One thing you probably already know about Italy but need to be reminded of: The food is amazing. And when I say amazing, I mean a fall to the floor my mouth can’t handle the number of flavors and freshness going on – kind of amazing.

So, why is the food so amazing? The quality of ingredients in Europe, and specifically Italy, is on a whole other level from America. Things that don’t exist in Europe: genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and mass production of food. What does this mean? Food actually tastes like food. AMAZING, RIGHT?!

Some ways to measure food quality in Europe, and specifically Italy is by PDO and/or PGI. What the heck am I talking about? PDO stands for Protected Designation of Origin and PGI stands for Protected Geographical Indication. This is one of the strictest labels, meaning all parts of the product are found and made in a certain area and climate, guaranteed. Both are protected and defined by European Union councils. When a food product is PDO it means they are only found in certain areas and are created by materials from that area (examples below). This means you know exactly where your food comes from and you can trust that it is one of the best (if not the best of the best).

I’m not a regular-day Know-it-All, so I found all of this out by visiting Parma and Modena with two of my classes: Food, Culture and Society of Italy and the Cultural Introduction to Italy. We started off our day in Parma visiting a cheese production factory comprised of two men producing tons of cheese a month. We then visited a place where Prosciutto di Parma is made (best prosciutto I’ve had so far– like, WOW), and finished with Aceto di Balsamico Tradizionale, which is a place where Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is made in Modena.

The CHEESE factory:

To keep things sanitary we had to add a stylish accessory to our shoes:

1. Parmigiano Reggiano (Cheese)

Area of Production (Region name/main town districts): Provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna (northern), and Mantua (right side of the river – south)

PDO: Yes

PGI: No

Types of Milk: Unpasteurized cow’s milk

Main steps of the production process: Milk is kept in a shallow metal tank overnight to separate the cream, making a naturally skim milk. After the morning milking, the whole milk is mixed with the skim milk and the mixture is pumped into copper vats. Whey is then added, and the temperature is raised. Then curd is added to the mixture and the temperature of the mixture is raised again. The mixture is given time to settle and form the harder cheese. Once harder cheese has formed, it is removed with cloths, weighing somewhere between 45-60 kg. The hard cheese is put into stainless steel round molds to  give the cheese its form. After two days the cheese is taken out and allowed to sit for a day before being put into a salt bath for a little less than a month. After being removed from the bath, the cheese ages between 12 and 36 months.

LOOK AT ALL THAT CHEESE IN THE SALT BATH!!!!!

Fun facts:

• Fatty part of milk is used for butter
• Winter and early spring are best periods for cheese because cows are less stressed, go from producing 6-7 wheels of cheese to 10.
• Cows have a special diet

2. Prosciutto di Parma (Ham)

Area of Production: Prosciutto di Parma can only be made in the hills around Parma: 5 km south of the via Emilia, limited to the east by the river Enza and on the west by the river Stirone, and up to an altitude of 900m.

PDO: Yes

PGI: No

Type of meat: Parma pigs must be bred Large White, Landrance, and Duroc breeds born and raised in certain parts of Italy.

Main steps of the production process: The producers of Parma ham receive legs from authorized slaughterhouses on a weekly basis, each leg weighing about 15 kg. The legs are salted and covered with sea salt that allows them to keep moisture (stay humid) and the muscular parts are covered with dry salts. The legs are then refrigerated at temperatures ranging from 1-4 degrees Celsius with an 80% humidity level for a week. Then another coat of salt is added and sits for 15-18 days. The legs hang for 70 days refrigerated at 75% humidity. Then the legs are washed with warm water and excess salt is removed and they are hung in drying rooms. After a few days the hams are moved into ventilated rooms with windows – giving the flavor the hams are known for. This lasts for about three months. The outside of the ham is softened after the drying process with lard and salt, which prevents the outside layers from drying too quickly. Month 7: ham is put into dark rooms with less air and light and hung on racks. Parma ham is cured for at least 1 year, and some are cured for as long as 3 years.

3. Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale (Balsamic Vinegar)

Area of Production: Emilia Romagna, Province of Modena

PDO: Yes

PGI: Yes

Type of grape: Lambrusco and Trebbiano grapes

Main steps of the production process: The grapes are harvested at certain seasons, and to make sure the grapes do not ferment like they do when they become wine, they are pressed and then cooked for several hours over a direct flame in an open vessel until they are reduced reaching a concentration of about 50%. After cooling, the liquid is moved into barrels of decreasing volume, usually in the attic of a house. Small portions from the largest barrel are moved to the second largest, and so on until reaching the smallest barrel. The smallest barrel produces a few liters of product and is the only one that is sold. Only after 12-25 years of maturing does the product become the most flavorful.

BARRELS, ANYONE?!

After getting up at 4:30 am to make this trip, I was exhausted, but my stomach was happy. Everything was amazing, and I wanted to bring everything home. But you know– I’m just a starving college student in Europe, and sometimes almost literally, so no products were bought– but I will remember them forever. I will dream of all of the good flavors I tasted, the meal of parmigiano and prosciutto that I devoured for years to come. Hungry yet?

I’ll leave you with this photo of me making a fool of myself in the fields of grapes used for the balsamic vinegar from Modena:

‘Till next time!

#YOFLO (You only Florence once).