Parma, Italy

After a restful sleep in the NH hotel (we remember one of these from a previous motorcycle tour) we met our tour company van in front at 0839. We then were transported through farm lands to the cheese making farm on the outskirts of Parma: Borgodel Gazzano. This is a family owned and run operation. We knew we had arrived by the smell, flies and bellowing cows.

Company vehicle

Our first introduction was to meet some of the girls. They are special girls: four different strains, all experts in producing 20-40 litres of cheese milk per day. To that end they are kept in a huge cool enclosure with all they can eat and drink. They are not allowed into pasture. Their intake is controlled with a set diet which insures they produce milk containing a specific bacteria needed to create this special cheese. Too hot, wrong kinds of food and they would have to scratch their own butts on a fenceposts instead of the automatic buttscratcher provided. What a life!

Some of the girls

Automatic buttscratcher

We then were taken to the cheese making area where we were given a detailed description and demonstration of the entire process.

Cheese making area

Collecting the cheese curd block

Compressed blocks floating in salt brine

Storage and aging room

We learned a lot about the intricacies of the process and what makes real Parmigiano Reggiano

different from just parmasan. The tour ended with a sampling of the different grades of cheese and some wine. They also had a gift shop.

Samples

$5000 CDN for the 50 lb wheel!

It has been another hot day. The cheese making area was quite warm - the aging and storage areas were wonderfully cool. Tomorrow we travel by car 3-4 hours to Asiago for another cheese tour.