Parma Palate – Mainly Because of the Meat

Have I ever mentioned that I love salami?  Prosciutto? Capicollo? Pancetta? And so on and so on?  This part of Italy is Salumi Heaven.  (salumi is the Italian term used for all cured meats)  Last week in school we learned all about cured meat technology…six hours of lectures discussing the differences between cured whole-cut products like prosciutto, coppa, bresaola and culatello, and fermented salamis that are made of chopped up bits of pork and/or beef like cotechino, salsiccia and soppressatas.

I won’t bore you with all the technical details such as the factors determining the quality of long-ripening salalmis(LRS) versus rapid acidification salamis(RAS), but you should know that in the Parma region, prosciutto labeled Parma Ham is king, and culatello di Zibello, which is made from the heart of the hind leg of the pig, is even more revered. (and of course more expensive)  It was fun to be out shopping and eating on the weekend and seeing the stuff we had learned about on display in the shops and being served as antipasti in the restaurants.  My roommate Andy and I ventured into the EuroTorri complex in Parma Saturday afternoon to purchase some electronic supplies from a huge box store called MediaWorld and a Canadian Tire/Home Depot-like place called Brico…where a number of other shops reside, including…a prosciutto bar!  Of course, what other kind of snack bar would you find in Parma?

Parma Ham is a DOP product, or ‘Product of Designated Origin’ and there are dozens of pages of regulations that have to be adhered to before that raw leg of pig can have the official DOP stamp branded into it.  It was one of the first products to earn this status in the European Union.  I think our class will be visiting Parma ham and Culatello di Zibello producers over the course of the next year.

After a hard week of studying Italian, cheese technology and cured meat technology, it was time for an evening out in Parma.  A very popular wine bar is called Tabarro, just one of many bars along via Farini, just off of Piazza Garibaldi.  I’ve been there twice now, and have never made my way further into the place past the bar, where the custom is to order your glass or bottle of wine, then pop out into the street to consume it and chat with your friends and watch the hundreds of other people who are doing the same thing all up and down the street.

This would never happen in Vancouver.  Open liquor in glass containers on the street!  Shocking!  Police would appear in riot gear and arrest people, or at the very least confiscate the liquor, give you a ticket and shut down the any bar that had the affrontery to let people drink in the street. And yet in Parma (and some of the other European cities I’ve visited) this is no big deal.  People seem to be well-behaved and there wasn’t a sign of police presence.  Ahhh, Europe! 

On Saturday I returned to Parma for my first leisurely daytime stroll and although the sky was grey (as apparently it is most of the winter), it was easy to see how beautiful a city it is and how pleasant it is to stroll through the cobblestoned streets.  There was a large public market where vendors where selling everything from shoes to artichokes, and in Piazza Garibaldi finishing touches were being placed on a huge Christmas tree.  No photo yet, I will wait until another night when it is all lit up.  In Colorno there is a tree as well, and tonight is supposed to be the lighting-up ceremony, so I’l looking forward to that.

Almost forgot to mention an excellent lunch I enjoyed on Saturday, courtesy a tip from my cyberfriend Gabriella, thank you!  Lunch was at Salumeria Sorelle Picchi on via Farini, where a beautiful deli conceals a room at the back with a dozen or so tables.  Classmate Corrie has already discovered this place and is a real favorite of the nonna who runs the dining room, so she was able to get us a table at the peak of lunchtime Saturday.  I had some very satisfying tortelli in brodo, a rich broth, and my dining companions tried the triste di tortelli, a combo or tortelli di zucca, (pumpkin), herbes (ricotta and swiss chard), and potato.  The entire meal rated high on the ‘yum’ scale.

This is just a beautiful part of the city you should see.  I’ll actually find out more about the structures and let you know what it is in another post.  In my wanderings yesterday I purchased a cookbook…Parma, Its Cuisine in 80 recipes.  Today I will be attempting to recreate some Parmagiani recipes with my own twist.  So, zucchini flowers stuffed with shrimp and ricotta, battered and fried, and tortelli di zucca. Stay tuned for the results!