The NCCROW Summer Institute in Bolsena was a real success for all involved. We received an excellent education in the wide-ranging and fascinating topics the course aimed to cover. The hands-on experience and the opportunity to visit such a wide range of players in the world of food was invaluable, and, I think, unique.
On a personal note, I found the perspective the Institute offered on the world of food security and food aid to be totally fascinating. As an aspirant food writer, gaining some insight into these other aspects of the food "story" was invaluable. I now know the background and some of the intricate considerations and factors that go into the production of the foods I love so dearly. It's knowledge and experience that I suspect will serve me well in my future life and in my future career.
The pleasant times all over Italy and the delicious and interesting foods we sampled provided a fine counterpoint to all that cogitation. The program served as a fine reminder that the pleasant things in life and inclusive, on-point education need not be mutually exclusive. My time in Bolsena will be a happy memory for a long time to come.
NCCROW is hoping to run the Summer Institute in Bolsena next year. If you are interested in participating next year, don't hesitate to contact Charlotte D'Ooge or Sabrina Aguiari. You may also find the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women's website interesting.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog as much as we enjoyed creating it! Check back for continuing edits and whatever new content we may create.
Ciao,
Faine
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Summer Institute Course Syllabus
Here is the syllabus for the Summer Institute in Italy.
FOOD, GLOBALIZATION AND GENDER
BOLSENA, ITALY
JUNE 1-JUNE 12, 2009
COURSE INSTRUCTORS:
Nancy Mock (Organizational in New Orleans).
Nathan Morrow (On-site in Italy).
COURSE OVERVIEW:
The purpose of this course is to explore the changing role of food in the age of globalization and gender role transformation, and to analyze modern initiatives to promote healthy eating. The course reviews current controversies in food and nutrition science and the emerging concern relating to food nutrition. The course surveys the role played by politics in defining nutrition standards, the history of gender roles and construction of cultural identities around cooking and food preparation. The course analyzes global economic and political dynamics that continue to transform modern food systems and food habits and considers the role of gender role transformation in this process.
The course will involve field trips to the European Agency for Food Safety, to the Slow Food Academy and to the HQs of the: UN Food and Agriculture Organization, UN World Food Programme, UN International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Morning sessions will provide didactic sessions and case study analyses. In the afternoons students will visit local organic producers and distributors, commercial outlets, gourmet kitchens that offer traditional dishes with locally grown ingredients. Students will have the opportunity during the afternoon sessions to learn organic and permaculture techniques, slow food recipe preparation, cheese making, olive oil making and other food production and preparation techniques.
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Understand how globalization affects food systems locally
Compare and contrast various technological and traditional strategies to achieve sustainable food systems
Discuss the ecofeminism movement and its impact on food systems
Review the history of food in culture and its relationship to gender roles
Explore modern initiatives to strengthen healthy eating and food-culture
Develop practical skills in food production and preparation (optional)
STUDENT EVALUATION:
Course Participation (25%)
Written and oral presentation of course readings (20%)
(1 undergraduate, 2 graduates): first half hour of each class session will be devoted to short presentations.
Group work (25%): Analysis of gender and food initiatives of FAO, WFP and IFAD
In class exam: 3 hours for graduate students, 2 hours for undergraduate (30% for graduate students and 50% for undergraduate students)
Research Paper: Graduate students only.
GUEST LECTURERS:
Karl Marilee Louise, ISIS International (feminist organization), President
Wendy Harcourt, Editor in chief of “Development”
Prof. Claudio Sardoni, University of Rome La Sapienza
Saviana Parodi, PhD in Biology, Permaculture
Andrea Ferrante, President of Italian Association for Biological Agriculture
Jeffrey Marzili, Food and Agriculture Organization
Sean Kennedy, International Fund for Agriculture and Development
Joyce Luma, World Food Program
Gina Pattugalan - Programme Officer, Policy Unit of WFP
Aziz Arya, Economist, FAO
Elisa Visconti, Natural Resources Unit, FAO
Nicola Perullo, Didactical Coordinator of the University for Gastronomic Sciences of Slow Food
READINGS:
The course readings consist of books, journal articles and grey literature. Students are required to read the following books before coming to Italy:
Avakian, Arlene Voski. Haber, Barbara. From Betty Crocker to Feminist Food Studies: Critical Perspectives on Women and Food. University of Massachusetts Press, 2005.
Inness, Sherrie A. ed. Cooking Lessons: The Politics of Gender and Food. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. Harper Perennial, 2002.
Shiva, Vandana (ed). Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. South End Press. 2007.
Warren, Karen. Erkal, Nisvan. Ecofeminism. Indiana University Press. 1997.
COURSE OUTLINE:
DAY ONE: 6/1/09
Overview of course and course mechanics, administrative issues
Overview of the the global food system and the global food crisis
Readings:
Friedman, Harriet. "Feeding the Empire: Pathologies of Globalized Agriculture". Grew, Raymond. Food in Global History, 1999. 33 - 57.
von Braun, Joachim. The world food situation : New driving forces and required actions [In Chinese] (Food Policy Report 18) Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 18 pages. 2008.
DAY TWO: 6/2/09
Overview of global nutrition and the role of diet/food
Basics of nutrition
Controversies in nutrition
Readings:
Nestle, Marion. "Politics Versus Science. Opposing the Food Pyramid, 1991 - 1992". in Food Politics. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002. 51 – 64.
Kristensen, Søren Tange. Holm, Lotte. "Modern Meal Patterns: Tensions Between Bodily Needs and the Organization of Time and Space". Food & Foodways: History & Culture of Human Nourishment. Jul-Dec2006. Vol.14, No. 3/4, 151-173.
"The pervasive triad of food security, gender inequity and women's health: Exploratory research from sub-Saharan Africa". in African Health Sciences. December 2005. Vol 5 No 4.
