Delicious Delicious Delicious Italy!! – welcome to Food n Walk Balsamico, Parmesan and Parma Ham tours

July 27, 2012 10:07 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ nick garrett

TRULY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL Parma tour – with Food n Walk Tour host Nick

Welcome to real Italy …

Nick, Parma’s much mooted ex-Golosa tour host, will ease you around this beautiful Italian gourmet food tour.

Food n Walk Tours Parma consist of superior quality self drive guided visits, to the production sites of some of Italy’s most famous DOP food products such as Prosciutto di Parma Ham, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese as well as breathtaking strolls through Traditional Balsamic Vinegar studios of Reggio and Modena.

English is an incredibly narrative language. The benefits of having me as your mother tongue food tour host is the shared self effacing experience picking our way through the occasional hilarious gaffs, silence crackling language problems and total loss in translation… classic fun yet the bottom line is I know and love these products and watch my children thrive on them: I share and cherish them in a special way.

Nick Garrett

See Nicks Tripadvisor recommendations.

WE HAVE THE ULTIMATE FIRST WORD IN QUALITY – IT’S A GIVEN… WELCOME TO OUR PARMA FOOD AND WINE TASTING TOURS

Here we stand in the heart of Parmigiano DOP production Zone and this particular maker stands out as one of the very best… the King of cheese? Give me one reason why not: for health, cultural tradition and of course fantastic taste… this Gold medal producer, one of the 564 currently at work is right now cooking 6000 ltrs of fresh natural milk… but there is more… the magical healing properties of the whey… lets go see…

Tour host Nick: Quoting the start of the fantastic day…

You will have the opportunity of admiring and experience the different steps involved in the production. The tours are quite flexible and can fit in with your travel plans. Do contact Foodnwalk to create a tour just for you. We would like to invite you to enjoy a wonderful experience in the culture of our land, visiting the production sites of Parma ham, traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena, parmesan cheese and getting directly in touch with the ancestral tradition of Parma and its typical products.

PARMIGIANO REGGIANO CHEESE TOUR

Parma FWT Parmigiano Reggiano cheese factory visit. Visiting a “Caseificio” is like going back in time. The “King of the cheeses” actually has very old origins and today, like 7 centuries ago, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is still made following the same traditional and genuine methods. Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is protected by the European Union and can only be produced in a restricted area, the so called “zona tipica”, which includes the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, and a part of Bologna (left of the Reno river) and Mantova(right of the Po river). It takes about 2 hours to see the whole production, preferably early in the morning.

PARMA HAM TOUR QUOTE

Ok so if Parmigiano Reggiano relies on the grasslands and the milk quality then this next product goes one further: not only the earth, the land but the air is what finally steers this product to perfection… inside this workshop are three hundred thousand legs maturing for up to thirty months… nothing short of a miracle. One they perform here everyday since Etruscan times… five thousand years of culture inside these walls… lets go live the next treasure…

The tour has started but the sights and aromas await…

The production area of Prosciutto di Parma or Parma ham is located in the southern part of Parma province. Here, and only here, can genuine Parma Ham be produced. Using very heavy and selected Italian pigs and following the traditional and genuine method, Prosciutto di Parma is still produced like it was about 2000 years ago. Only four ingredients are necessary to produce Parma ham: a pork leg, a minimum quantity of salt to preserve the meat, the air to dry it out, and time, a lot of time, at least 12 months to get a perfect flavor. The plant opens 7 days per week.

Culatello, the most prized cold cut of Parma

CULATELLO TOUR

This excellent product is strictly tied to the Po River and real Culatello is actually produced in 12 small villages of the so-called “Bassa Parmense”all located along the right side of the Po River. Culatello is made from the best part of a pork leg, carefully salted and cured in the humidity of the caves, where the Culatello rests for at least 11 months and bears all the flavor, the smells and the history of the river.

Parma Golosa take you Inside the Balsamico world

TRADITIONAL BALSAMIC VINEGAR TOUR

Balsamico Tour Quote

There are no words to describe the time taken in the creation of this nectar… here we see one of the truly amazing products of the world… and taste? Our next tasting will take us to the definition of sweetness that is incomparable… First mentioned in 1046 this magical product has been made for Kings and paupers for millennia…

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Reggio Emilia and of Modena is a real jewel for all gourmets and the estate we visit is often used in film production – breathtaking is the word.

It is a unique digestive condiment as it is produced directly from the finest grape juice. The liquid is then placed in wooden barrels and through an oxidation process over a dozen years it is transformed into aceto Balsamico.

As this process continues the sweetness overlays the residual 5% acidity until it becomes completely smooth with just a faint twist of aceto. The sweetness is both rich and delicate, complex yet far beyond that sugary taste of honey or sugar.