Today was an adventure outside the city - We signed up for a culinary tour through Delicious Bologna. We had an early-ish crew call of 7am, but were picked up a block from our flat. Our group included a mother & daughter from New Jersey, two college students from NY studying in Venice for a month, a newly wed couple from Australia and a professor from Vanderbilt. Our first stop was a Parmesan Reggiano factory outside of Modena.
All steps in the process follow a govt control process (DOP). The way the inspectors measure the quality of the cheese is by tapping each wheel with a little hammer to determine if there are air holes. Sadly, the inspectors don't get to sample the quality 😢. Luckily we did!
We ended the tour (sorry, no pics) with a taste of Parmesan, salami and Lambrusco. 🤔 How was drinking Lambrusco at 9:30 in the morning you ask? Molto bene!
These are pics of the cauldrons the cheese is "cooked" in. Essentially the the cheese curdles and drops to the bottom. Here our guide, Ricardo, is pointing to the rolling of the cheese.
The cheese is rolled and shaped in essentially cheese cloth.
The cheese is then cut (cue giggles), by only one person, the master cheese maker.
Then it is pulled out...
...and put into a container to help shape the cheese and extract liquid.
At this point it goes to phase 2 where it baths in salt water.
And continues the drying/shaping process.
The final area is the storage area where it stays a minimum of 12 months, but can age indefinitely if there are no cracks.
We finished the Parmesan tour by checking out the cows that generously donated the milk. Moo! 🐄
The winery and Balsamic vinegar house coming in part two!
Finally, I figured out how to sign in and comment! (you need to turn off all of your security settings in the browser).
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing how parmesan cheese is made. Now I like it even more.
How many wheels of cheese were you able to fit into your purse Holly?
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