Asfaw, Abay. "Supermarket purchases and the dietary patterns of households in Guatemala". IFPRI Discussion Paper 00696 . Washington. April 2007
Nestle, Marion. "Co-opting Nutrition Professionals". Food Politics. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002. 111 – 135.
DAY THREE: 6/3/09
Ecofeminism and the problem of food
Readings:
Allen, Patricia. Sachs Carolyn. “Women and Food Chains: the Gendered politics of food”, “International Journal of Sociology of Food and Agriculture”. April 2007, Vol. 15(1)
Shiva, Vandana. The Violence of the Green Revolution. Third World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics. Zed Books, 1991.
Van Esterik, Penny . "Gender and Sustainable Food Systems: A Feminist Critique". Koc, Mustafa. MacRae, Rod. Mougeot, Luc J.A. Welsh, Jennifer ed. For Hunger-Proof Cities Sustainable Urban Food Systems. Canada: IDRD, 1999.
DAY FOUR: 6/4/09
Gender and food insecurity
Readings:
Guha-Khasnobis, Basudeb. Hazarika, Gautam. "Women’s Status and Children’s Food Security in Pakistan". Discussion Paper No. 2006/03. United Nations University WIDER, June 2006.
Gundersen, Craig. Kukuand, Yemisi. Kelly, Thomas. "Differences in Food Insecurity between Girls and Boys. Evidence from Zimbabwe". Research Paper No. 2007/53 . United Nations University WIDER, September 2007.
International Land Coalition. IFAD. FAO. Rural Women’s Access to Land
and Property in Selected Countries. Progress Towards Achieving the Aims of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Rome, June 2004.
Mu, Ren. Zhang, Xiaobo. "Gender Difference in the Long-Term Impact of Famine". IFPRI Discussion Paper 00760 . Washington, March 2008.
Oniang'o, Ruth. Mukudi, Edith . "Gender and Nutrition". World Bank Brief. Washington, January 2002.
DAY FIVE: 6/5/09
History of gender roles and food preparation
Gender role transformation and its impact on eating patterns
Readings:
Beardsworth, Alan. Brynan, Alan. Keil, Teresa. Goode, Jackie. "Women, men and food: The significance of gender for nutritional attitudes and choices". British Food Journal, 2002, Vol. 104, n. 7, 470 – 491.
Haber, Barbara. "Following Food". Avakian, Arlen Voski ed. Through the Kitchen Window: Women Writers Explore the Intimate Meanings of Food and Cooking, 1997. 65 – 75.
IFPRI. Women: Still the Key to Food and Nutrition Security, 2005.
DAY SIX: 6/8/09
Case Study: Review of European food security through a feminist lens
Introduction to traditional foods, organics and the healthy eating movement
Reading:
Horrigan, Leo; Lawrence, Robert S; and Walker, Polly. "How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture". Environmental Health Perspectives, May 2002. Vol.110.
DAY SEVEN: 6/9/09
Permaculture and organic food production
The Slow Food movement
Petrini, Carlo. Slow Food Nation. Why our food should be clean, good and fair. Rizzoli, 2005.
Avery, Dennis T. The Most Sustainable Farming in History Gives The World Its Finest Food Choices: A Response to The Johns Hopkins University Authors. Hudson: Center For Global Food Issues, 2002.
"Organic Foods Offer a Better Way to Farm and a Better. Way to Eat — So Why Are They Under Siege?". Food Safety Review. Washington, 14 June 2005.
DAY EIGHT: 6/10/09
Visit to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization: Review and discuss FAO’s gender strategy
DAY NINE: 6/11/09
Visit to the World Food Program: review and discuss WFP’s gender strategy
Readings:
WFP. Gender Policy (2003-2007) Enhanced Commitments to Women to Ensure Food Security - (2002). Rome: World Food Programme, 2002.
DAY TEN: 6/12/09
Student group presentations
Course synthesis
...Read more
FOOD, GLOBALIZATION AND GENDER
BOLSENA, ITALY
JUNE 1-JUNE 12, 2009
COURSE INSTRUCTORS:
Nancy Mock (Organizational in New Orleans).
Nathan Morrow (On-site in Italy).
COURSE OVERVIEW:
The purpose of this course is to explore the changing role of food in the age of globalization and gender role transformation, and to analyze modern initiatives to promote healthy eating. The course reviews current controversies in food and nutrition science and the emerging concern relating to food nutrition. The course surveys the role played by politics in defining nutrition standards, the history of gender roles and construction of cultural identities around cooking and food preparation. The course analyzes global economic and political dynamics that continue to transform modern food systems and food habits and considers the role of gender role transformation in this process.
The course will involve field trips to the European Agency for Food Safety, to the Slow Food Academy and to the HQs of the: UN Food and Agriculture Organization, UN World Food Programme, UN International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Morning sessions will provide didactic sessions and case study analyses. In the afternoons students will visit local organic producers and distributors, commercial outlets, gourmet kitchens that offer traditional dishes with locally grown ingredients. Students will have the opportunity during the afternoon sessions to learn organic and permaculture techniques, slow food recipe preparation, cheese making, olive oil making and other food production and preparation techniques.
STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Understand how globalization affects food systems locally
Compare and contrast various technological and traditional strategies to achieve sustainable food systems
Discuss the ecofeminism movement and its impact on food systems
Review the history of food in culture and its relationship to gender roles
Explore modern initiatives to strengthen healthy eating and food-culture
Develop practical skills in food production and preparation (optional)
STUDENT EVALUATION:
Course Participation (25%)
Written and oral presentation of course readings (20%)
(1 undergraduate, 2 graduates): first half hour of each class session will be devoted to short presentations.
