Parma the city of ham and cheese
Few cities around the world are as strongly associated with food as Parma in Emilia-Romagna. The famous parmesan and prosciutto have made Parma the city of ham and cheese.
I had really looked forward to our first visit in Parma, but as we drove up to our pre-booked hotel I felt a fever rising. It did not make it better that the central location turned out to be suburban with a boring 3 km walk to the historic centre, so by the time we entered the Borgos south of Piazza Garibaldi I was hot, tired and queasy, and the last thing I wanted was ham and cheese. An extreme shame when you find yourself in one of the culinary capitals of the world.
An Industry Based on Ancient Traditions
Parma has been the centre of the Italian food valley since the Roman Age, when the area was famous for their salted and cured meats. In the Middle Ages, courtiers further developed the art of selecting the best meat cuts, salting them and letting them dry and mature in open air. And towards the end of the 19th century Parma experienced a veritable boom in the demand for cured meat. This led to the growth of an industrialized food industry around Parma.
The small hilltown Langhirano became highly skilled in curing hams. Another nearby village, Zibello, specialized in Culatello, which is the heart of the ham, so to speak. Pietro Barillo found a way to mass produce dried pasta and set up a shop in the centre of Parma. While farmers north of the city focus on the production of huge, wheel shaped Parmigiano-Reggiano parmesan cheese.
Food Shopping Around Via Farini
In Parma, you will still find the most exquisite hams and cheese in the prosciutterie, wine bars and trattorie around Via Farini, where they slice the ham with academic accuracy. Even for a sick window shopper, their selection of delicacies is outstanding, and missing the opportunity to sample the various products still fills me with regret. And our visit to a cheese farm in the company of 10 million flies the next morning did not bring compensation. So I guess, I just have to go back and have a real taste of Parma the city of ham and cheese as soon as possible.
This blog post was last updated in March 2017.
Other places near Parma
Pontremoli is not what it appears to be
A paradise for me… I love cheese :)
Now you have me wondering, if there is cheese in Japan?
Love your closing thoughts, “Guess I just have to go back” – I’d love to join you for that kind of scientific research. :-D
Yes, it would be all work and no play. Like all my visits to Italy:)
I have never been To Parma, a culinary deficiency I hope to correct soon… thanks for the introduction!
That’s is a lapse in your culinary education. And while your there, remember to stop by Bologna:)
Oh my gosh so sorry you were ill during your visit, Mette! That had to suck. I’m still fixated on the wheels of cheese. A total “addict” here lol! Wait, ham and wine too? I love the history you shared and totally just added Parma to my bucket list :)
The cheeses are enormous. They start off weighing up to 60 kilos.
Thanks for this nice article about my home city! Makes me feel homesick! (I feel I need some backup of our local food actually!)
Glad to help you remember. And thank you for the bonus info:)
Mmmmmm! Who doesn’t love cheese?
I’m sorry you had a fever and didn’t feel well. Hopefully you will be able to make a trip back and enjoy it all. :-) Thanks for sharing.
Yes, it’s annoying to be sick while you’re supposed to have fun. But I guess we have all tried it.
Sorry to hear you didn’t feel well, Mette. Parma looks like a foodie paradise. What a great place to visit and be hungry. I hope you get to return soon to fully enjoy what Parma has to offer.
Yes, it is a surprisingly old and charming city.
Aww, what a shame you weren’t feeling well – for such an important foodie place, too. Think I would have been in heaven. Yeah, you definitely need to go back! :)
Julia
Yes. Some things are tougher to miss out on than others:)
Cheese and flies seem to go hand in hand don’t they. I always wonder about the cleanliness of some of the operations.
Total bummer being sick – never fun and worse on the road. I love your top photo – looks like a very interesting shop.
Well, Italian shops and restaurants are generally impeccably clean, and the only place we saw flies was near the barns where they milk the cows, so I refuse to think I had a cheese induced bug.
Ach, Parmahan and cheese… just thinking about it makes me hungry. I haven’t been to Parma before but I definitely want to go. I love Italy, I love (all!) Italian food and I love Parma ham and cheese, so I’m sure it’s my kind of place. :)
Such a shame you were sick!
Sounds as if we could arrange a pilgrimage to these food temples:)
Might have been better to visit a winery or soft drink factory before hitting Parma. A little juice of the vine or ginger ale might have helped your queasy stomach. Hope it’s more enjoyable next time around.
Any cure that involves wine sounds effective to me:)
I could live eating only on Prosciutto Crudo e Parmigiano and I also agree that scientifically you should repeat an experiment to ensure that the results are not accidental but is accurate :D
Yet another eternal truth:)
Now I know what’s for dinner tonight: some tasty cheeses and a bottle of wine;-) Thanks for the inspiration with this delicious post!
Sounds good.
I think that when I get to visit Parma, I will never leave.
Wouldn’t be the worst place to settle.
I think I need to do a tour of Emilia-Romagna, cheese’n all. Don’t know why I haven’t already…
It’s absolutely recommended.
Now this is the perfect place to be. Everything good in life starts with good food, especially great cheese.
That’s an aphorism worth remembering.
What a shame you were ill at the time! I’m a huge fan of great parmesan and would love to visit Emilia Romagna! I love the fact that there are little “prosciuterias” as I’ve often bought prosciuto ham in the UK and had no idea there are specific prosciuterias out there :) Would love to visit one!
Oh, prosciutterias are everywhere in the ham cities. On Saturday we were in the rather small city San Danielo di Friuli and they have hams all over.
I spent 3 nights there last year exploring the area and could’ve spent more time. Definitely lots of culinary delights. You’ll enjoy our #ItalianFWT this weekend as we feature Emilia Romagna. Might give you even more reason to go back ; )
We don’t really need a reason, but thanks for the tip.