How beautiful it is to get out of Milan in the morning, on a shiny day in spring, accompanied by people who, just like me, are passionate about high quality food and wine made with love and dedication, and are united by the curiosity of discovering their origin, their history and production. How beautiful it is, short over an hour later, to arrive in the countryside surrounding Parma, with green hills on the horizon, the fresh air, the blue sky, and visit some excellent local producers of cured meat and cheese, among the suppliers of Parma & Co “a typical Parmesan shop in Milan” and to understand where some of those delicacies to be tasted in their place come from.
I can still smell the aroma of
Anselmo Bocchi’s salami. In Fornovo di Taro he continues the family tradition and runs the business named after his brother
Lucedio:
culatello,
strolghino, cooked and raw
fiocco di spalla, salami,
coppa, bacon, from white or black wild pig, left to dry naturally in rooms in which a pleasant breeze blows from the windows. Their production is completely artisanal, with
ciccioli and
testa in cassetta, typical products which we had the pleasure to taste together with a glass of Spumante Malvasia Brut by Palazzo, made with malvasia di Candia Aromatica, a typical grape variety of the Parma province, the ideal pairing with these salami both thanks to their origin (these wines are produced close to Fornovo) and because the bubbles soften their generous fatness.
We move to
Branchi Prosciutti in Felino, guided by
Giovanni Branchi who, together with his brother
Franco runs the factory which only produces prosciuttos of the highest quality: specially cooked, smoked, roasted.
Cotto ‘60, the company’s top product, named this way to celebrate Italian cured meat-making in those years, is made only with Italian PP pork legs used for the production of Parma prosciutto, and exclusively selected.
Following the process which takes from the fresh leg that arrives at the factory to be processed and leads to the slice to be tasted, some facts stood out which, together with the essential role of the selection of raw materials, make
Cotto ’60 a product with unique aromas, intensity of flavour and digestibility: the salting process is non-invasive and uses a very low percentage of salt and the absence of spices (an infusion of spices is used instead). Tasting this product has confirmed its goodness and the pleasant pairing with a glass of sparkling Malvasia Colli di Parma by Palazzo, with its intense and aromatic nose and pleasant palate.
Our trip finished at
Caseificio Valserena in Gainago di Torrile, where since 1879 the
Balduino family, later together with the
Serra family, breeds cows uniquely from the Bruna breed for the production of Parmigiano Reggiano. This breed has the B variant of K-casein which, among its characteristics, includes a curdle which results in a sweeter product. Before visiting the factory, the owners invited us for a flavoursome lunch which included the tasting of some other excellent products selected by
Parma&Co thanks to their quality:
Salumificio Vescovi Renato’s Prosciutto di Parma,
Cav. Ferrari Bruno’s Coppa di Parma and other wines produced by the
Palazzo winery: Lambrusco Tenuta Ducale del Castellaro, made with lambrusco maestri grapes, the perfect and traditional pairing with the cuisine of Parma, and Maria Luigia, made with malvasia di Candia Aromatica.