Group work (25%): Analysis of gender and food initiatives of FAO, WFP and IFAD
In class exam: 3 hours for graduate students, 2 hours for undergraduate (30% for graduate students and 50% for undergraduate students)
Research Paper: Graduate students only.
GUEST LECTURERS:
Karl Marilee Louise, ISIS International (feminist organization), President
Wendy Harcourt, Editor in chief of “Development”
Prof. Claudio Sardoni, University of Rome La Sapienza
Saviana Parodi, PhD in Biology, Permaculture
Andrea Ferrante, President of Italian Association for Biological Agriculture
Jeffrey Marzili, Food and Agriculture Organization
Sean Kennedy, International Fund for Agriculture and Development
Joyce Luma, World Food Program
Gina Pattugalan - Programme Officer, Policy Unit of WFP
Aziz Arya, Economist, FAO
Elisa Visconti, Natural Resources Unit, FAO
Nicola Perullo, Didactical Coordinator of the University for Gastronomic Sciences of Slow Food
READINGS:
The course readings consist of books, journal articles and grey literature. Students are required to read the following books before coming to Italy:
Avakian, Arlene Voski. Haber, Barbara. From Betty Crocker to Feminist Food Studies: Critical Perspectives on Women and Food. University of Massachusetts Press, 2005.
Inness, Sherrie A. ed. Cooking Lessons: The Politics of Gender and Food. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. Harper Perennial, 2002.
Shiva, Vandana (ed). Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed. South End Press. 2007.
Warren, Karen. Erkal, Nisvan. Ecofeminism. Indiana University Press. 1997.
COURSE OUTLINE:
DAY ONE: 6/1/09
Overview of course and course mechanics, administrative issues
Overview of the the global food system and the global food crisis
Readings:
Friedman, Harriet. "Feeding the Empire: Pathologies of Globalized Agriculture". Grew, Raymond. Food in Global History, 1999. 33 - 57.
von Braun, Joachim. The world food situation : New driving forces and required actions [In Chinese] (Food Policy Report 18) Washington, D.C.: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) 18 pages. 2008.
DAY TWO: 6/2/09
Overview of global nutrition and the role of diet/food
Basics of nutrition
Controversies in nutrition
Readings:
Nestle, Marion. "Politics Versus Science. Opposing the Food Pyramid, 1991 - 1992". in Food Politics. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002. 51 – 64.
Kristensen, Søren Tange. Holm, Lotte. "Modern Meal Patterns: Tensions Between Bodily Needs and the Organization of Time and Space". Food & Foodways: History & Culture of Human Nourishment. Jul-Dec2006. Vol.14, No. 3/4, 151-173.
"The pervasive triad of food security, gender inequity and women's health: Exploratory research from sub-Saharan Africa". in African Health Sciences. December 2005. Vol 5 No 4.
Asfaw, Abay. "Supermarket purchases and the dietary patterns of households in Guatemala". IFPRI Discussion Paper 00696 . Washington. April 2007
Nestle, Marion. "Co-opting Nutrition Professionals". Food Politics. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2002. 111 – 135.
DAY THREE: 6/3/09
Ecofeminism and the problem of food
Readings:
Allen, Patricia. Sachs Carolyn. “Women and Food Chains: the Gendered politics of food”, “International Journal of Sociology of Food and Agriculture”. April 2007, Vol. 15(1)
Shiva, Vandana. The Violence of the Green Revolution. Third World Agriculture, Ecology and Politics. Zed Books, 1991.
Van Esterik, Penny . "Gender and Sustainable Food Systems: A Feminist Critique". Koc, Mustafa. MacRae, Rod. Mougeot, Luc J.A. Welsh, Jennifer ed. For Hunger-Proof Cities Sustainable Urban Food Systems. Canada: IDRD, 1999.
DAY FOUR: 6/4/09
Gender and food insecurity
Readings:
Guha-Khasnobis, Basudeb. Hazarika, Gautam. "Women’s Status and Children’s Food Security in Pakistan". Discussion Paper No. 2006/03. United Nations University WIDER, June 2006.
Gundersen, Craig. Kukuand, Yemisi. Kelly, Thomas. "Differences in Food Insecurity between Girls and Boys. Evidence from Zimbabwe". Research Paper No. 2007/53 . United Nations University WIDER, September 2007.
International Land Coalition. IFAD. FAO. Rural Women’s Access to Land
and Property in Selected Countries. Progress Towards Achieving the Aims of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Rome, June 2004.
Mu, Ren. Zhang, Xiaobo. "Gender Difference in the Long-Term Impact of Famine". IFPRI Discussion Paper 00760 . Washington, March 2008.
Oniang'o, Ruth. Mukudi, Edith . "Gender and Nutrition". World Bank Brief. Washington, January 2002.
DAY FIVE: 6/5/09
History of gender roles and food preparation
Gender role transformation and its impact on eating patterns
Readings:
Beardsworth, Alan. Brynan, Alan. Keil, Teresa. Goode, Jackie. "Women, men and food: The significance of gender for nutritional attitudes and choices". British Food Journal, 2002, Vol. 104, n. 7, 470 – 491.
Haber, Barbara. "Following Food". Avakian, Arlen Voski ed. Through the Kitchen Window: Women Writers Explore the Intimate Meanings of Food and Cooking, 1997. 65 – 75.
IFPRI. Women: Still the Key to Food and Nutrition Security, 2005.
DAY SIX: 6/8/09
Case Study: Review of European food security through a feminist lens
Introduction to traditional foods, organics and the healthy eating movement
Reading:
Horrigan, Leo; Lawrence, Robert S; and Walker, Polly. "How Sustainable Agriculture Can Address the Environmental and Human Health Harms of Industrial Agriculture". Environmental Health Perspectives, May 2002. Vol.110.
