takes us on a tour of the production of Prosciutto di Parma and the artistic and meticulous art of aging the ham - geographically unique - in the processing plants by the River Enza
Then we turn to Traditional balsamic vinegar DOP/PDO. Stefania's family produces traditional Balsamic vinegar in their farmhouse. Lucky bastards.
Lastly we discuss the wonderful wines of Parma, in particlar the iconic yet underappreciated Lambrusco. No other wine or beverage matches better with tagliatelle in ragout or many other famous local dishes
Parma is a city of gastronomy so not surprisingly has several food museums as well. Buon appetito! And please follow, like, subscribe, comment or share for more mouth- watering episodes….
Contacting Stefania
Menu
Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
Prosciutto
Balsamic Vinegar
Lambrusco
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