Parma Perfection

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perfection Nicola Edmonds ventures to Parma to savour the two paragons of Italian protein: ham and cheese.

Text and photography by Nicola Edmonds

Not so far from

the madding crowds of Tuscany lies a land of mists and mystery. The mellow plains of the Po Valley unfurl between the spine of the Apennine mountains and the meandering threads of the Po river. An enigmatic vapour shimmers over lush crops and laps at the walls of the medieval castles that grace the plains.

Each year, Wellington-based culinary entrepreneur Antonio Cacace makes the Po Valley a feature of his Grand Tour of Italy, introducing his band of travellers to the treasures of the region. The Po Valley is steeped in history. Passing through on their way to Rome, hungry pilgrims of the Middle Ages made for the ducal city of Parma where they would seek out churches with clay plates embedded in their walls. This was a sign, clear even to the illiterate, that they would be guaranteed free shelter for the night and a plate of ‘pilgrim soup’ before being sent on their way.

While you’re not likely to be treated to a free meal these days, food is still a major drawcard for visitors to Parma. In particular, two of the paragons of Italian protein are produced and worshipped here: ham and cheese. Lavished with love and nurtured by the breezes and savours of the mountains and river plain the precise curing processes of produce in this region have been raised to the level of a master craft.

Fratelli Spigaroli - Culatello Twelve years ago internationally acclaimed chef Massimo Spigaroli and his entrepreneurial brother Luciano bought and restored a crumbling castle and its grounds beside the River Po – the Antica Corte Pallavicina. Besides establishing a Michelin starred restaurant with his brother, Massimo has devoted himself to restoring the culinary traditions and practices of his forebears, and has gone so far as to reintroduce indigenous breeds of cow and pig for his cheese and hams.

Dank rich air rolls off the river, wafting its tang in through the iron-barred windows of the cellars beneath the castle. At any minute, you expect a bat squeak or the faint flutter of leathery wings. There are no bats, but the subterranean grottos groan with treasure. These are the oldest cellars in the world used for the curing of culatello.

“Left to hang until fur-coated with ‘noble’ moulds, hundreds of these precious packages dangle in the murky light of the cellars.”

Opposite: Aged Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses in the cellars of the Antica Corte Pallavicina.

Above: Culatello hams cure by the cellar windows.

Left: A private dining room of the restored castle which is now the Antica Corte Pallavicina.

Below: Massimo Spigaroli.

Regarded by many as the ‘King of Coldcuts’, it is the culatello hams on which Massimo bestows his most concentrated efforts. Cut from the rump end of a boned pig’s thigh, culatello translates literally to something along the lines of ‘little butt’. With no bone and very little fat, the meat is massaged and moisturised with a little of the local Fontana wine, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper before being reverently squeezed into a pig bladder. The meat is then deftly tied and knotted, by hand, into a net of string.

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Takehito Maeda blends his miso using premium GE-free sushi rice, organic soybeans and Marlborough sea salt.

Left to hang until fur-coated with ‘noble’ moulds, hundreds of these precious packages dangle in the murky light of the cellars. The meat of the culatello is the most highly prized of the Parma cuts. Sweet and with just the barest tang of salt, at once unctuous and yet feather light, it’s a ‘mouth feeling’, according to the maestro himself. An entire ham could be sold for around 350 euro.

La Perla – Parma Ham The redoubtable Carlo Lanfranchi is another master of cured meat. The family business is named La Perla (The Pearl), reflecting Lanfranchi’s belief that each ham must be treated like a rare treasure.

Above: Carlo Lanfranchi with a testing needle for his hams made from the shin bone of a horse.

Above right: A Selection of cold cuts including Felino salami, coppa, prosciutto crudo and culatello.

Right: ‘La puntatura’ – the testing process for parma hams, at La Perla.

Opposite: Morning shoppers on Via Garibaldi, in Parma’s town centre.

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Langhirano, a town almost solely devoted to the curing of meat, lies squarely in the ‘funnel’ of the Parma River. A fine sea breeze know as il Marino, rises off the Ligurian Sea and lifts up and over the Apennine mountains before flowing down the conduit of the Po Valley. The salt air currents carry with them notes of chestnut, oak and pine borne from the forests above. On certain days the thin, oblong windows of La Perla are opened to this aromatic breeze to impart its flavours to the hams.

“Langhirano men say the hams must be like their women – ‘the older and fatter, the better’.”

Specialist authenticators visit the plant to test the hams at 12 months of age. A long needle-shaped piece of horse bone is skewered into the hams in five different places. No samples are taken; judgement is made by the scent (or stench, if something has gone wrong) on the needle. There is an old Italian saying: ‘For cheese an ear, for ham a nose’.

If the olfactory experts are satisfied, the hams receive the firebrand of the ducal crown and here, E25, which is La Perla’s unique code.

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Top: Balls of curd are drawn together and tied into cheesecloth to drain.

Above: The cheese maker sifts panniers of milk to sample the size of the cheese curds.

Centre: Golden rounds of Parmigiano Reggiano mature on the shelves of the Latteria Sociale San Lucio.

Opposite: A day-old Parmigiano Reggiano cheese with a casein tag to mark the cheese with its own ‘identity card’. A hammer is used to loosen or tighten the metal binding case.

There are 300 different producers in the Langhirano area, all dealing with different parts of the pig. Under the protected denomination of origin (DOP) system, every step along the way is meticulously recorded and monitored. Within 30 days of birth, each piglet destined for greatness as a Parma ham is branded a tattoo that represents place of birth, farm, name of breeder.

Lanfranchi cures just 50,000 of the 10 million hams produced from this area each year. Langhirano men say the hams must be like their women – ‘the older and fatter, the better’.