DAY SEVEN: 6/9/09
Permaculture and organic food production
The Slow Food movement
Petrini, Carlo. Slow Food Nation. Why our food should be clean, good and fair. Rizzoli, 2005.
Avery, Dennis T. The Most Sustainable Farming in History Gives The World Its Finest Food Choices: A Response to The Johns Hopkins University Authors. Hudson: Center For Global Food Issues, 2002.
"Organic Foods Offer a Better Way to Farm and a Better. Way to Eat — So Why Are They Under Siege?". Food Safety Review. Washington, 14 June 2005.
DAY EIGHT: 6/10/09
Visit to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization: Review and discuss FAO’s gender strategy
DAY NINE: 6/11/09
Visit to the World Food Program: review and discuss WFP’s gender strategy
Readings:
WFP. Gender Policy (2003-2007) Enhanced Commitments to Women to Ensure Food Security - (2002). Rome: World Food Programme, 2002.
DAY TEN: 6/12/09
Student group presentations
Course synthesis
...Read more
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Donald Link Interview
Donald Link is one of New Orlean's most respected chefs, helming Herbsaint, Cochon, and the new Cochon Butcher. An expert on real-deal Cajun food, old-world cooking techniques, and charcuterie, Link brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to the Big Easy's food scene. Link, a Louisiana native, began his rise to fame in the San Francisco Bay Area. With the 2000 opening of the now-famous Herbsaint in New Orleans Warehouse District, Link's personal and honest style of cooking gained considerable critical acclaim and popular notice.
Link opened the deservedly-beloved Cochon in 2006, bringing authentic Cajun and Southern food in a comfortable atmosphere to the city, including such old-school favorites Louisiana cochon du lait, rabbit and dumplings, spoon bread with okra and tomatoes, and NOLA's absolute best pineapple upside down cake. Most recently, Link has opened Cochon Butcher, a meat market inspired by the traditions and flavors of the Old World. Butcher offers house-made cured meats and sausages, as well as Cajun delicacies like andouille, tasso, and boudin - as well as sandwiches, small plates, and other delectable snacks.
We from the NCCROW Sumemr Institute asked Donald Link a few questions about his cooking techniques and his connections to the foods and cooking techniques of Italy.
How did you learn to produce European-style cured meats? Did you travel to Europe in order to do this?
We have been making our own sausage, tasso, and bacon for years now. About 5 years ago we started experimenting with salamis, guanciale and pancetta in small quantities. Through trial and error and lots of practice we now are making them for our butcher shop in larger quantities by using two cooling/aging rooms.
What, in your opinion, is the Italian influence on Cajun cuisine?
I don’t know how much Italian influence there is in Cajun food. The Sicilian influence is very present in creole food however with the use of tomatoes, garlic and pasta. Cajun food is very rooted in French and German styles.
How have Italian foods and foodways influenced the way you cook? Are there particular techniques or ingredients commonly used in Italy that have influenced your own style?
Italian food has always been a great love of mine. What I think is similar to Cajun food is the simplicity of the dishes. Simple roasts of meats with their natural juices and simple sides. One of the best meals I had in Italy was a veal roast with the pan drippings and a 4 cheese garganelli pasta. At Herbsaint we make all our pasta and gnocchi from scratch and use only our house made meats.
What charcuterie methods or products do you find most interesting from the perspective of a producer, and what are you working on right now at Cochon Butcher?
What I find most interesting about charcuterie is that it allows you to utilize the entire animal. At Butcher we are doing everything from guanciale to sopressata.
Link opened the deservedly-beloved Cochon in 2006, bringing authentic Cajun and Southern food in a comfortable atmosphere to the city, including such old-school favorites Louisiana cochon du lait, rabbit and dumplings, spoon bread with okra and tomatoes, and NOLA's absolute best pineapple upside down cake. Most recently, Link has opened Cochon Butcher, a meat market inspired by the traditions and flavors of the Old World. Butcher offers house-made cured meats and sausages, as well as Cajun delicacies like andouille, tasso, and boudin - as well as sandwiches, small plates, and other delectable snacks.
We from the NCCROW Sumemr Institute asked Donald Link a few questions about his cooking techniques and his connections to the foods and cooking techniques of Italy.
How did you learn to produce European-style cured meats? Did you travel to Europe in order to do this?
We have been making our own sausage, tasso, and bacon for years now. About 5 years ago we started experimenting with salamis, guanciale and pancetta in small quantities. Through trial and error and lots of practice we now are making them for our butcher shop in larger quantities by using two cooling/aging rooms.
What, in your opinion, is the Italian influence on Cajun cuisine?
I don’t know how much Italian influence there is in Cajun food. The Sicilian influence is very present in creole food however with the use of tomatoes, garlic and pasta. Cajun food is very rooted in French and German styles.
How have Italian foods and foodways influenced the way you cook? Are there particular techniques or ingredients commonly used in Italy that have influenced your own style?
Italian food has always been a great love of mine. What I think is similar to Cajun food is the simplicity of the dishes. Simple roasts of meats with their natural juices and simple sides. One of the best meals I had in Italy was a veal roast with the pan drippings and a 4 cheese garganelli pasta. At Herbsaint we make all our pasta and gnocchi from scratch and use only our house made meats.
What charcuterie methods or products do you find most interesting from the perspective of a producer, and what are you working on right now at Cochon Butcher?
What I find most interesting about charcuterie is that it allows you to utilize the entire animal. At Butcher we are doing everything from guanciale to sopressata.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Day 11: Last Day at the Convent, Buffalo Mozzarella, Lasagna!
Day 11
We began today with beautiful weather. Nathan decided to give us a lecture on the agencies we would be visiting in Rome - it takes some background info to sort out eh different food-aid organizations that operate in the Eternal City. You can read the lecture here.
