My Italian Birthday
Happy Thanksgiving! Today is my birthday and I’m so happy to be spending it in Italy!
We left very early this morning (6am) on a train to Parma. Jason made us an appointment for a tour of a Parmesan cheese factory (my favorite type of cheese) and we had to be there by 8:30. Our train was supposed to arrive at 7:19, plenty of time to get to the dairy. Well, there was an ‘accident’ and we passed a cargo train that had been derailed. This caused our train and all the others to have major delays.
We made it to the dairy just as they were starting the tour. The tour was a lot of fun, there was another couple on the tour, who were visiting from Florida. There was also a ton of kids there, on a field trip. I think they were high school students. We got to see the cheese as it was being made, we saw the whole process. At the factory we went to, they make 30 wheels of Parmesano-Reggiano a day, and we visited only one of the 600 dairies in the area who make this type of cheese! We got to see the room where the cheese is put in brine for 24 days, then the cheese is moved to a storage room for 9-36 months. The storage room was cool, floor to ceiling cheese! It was great! We stopped in after the tour to buy some cheese (of course) and then we grabbed some lunch (more pizza) in Parma.
After lunch we decided to go to Modena and were able to get a tour of a Balsamic Vinegar factory. We visited one of 120 families who make balsamic vinegar in the Modena region. We had a vinegar tasting and then got to see an area where the vinegar is aged.
The vinegar is aged for a minimum of 6 years and each year, it is transferred to a different barrel made from a different type of wood. We liked the vinegar so much that we bought quite a bit of it! I got some white vinegar. It is not aged in barrels which has a very tangy flavor and will be great for salads, a bottle of everyday balsamic, and then we bought a bottle that had been aged 12 years.
After a very long day, we decided to head back to Milan and have my birthday dinner at Limone (our favorite restaurant in Milan). What a great birthday!
We left very early this morning (6am) on a train to Parma. Jason made us an appointment for a tour of a Parmesan cheese factory (my favorite type of cheese) and we had to be there by 8:30. Our train was supposed to arrive at 7:19, plenty of time to get to the dairy. Well, there was an ‘accident’ and we passed a cargo train that had been derailed. This caused our train and all the others to have major delays.
We made it to the dairy just as they were starting the tour. The tour was a lot of fun, there was another couple on the tour, who were visiting from Florida. There was also a ton of kids there, on a field trip. I think they were high school students. We got to see the cheese as it was being made, we saw the whole process. At the factory we went to, they make 30 wheels of Parmesano-Reggiano a day, and we visited only one of the 600 dairies in the area who make this type of cheese! We got to see the room where the cheese is put in brine for 24 days, then the cheese is moved to a storage room for 9-36 months. The storage room was cool, floor to ceiling cheese! It was great! We stopped in after the tour to buy some cheese (of course) and then we grabbed some lunch (more pizza) in Parma.
After lunch we decided to go to Modena and were able to get a tour of a Balsamic Vinegar factory. We visited one of 120 families who make balsamic vinegar in the Modena region. We had a vinegar tasting and then got to see an area where the vinegar is aged.
The vinegar is aged for a minimum of 6 years and each year, it is transferred to a different barrel made from a different type of wood. We liked the vinegar so much that we bought quite a bit of it! I got some white vinegar. It is not aged in barrels which has a very tangy flavor and will be great for salads, a bottle of everyday balsamic, and then we bought a bottle that had been aged 12 years.
After a very long day, we decided to head back to Milan and have my birthday dinner at Limone (our favorite restaurant in Milan). What a great birthday!
posted by Karyn | 8:36 AM
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