So esteemed is the flavour achieved by Langhirano hams that pork is sent to the town from throughout Europe.

Though these so-called ‘tourist hams’ are treated to the same curing processes as the local hams and are returned to their country of origin they may only be sold under the label ‘Parma Type’.

Latteria Sociale San Lucio – Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese The main production room of the Latteria resembles a fishing boat cast adrift on dry land.

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Attending long rows of giant copper vats, brawnyarmed men manhandle great wooden oars through the warm currents of milk. Giant balls of curd are drawn and knotted into lengths of cheesecloth.

The first curdings must be broken down into granular parts the size of a grain of rice. Each grain must absorb as much whey as possible whilst avoiding spurgare, or reaching the point where they disintegrate. To gauge their progress the cheese-maker trawls the milk with steel panniers and sifts through the curds with his bare hands, judging the grains between his fingers.

Each of the vats will produce, at most, two wheels of cheese weighing up to 100 kilograms in total. The vocabulary used is evocative. The production process is called ‘giving birth’, and the twin cheeses ‘born’ from the same kettle are called ‘girls’. If the milk in a particular vat has yielded only enough curd to produce one cheese, it will be marked with ‘m’ for maschio (male).

The cheeses are formed into rounds, and each round is fitted with a plastic band that identifies the producer

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and date of production. These markings can track the original twins that nestled together in the vat and, if necessary, quickly pinpoint any contamination.

Following a 40-day spell in a bathhouse of salted brine the golden wheels will be transported to vast, temperature-controlled storerooms where they take their place amongst savoury avenues of cheese.

Each week the cheeses are lifted and turned by special machinery and brushed down to prevent mould forming.

As with the La Perla hams, an authentication process is carried out after 12 months. Official testers place each cheese one by one on a small, wooden, three-legged stool and tap it with a hammer in 17 different places.

The trick is to listen for air pockets or bacterial activity.

Generally these experts are able to rely on the age-old process of using their own ears, although sometimes sonar techniques are used when the girls are especially determined to keep their secrets.

Parmigiano Reggiano, made in the Emilio Romagna

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region, is distinct from its Lombardian cousin, Grana Padano, in that the cheeses mature longer and the

“Official testers place each cheese one by one on a small, wooden, three-legged stool and tap it with a hammer in

17 different places.”

cows that give of their finest for the Reggiano cheeses dine only on a diet of erba medica or medicinal herbs.

Though there are wide green pastures swaying with this emerald blend of clover, alfalfa, barley and oats you won’t see any bovines wandering the fields for a meal. The land is very friable – too fragile to be grazed, so the greens are brought to them, in barns and farmyards.

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Left: Fresh Felino salami hung to dry in the maturing rooms at the La Felinese factory.

Top: Head chef Sante Ferro enjoying the pre-dinner performance, by Roberto Costi, at the Corale Verdi restaurant.

Above: Roberto Costi performs a musical aperitif.

La Corale Verdi Restaurant A stone’s throw from the beautiful Parco Ducale, in the town of Parma, La Corale Verdi includes a musical aperitif with its dinner menu. Sketches and paintings of the great maestro Verdi line the walls of the restaurant and guests are serenaded with a mezze of operatic arias before they dine.

This is also a great place to sample a food tradition that is especially popular in the cooler climes of northern Italy, the Bollito Misto.

Various cuts of meat, along with a hen or capon, are simmered together slowly and gently in an aromatic broth. The tender meat is then served with an array of jewel-coloured, fragrant sauces and condiments.

Head chef Sante Ferro mans the carvery with aplomb and will gleefully encourage you to try his own special twist on traditionViagra’. Served in slices along with the meats, this is in fact a special stuffing made from egg, cheese and breadcrumbs – earning its nickname from the special ‘kick’ of protein (and cholesterol) hidden inside.

La Felinese – Felino Salami On first impression this factory in the town of Felino seems a massive operation – five separate plants producing everything from salami and pancetta, to coppa and mortadella.

In fact, this is a family business – owned by five different families, and 120

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where possible, the processes employed to cure meat at La Felinese still rely on hands-on techniques. Lisa and Roberto Spotti proudly walk us through aromatic cool-rooms strung with salamis. Though large scale, the brother-sister team regard the Felinese approach as a craft. The company was founded by their parents in 1963, who remain partners in the business today.

Named for its place of origin here in Felino, the Felino Salami is revered for its delicate flavour. At La Felinese the salami casings hail from Denmark, whose pigs are leaner and fitter than their Italian counterparts – though the meat used to fill them is strictly local. The casings are filled with meat, then stitched and tied, all by hand, and slow cured with salt rather than chemical preservatives.

All you need for a good party? According to our guide’s mother, Liliana Gabardi, an expert in the art of feeding the masses: a bottle of wine, a loaf of bread and a felino salami – “guaranteed to get everyone in a good mood!”

Nicola Edmonds visited Parma as a guest of the Parma Chamber of Commerce, Hotel Stendhal and La Bella Italia.

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Left: Dining alfresco at the Borbone Bar in Via Pisacane, Parma.

Below: The grand lobby of the Verdi theatre in Busseto.

Travel information: Antonio’s Grand Tour Date: 1–17 October 2013 www.labellaitalia.co.nz Ph 04 566 9303 ext 4 miriam@labellaitalia.co.nz Antica Corte Pallavicina & Al Cavallino Bianco restaurants www.acpallavicina.com La Corale Verdi Restaurant Vicolo Asdente, Parma +39 0521 237912 Melanie Schoonhoven, freelance travel guide and translator (recommended for those with interest in cuisine and art history) melanie.schoonhoven@guideparma.it