We spent the rest of the morning catching up on our work - we needed to finish up our herbarium project (which can be read at this link). The weather had finally become clear and beautiful again, and it was nice to hang out in the garden and enjoy our last day at the Convent.
Enzo prepared a delicious carbonara for our primi with huge amounts of cream, cheese, and lardo. A hell of a lot better then the gloppy fettucini-esque junk we get in the USA. Enzo has mastered the art of the al dente noodle.
The chicken cacciatore was great - think he used the caponata from the night before. It was tender and slightly sweet. Really liked it.
Enzo ended the meal with a dish of strawberries in lemon juice and sugar, complete with a cookie. Enzo's getting all fancy up in here.
We did have one last food adventure before us: a trip to a buffalo mozzarella factory near Bolsena. Some background first. The origin of the water buffalo in Italy is mysterious and uncertain. Some say the buffalo came from Sicily via Normans around the year 1000, the buffalo having been introduced to Sicily by Arab traders. Others maintain they were brought to Italy by the Goths during medieval migrations - and another states the buffalo actually originated in Italy and didn't arise in Asia at all. Being totally under-qualified in the field of bovine migrations, I leave the call on that up to you. In any case, the hairy and oddly adorable water buffalo has been a fixture in Italy since at least the 12th century, finding employment as a powerful draught animal in marshy and difficult areas. The buffalo were also prized for their delicious milk - which is used today for the production of Italy's justly famous buffalo mozzarella.
But how exactly is buffalo mozzarella made, you ask? Allow me to explain. First off, buffalo milk is richer then cow milk, and thus requires less to produce cheese - you need 8 kg of cow milk for 1 kg of cheese, but only 5 kg of buffalo's milk to get the same amount. Buffalo provide bang for the buck.
Fresh buffalo milk is harvested then stored in big containers. The producers we visited use VERY fresh milk - all their animals are right down the hill behind the shop. The milk is then heated, and poured into a liquid separator.
The mozzarella curd on the table. Natural whey is added to the heated milk to begin this process. You have to use it very quickly or it goes gross.
The congealed bits of curd are tossed into a bath, in order to reduce the acidification process. The liquid is removed and hot water is added, creating the stretchy pasta filata texture required in this cheese's production.
The cheese is then shaped into various forms - here, the cheese maker is turning the cheese into a long rope, which he will use to produce a large mozzarella braid.
Here the cheese guys demonstrate how those cute little mozzarella balls are made: a machine pops them out directly into a tub of water. The process is inexplicably completely charming.
Some of the products the factory turns out. Highlights include smoked mozzarella, burrata (runny goodness) and distinctive buffalo milk yogurt. We bought a big bag of made-seconds-before cheese to bring home to Enzo for supper.
A line of buffalo. Say cheese.
After our lesson in the tender art of mozzarella making, it was time to visit the buffalo themselves. The buffalo at this producer lived right down the hill, in a yard with a nice view of the Umbrian countryside below. I am no judge of buffalo well-being but they seemed pretty happy to me - they regarded us all curiously as we walked to their pen, where they were enjoying an evening meal of hay. The cheese producers have employed a Punjabi man to care for the animals - who better to maintain a buffalo herd then someone from India?
They're adorable in a hairy sort of way.
Kourtney makes a new best friend.
I imagine he is cursing the paparazzi, but who really knows the secret thoughts of a water buffalo?
In flagrant disobedience of Nathan's "Don't blog about some dog you liked" rule....here is a dog I liked at the cheese factory.
We left the cheese producer with some excellent snacks for the evening and new insight into the shaggy beasties who produced it. As the weather was great, Amanda and I decided to get off in town for some sight-seeing and gelato eating...
St Christina's Church in Bolsena. A big ol' miracle occured here in 1263, when a German priest, one Peter of Prague, took a break in Bolsena on his way to Rome. Peter found it rather hard to believe that Christ was actually present in the consecrated Host - but as he celebrated the Holy Mass above the church's tomb of Saint Christina, he was astonished to find blood seeping from the host and running over his hands and the linen cloth below them. Peter, big on proof, immediately headed to nearby Orvieto, where then Pope Urban IV was living. The Pope, after conducting an investigation, decided Peter's story was truth: he commanded that the Host and the bloody linens be placed in the Orvieto cathedral, where it remains today. Pilgrims still go to Bolsena's church to recognize this long ago miracle - and in 1964, the 700th anniversary of the event, Pope Paul VI himself recognized Mass at the altar that keeps the holy Corporal. Not bad for a small town.
The church itself is as beautiful inside as it outside, comprising an interesting mixture of architectural styles: the chapel where the miracle occurred is Baroque styled, and was done over in 1693. The attractive outside facade, Florentine in style, was commissioned in 1492 by one Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici. The church is an essential sight if you're ever in Bolsena.
Time for one last visit to our favorite gelato store. Here's Amanda posing outside.
The late afternoon streets of Bolsena. These cafes will be packed around 7:00ish when people filter in for their pre-dinner espresso, snack, and gossip session.
Amanda pointed out these excellent tiles to me, implanted in the walls of Bolsena's back-allies and streets. There's quite a few more of these tiles then then the ones I've photographed here. Presumably they represent different factions and aspects of Bolsena's history - I should probably find out more, huh?
Then it was time for our last dinner at the convent. Enzo decided he'd do it up big, preparing his Lasagna Ala Enzo. Here everyone waits with bated breath (and drinks wine). Enzo popped open some of the good stuff in our honor.
Enzo prepared an antipasti plate with the mozzarella from the factory. Just as delicious as it looked. We were, however, just about prosciuttoed by this juncture - although the local melons remain completely divine.
Enzo's ginormous signature lasagna. It's actually more of a pasta bake: rotini noodles layered with a white bechamel sauce and a meaty ragu, as well as plenty of tomato. Totally rich and totally good.
