Parma - Proscuitto Festival

So after loafing in Ferrara and some logistical snafus, we finally ended up in Parma around 7pm. We hustled to the info booth a minute before it closed and got some information on where the festival is being held this weekend. It was in a town called Sala Baganza, (say that in your best Italian accent, it is fun). She told us there were shuttle buses in the town to take us to the factory, so we got a bus schedule and were set. For some reason I didnt think this was going to work out, but things were looking good. There are a million salumeries selling Proscuitto and Parmesean and all kinds of goodies. They make a wine here called Lambruscco. It is a sparkling red that has a bit of sweetness. It makes a perfect accompaniment to the salty savory proscuitto and parmesean. It loses its fizzyness when it gets exported so they shoot it up with CO2, which makes it crap and relegates it to the bottom of the shelf next to the Cooks.

We headed out the next morning under a light drizzle and caught our bus. Now riding the bus in Italy, there are no announced stops so you are kinda flying by the seat of your pants. I finally walked up to the driver and asked him. He let me know the stop and even pointed us toward the town center, which I dont think we would have ever found. We see the town center and see them setting up some tents, sweet this is really going to happen. We see the shuttle buses and sign up to get on one. A few minutes and we are off. At the factory we don some sanitary gear and get ready to go.


It is just Brooke and I and a group of about 10 older Italians who are absolutely adorably perfect. If there was a movie and it called for a group of funny older Italians, this would be it. The tour is in Italian, but we dont care. We get the gist of it and the Italians are joking and cutting up and making for an entertaining time. We get into the source and it is great. Seeing how it is made and the thousands of hams hanging everywhere at every stage of the process is pretty cool.

At the end of the tour is of course, free Proscuitto and Lambrusco wine (and our first good bread of the trip). We indulge pretty happily. I start leaning against the wall with some wine in my hand cuz we woke up early and one of the Italian grandmothers comes up to me (she comes up to about my chest), jokingly asks in Italian if I am too drunk to stand, pinches my cheek and then gives me a little slap on the cheek. These people are priceless.

We are about to leave when we learn that the tour is going to be given in English next. Sweet! We hang out indulging in free goodies and wait for it to start. The woman is giving the tour in Italian, French, then English. She really just came to show her friend around the factory and got roped into doing a tour. We go through the tour again and thank her profusely. A few more free goodies and we head back to the town center.

We get a couple of plates of Proscuitto and Parmesean and a bottle of Lambrussco and hang out in heaven. The prosciutto (and factory) smells delicious and looks like it has flakes of gold in it. This is the best tasting prosciutto we have ever had. And the parmesan was pretty tasty, too.

This festival doesnt seem to wild, probably in part because it is raining. It looks like a stage is being setup, but we need some downtime and we head back to Parma.