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| Over 40,000 euro in cheese... |
After finishing up our Corso Intensivo di Italiano, we took a gita to the Italian Alps. We stayed in the Alto Adige region, near the city Bolzano, but stopping in the city of Modena along the way.
On our bus ride up to the Alps, we stopped first at a Parmigiano Reggiano factory. If you want a strong man, you should find a cheese maker – our guide said his arms and shoulders grew at least 5 centimeters after working at the factory. There is very strict regulation to call the cheese Parmigiano Reggiano. It all starts with them milk. That particular factory works with 23 local farms. What the cows are eating determines the highest quality of milk. 2 forms of cheese is equivalent to 100 kilograms of milk. That’s a lot of cows.
So they stir up the mixture and it sits for two days. After those two days, they soak in salt water for 17 days using large grain salt because it’s cleaner. The salt is what gives Parmigiano Reggiano cheese its flavor. They also change and filter the water every hour to avoid standing bacteria. Medieval Parmigiano Reggiano tasted much different than it does today. I don’t think they were worried about filtering the water so frequently… if it all.
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| Cheese and Salt bath |
So then after those 17 days of salt bathing, the cheese has to sit for 24 months because after that point in time, the lactose transform into something different. They have to constantly flip the cheese over using a big machine otherwise all the humidity would sink to the bottom and stick to the wood and rot. If a problem spot develops on the cheese, like mold, they cut it off and torch it to kill the bacteria and protect the fresh cheese from new bacteria.
Fun Fact: you can determine the quality of the cheese by drumming it with a hammer. Now, this is an art. The more hollow the cheese, the higher chance for bacteria. This cheese is then rejected as Parmigiano Reggiano, BUT it can be sold as PARMESAN. So folks, those of you who think Parmesan is Parmigiano Reggiano, YOU ARE BEING LIED TO!!! You are essentially eating the knock off version of the cheese.
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| drumming the cheese |
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| Tosone - day old cheese |
At the end, we tasted some tosone, or day old cheese. It essentially tastes like nothing and has a texture equivalent to rubber. Not so great. But the legit Parmigiano Reggiano cheese… mm it is more delicious than ever. I’m not sure how I feel about having just parmesan anymore..
After the cheese tour, we stopped at a Balsamic Vinegar production house. They store the barrels of balsamic in the attic because it experiences the most drastic temperature changes from summer to winter. The barrels are always open and never closed because they need the air to ferment.
The Romans discovered balsamic vinegar because they produced saba, which is the syrup of the grapes. They used to drink it for a cold because it acted like a balm for digestion. Well, one time they forgot about this saba in the attic. BOOM – years later they had balsamic vinegar!
LEGIT balsamic vinegar uses ONLY the juice of grapes. And for it to be LEGIT, it must be produced within 20 kilometers around Modena. This is a family business, and there are 80 different families that produce it in Modena.
The Balsamic Vinegar process: They use the black grape of Lambrusco and the white grape of Trabiama. They cook the grapes in an open vat outside and it cooks for 2 days. Then the juice goes into the barrels. They use 5 different types of wood for the barrels, like chestnut, rosemary… for different flavors. Each family uses the same different types, but they all have them in different orders. In order for it to be traditional Balsamic Vinegar, it must be aged for a minimum of 12 years according to the DPO. This bottle has a yellow cap, and 25 year old bottles have a gold label.
Essentially, all this times correlates to the thickness of the vinegar.
Each year, they lose 10 percent of each barrel and transfer 10 percent from each until the largest barrel is empty. For one set, after 25 years starting with 130 liters, you only end up with 5 bottles.
IMPORTANT: you never change nor wash the barrel. Those oldest barrels are worth more than a million dollars essentially. Ridiculous.
The families are not allowed to bottle the vinegar themselves in order for it to be the LEGIT balsamic vinegar. It must be approved, official, and the DOP bottling guarantees the quality and tradition. Now, these 80 families produce about 80 thousand liters a year, but that’s how much the factories in China produce in 1 or two days for the supermarket – NOT LEGIT – using all that faux syrup… WARNING: it might say “BOTTLED IN MODENA”, because it was…. But it has to have the DOP label in order to be legit. So many rules, I know…
This stuff takes a lot of patience for so little balsamic…
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| the real deal |
so what have we learned??
1. buy PARMIGIANO REGGIANO - legit, better, and worth it
2. buy REAL balsamic - aka ONLY GRAPES - none of that corn syrup nonsense
1. buy PARMIGIANO REGGIANO - legit, better, and worth it
2. buy REAL balsamic - aka ONLY GRAPES - none of that corn syrup nonsense