A slice of the good stuff.
Enzo even had a cake made for us!
Yellow cake with cream frosting and some sort of almondy filling - delicious.
We lingered for a while, sipping wine, but the weather was getting chilly and we had to wake up early to head to Rome. We certainly had had a fitting sendoff.
We began today with beautiful weather. Nathan decided to give us a lecture on the agencies we would be visiting in Rome - it takes some background info to sort out eh different food-aid organizations that operate in the Eternal City. You can read the lecture here.
We spent the rest of the morning catching up on our work - we needed to finish up our herbarium project (which can be read at this link). The weather had finally become clear and beautiful again, and it was nice to hang out in the garden and enjoy our last day at the Convent.
Enzo prepared a delicious carbonara for our primi with huge amounts of cream, cheese, and lardo. A hell of a lot better then the gloppy fettucini-esque junk we get in the USA. Enzo has mastered the art of the al dente noodle.
The chicken cacciatore was great - think he used the caponata from the night before. It was tender and slightly sweet. Really liked it.
Enzo ended the meal with a dish of strawberries in lemon juice and sugar, complete with a cookie. Enzo's getting all fancy up in here.
We did have one last food adventure before us: a trip to a buffalo mozzarella factory near Bolsena. Some background first. The origin of the water buffalo in Italy is mysterious and uncertain. Some say the buffalo came from Sicily via Normans around the year 1000, the buffalo having been introduced to Sicily by Arab traders. Others maintain they were brought to Italy by the Goths during medieval migrations - and another states the buffalo actually originated in Italy and didn't arise in Asia at all. Being totally under-qualified in the field of bovine migrations, I leave the call on that up to you. In any case, the hairy and oddly adorable water buffalo has been a fixture in Italy since at least the 12th century, finding employment as a powerful draught animal in marshy and difficult areas. The buffalo were also prized for their delicious milk - which is used today for the production of Italy's justly famous buffalo mozzarella.
But how exactly is buffalo mozzarella made, you ask? Allow me to explain. First off, buffalo milk is richer then cow milk, and thus requires less to produce cheese - you need 8 kg of cow milk for 1 kg of cheese, but only 5 kg of buffalo's milk to get the same amount. Buffalo provide bang for the buck.
Fresh buffalo milk is harvested then stored in big containers. The producers we visited use VERY fresh milk - all their animals are right down the hill behind the shop. The milk is then heated, and poured into a liquid separator.
The mozzarella curd on the table. Natural whey is added to the heated milk to begin this process. You have to use it very quickly or it goes gross.
The congealed bits of curd are tossed into a bath, in order to reduce the acidification process. The liquid is removed and hot water is added, creating the stretchy pasta filata texture required in this cheese's production.
The cheese is then shaped into various forms - here, the cheese maker is turning the cheese into a long rope, which he will use to produce a large mozzarella braid.
Here the cheese guys demonstrate how those cute little mozzarella balls are made: a machine pops them out directly into a tub of water. The process is inexplicably completely charming.
Some of the products the factory turns out. Highlights include smoked mozzarella, burrata (runny goodness) and distinctive buffalo milk yogurt. We bought a big bag of made-seconds-before cheese to bring home to Enzo for supper.
A line of buffalo. Say cheese.
After our lesson in the tender art of mozzarella making, it was time to visit the buffalo themselves. The buffalo at this producer lived right down the hill, in a yard with a nice view of the Umbrian countryside below. I am no judge of buffalo well-being but they seemed pretty happy to me - they regarded us all curiously as we walked to their pen, where they were enjoying an evening meal of hay. The cheese producers have employed a Punjabi man to care for the animals - who better to maintain a buffalo herd then someone from India?
They're adorable in a hairy sort of way.
Kourtney makes a new best friend.
I imagine he is cursing the paparazzi, but who really knows the secret thoughts of a water buffalo?
In flagrant disobedience of Nathan's "Don't blog about some dog you liked" rule....here is a dog I liked at the cheese factory.
We left the cheese producer with some excellent snacks for the evening and new insight into the shaggy beasties who produced it. As the weather was great, Amanda and I decided to get off in town for some sight-seeing and gelato eating...
St Christina's Church in Bolsena. A big ol' miracle occured here in 1263, when a German priest, one Peter of Prague, took a break in Bolsena on his way to Rome. Peter found it rather hard to believe that Christ was actually present in the consecrated Host - but as he celebrated the Holy Mass above the church's tomb of Saint Christina, he was astonished to find blood seeping from the host and running over his hands and the linen cloth below them. Peter, big on proof, immediately headed to nearby Orvieto, where then Pope Urban IV was living. The Pope, after conducting an investigation, decided Peter's story was truth: he commanded that the Host and the bloody linens be placed in the Orvieto cathedral, where it remains today. Pilgrims still go to Bolsena's church to recognize this long ago miracle - and in 1964, the 700th anniversary of the event, Pope Paul VI himself recognized Mass at the altar that keeps the holy Corporal. Not bad for a small town.
The church itself is as beautiful inside as it outside, comprising an interesting mixture of architectural styles: the chapel where the miracle occurred is Baroque styled, and was done over in 1693. The attractive outside facade, Florentine in style, was commissioned in 1492 by one Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici. The church is an essential sight if you're ever in Bolsena.
Time for one last visit to our favorite gelato store. Here's Amanda posing outside.
The late afternoon streets of Bolsena. These cafes will be packed around 7:00ish when people filter in for their pre-dinner espresso, snack, and gossip session.
Amanda pointed out these excellent tiles to me, implanted in the walls of Bolsena's back-allies and streets. There's quite a few more of these tiles then then the ones I've photographed here. Presumably they represent different factions and aspects of Bolsena's history - I should probably find out more, huh?
