PARMA, Italy--What could be more Italian than prosciutto? The music of Verdi, perhaps. Today, we stand at the juncture of the two. Pigs, it's said, are like the music of Giuseppe Verdi (a native of these hills)...there's absolutely nothing to throw away.
The annual Verdi festival in Parma (a city smaller than Tacoma, Wash.) features several of his operas, performed in the jewelbox Teatro Regio. They're doing Nabucco this year, an opera known for its "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves," which became the unofficial Italian anthem before the country was unified in 1861. Nearby, the massive 15th century castello of Torrechiara hosts a summer festival dedicated to Renata Tebaldi.
At the foot of the castello, in the village of Langhirano, there's a museum devoted to the production of prosciutto and its many variations, depending on the pig's anatomy and the method of preparation: ciccioli, copa, culatello, fiochetta, gola, lardo, lonzino, pancetta, salame, and, of course, the official Prosciutto di Parma, all made possible by the ready availability of salt (from the same wells that produce the soothing waters of the Apennine terme) and by nutritious feed for the pigs: the whey from the production of Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese (described in a Cornichon post on a previous visit).
Posted by Ronald Holden at October 18, 2008 10:00 AM
| TrackBack
French Chef Sally is my friend Sally McArthur, who hosts luxurious,
week-long cooking classes at the Chateau du Riveau in the Loire Valley.
Local Wine Events.com,
the worlds leading Food and Wine tasting calendar. Spirits and Beer events as well. Post your own event or sign up
to be notified when new events are po
sted to your own area.
VinoLover, Seattle wine promoter David LeClaire's bulletin board of tastings,
dinners and special events.
Wine Educator Dieter Schafer maintains a full schedule
of Seattle-area tastings and seminars
for amateur wine drinkers and professional alike.
Nat Decants, a free wine e-newsletter from Natalie MacLean, recently named the World's Best Drink Writer at the World Food Media Awards in Australia. Wine picks, articles and humor; no ads.
Who links to me?