Then it was time for our last dinner at the convent. Enzo decided he'd do it up big, preparing his Lasagna Ala Enzo. Here everyone waits with bated breath (and drinks wine). Enzo popped open some of the good stuff in our honor.
Enzo prepared an antipasti plate with the mozzarella from the factory. Just as delicious as it looked. We were, however, just about prosciuttoed by this juncture - although the local melons remain completely divine.
Enzo's ginormous signature lasagna. It's actually more of a pasta bake: rotini noodles layered with a white bechamel sauce and a meaty ragu, as well as plenty of tomato. Totally rich and totally good.
A slice of the good stuff.
Enzo even had a cake made for us!
Yellow cake with cream frosting and some sort of almondy filling - delicious.
We lingered for a while, sipping wine, but the weather was getting chilly and we had to wake up early to head to Rome. We certainly had had a fitting sendoff.
Kitchenaid- For the way it's made!
Originally created in 1908 by Herbert Johnson for industrial baking kitchens, the kitchen aid was a feat of modern steel technology. With a few single attachments, the hard hand labor of mass production baking was solved. While it began as an 80 quart model, smaller versions were introduced until 1919 for commercial bakers. The model went on the market and introduced a specialized type of mixing, where the bowl spun one way, and the whisk the other.
The H5 home version was introduced in 1919…a miracle for the home cook. The first 5 quart model sold for $189.95, $2000 in today’s money. In 1930, Sunbeam introduced a much smaller and cheaper mixer model using similar technology, which forced Kitchen aid to redesign its product in 1936, which we are familiar with today. The price was reduced to only $55, but still sold well over price of the other competitors models. In 1955, the color range expanded as consumer demand went up. Today’s line has changed little in form or function and includes some of the original colors.
The H5 home version was introduced in 1919…a miracle for the home cook. The first 5 quart model sold for $189.95, $2000 in today’s money. In 1930, Sunbeam introduced a much smaller and cheaper mixer model using similar technology, which forced Kitchen aid to redesign its product in 1936, which we are familiar with today. The price was reduced to only $55, but still sold well over price of the other competitors models. In 1955, the color range expanded as consumer demand went up. Today’s line has changed little in form or function and includes some of the original colors.
The mixer and parallel kitchen technologies really imposed the idea that women could make their men happy by purchasing products that were multi function, allowing the woman to do it all. The technology also provided a time saving aspect, which allowed the woman to focus on other aspects of the home. While this appliance was a time saver, other technologies in food had allowed for even greater time saving, such as the boxed cake mix, jell-o, and hamburger helper. The shortage of the food preparation process was happening in the home by Kitchenaid, as the industrialization of the food chain was happening on a larger scale.
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Sunday, June 14, 2009
Day 10: Lazy Day, Olive Oil Factory!
Day 10
Today was a mercifully slow day: we needed time to work on our assignments and regroup from our rewarding but hectic visit to Bra and Parma. We woke up pleasantly late and began the morning with an overview of our visits to Slow Food, EFSA, and food producers. Some concerns about EFSA's actual activities in relation to what it says it does were raised, as well as Slow Food's occasional tendency to use gendered terms in relation to food. (It wasn't hard to miss the high incidence of men at Terra Madre in relation to women, at least judging from the documentary).
We also discussed our impending assignment, a gender analysis of a movie or book. We were provided with some tools for analyzing movies for gender. We also identified Key Industrial Locations, such as state, market, community, family and kinship.
We were to look for these elements:
Rules - how things get done, what is done, how it is done, by whom it will be done.
Activities - what is done? Who does what? Who gets what? Who can claim what?
Resources: What is used? Who has what? What is produced?
Power- Who decides? What interests are served?
Results will be posted on the blog as soon as they are graded.
As I had missed a visit to Enzo's olive-oil factory earlier in the week, Enzo decided he would have to take me and Gerarada down for a visit that morning. We jumped into his dog-hair covered car (Oliver!) and headed to the factory. Enzo works there when he's not cooking for us at the convento.
Some of the olive-oil and traditional Italian delicacies on offer. The factory is Slow Food certified and justifiably proud of their products.
Enzo posing with the goods.
A machine used for smushing olives. At least that was what I could figure out. (Attempting to communicate the notion of smushing through broken Italian and English is really, really amusing).
The factories sign. Stop in if you're in the Bolsena region!
I picked up some strawberry jam (good around here) and some of the delightful local honey. No oil, I'm afraid - I don't think it will last another month in my bag and the results will be dire if it does explode all over my clothes. Boo.
For lunch, Enzo made us some penne with cheese and peporonata - really delicious and piquant.
Most of us spent the afternoon hanging out in the poppy-strewn garden and catching up on our assignments - a nice change from the all-prosciutto all the time adventure of the day before. We did decide to head into town to seek out some good wine for Ellie and indulge in a bit of gelato.
This gelateria on Bolsena's main square serves the gelato we sampled at the factory.
Some of the excellent flavors on offer. The Santa Cristina was particularly interesting: a crunchy and tart combination of orange, lemon, and carrot. The ricotta with cinnamon and the mascarpone were also delightful. Santa Cristina is committed to using real ingredients and the benefits to the gelato's flavor are obvious.
I had some incredibly intensely flavored and rich blackberry gelato with Santa Cristina (carrot) on the bottom. This was excellent. And the photo is not excellent.
We enjoyed a walk through town - Bolsena really is an attractive place, and mercifully low on tourists.
Enzo served us some bean soup with bread. It tasted rather like an Italian riff on bean soup - I really liked this.
Our secondi was a simple summer plate of bruschetta. We had chicken and pepper pate, arugula-pesto type stuff (slightly bitter and good), and something composed of liver. There was also some fresh-made pepper caponata, some white bean salad with olive oil and pepper, and some fresh local cheese.
Finally: another nice local tart with apricot jam.
We spent the evening working, and some of us decided to watch Fast Food Nation. It got the point across, I suppose, though I wouldn't suggest watching it if you are interested in consuming fast food hamburgers ever again. (But if you could eat real food why would you want to?
Today was a mercifully slow day: we needed time to work on our assignments and regroup from our rewarding but hectic visit to Bra and Parma. We woke up pleasantly late and began the morning with an overview of our visits to Slow Food, EFSA, and food producers. Some concerns about EFSA's actual activities in relation to what it says it does were raised, as well as Slow Food's occasional tendency to use gendered terms in relation to food. (It wasn't hard to miss the high incidence of men at Terra Madre in relation to women, at least judging from the documentary).
We also discussed our impending assignment, a gender analysis of a movie or book. We were provided with some tools for analyzing movies for gender. We also identified Key Industrial Locations, such as state, market, community, family and kinship.
We were to look for these elements:
Rules - how things get done, what is done, how it is done, by whom it will be done.
Activities - what is done? Who does what? Who gets what? Who can claim what?
Resources: What is used? Who has what? What is produced?
Power- Who decides? What interests are served?
Results will be posted on the blog as soon as they are graded.
As I had missed a visit to Enzo's olive-oil factory earlier in the week, Enzo decided he would have to take me and Gerarada down for a visit that morning. We jumped into his dog-hair covered car (Oliver!) and headed to the factory. Enzo works there when he's not cooking for us at the convento.
Some of the olive-oil and traditional Italian delicacies on offer. The factory is Slow Food certified and justifiably proud of their products.
Enzo posing with the goods.
A machine used for smushing olives. At least that was what I could figure out. (Attempting to communicate the notion of smushing through broken Italian and English is really, really amusing).
The factories sign. Stop in if you're in the Bolsena region!
I picked up some strawberry jam (good around here) and some of the delightful local honey. No oil, I'm afraid - I don't think it will last another month in my bag and the results will be dire if it does explode all over my clothes. Boo.
For lunch, Enzo made us some penne with cheese and peporonata - really delicious and piquant.
Most of us spent the afternoon hanging out in the poppy-strewn garden and catching up on our assignments - a nice change from the all-prosciutto all the time adventure of the day before. We did decide to head into town to seek out some good wine for Ellie and indulge in a bit of gelato.
This gelateria on Bolsena's main square serves the gelato we sampled at the factory.
Some of the excellent flavors on offer. The Santa Cristina was particularly interesting: a crunchy and tart combination of orange, lemon, and carrot. The ricotta with cinnamon and the mascarpone were also delightful. Santa Cristina is committed to using real ingredients and the benefits to the gelato's flavor are obvious.
I had some incredibly intensely flavored and rich blackberry gelato with Santa Cristina (carrot) on the bottom. This was excellent. And the photo is not excellent.
We enjoyed a walk through town - Bolsena really is an attractive place, and mercifully low on tourists.
Enzo served us some bean soup with bread. It tasted rather like an Italian riff on bean soup - I really liked this.
Our secondi was a simple summer plate of bruschetta. We had chicken and pepper pate, arugula-pesto type stuff (slightly bitter and good), and something composed of liver. There was also some fresh-made pepper caponata, some white bean salad with olive oil and pepper, and some fresh local cheese.
Finally: another nice local tart with apricot jam.
We spent the evening working, and some of us decided to watch Fast Food Nation. It got the point across, I suppose, though I wouldn't suggest watching it if you are interested in consuming fast food hamburgers ever again. (But if you could eat real food why would you want to?
EFSA, Parmesan Cheese, and Prosciutto
Day 9
EFSA, Parmesan Cheese, and Prosciutto
We woke up fairly early and headed over to the European Food Safety Authority for our morning lectures. EFSA'S headquarter were conveniently located extremely close to our hotel in Parma, and we enjoyed the AM stroll through Parma's morning street scene. The super-modern new buildings hosts the European Food Safety Authority's main offices, an organization which formed in Brussels in 2002 and was recently transferred to Parma. Parma is, after all, petitioning to be granted the status of Europe's "food valley" due to its profusion of artisan producers.
A brief account of what, exactly, EFSA is may be read here.
EFSA functions as the keystone of the European Union's Food and Feed Safety risk assessment. EFSA works with national authorities and independent stakeholders, in an effort to present scientific advice and communication on issues and dangers within the food system. EFSA works in tandem with top-notch scientists and experts to produce opinions on the relative safety of the food system, in the hope of heading off the next food-related disaster. The Authority produces opinions on topics such as nutrition, GMO's, nanotechnology, zoonoses (animal born diseases) and other topics related to issue of food safety.
EFSA was formed as a response to the widespread consumer drop in confidence that occurred after the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the UK, a dreadful malady you may know as Mad Cow. The Authority's representatives presented us with three discussions, regarding how the organization functions, their review process (especially in regards to health claims from novel foods,) and some information on their nutritional review practices.
EFSA's formal headquarters in Parma.
After EFSA, it was time to leave Parma. We stopped briefly by EFSA's formal Parma headquarters - located in a very nice park - then drove out of town, heading across the rolling green hills and farmland to our next food venture. Our destination was a Parmigiano Reggiano factory, located about half an hour outside of the town itself. This valley is the only place in the world where cheesemakers may call their product "parmigiano".
When we got to the factory, an employee greeted us and presented us with a plate of (you guessed it) parmesan cheese. There were two kinds on offer. There was a fresh parmesan with a softer texture and flavor, and a harder, older version more familar to the Ameican palate. They were delicious: a clear, sharp, earthy flavor miles away from the junk in the green shaker-container. It is a shame that young parmigiano is not widely available in the USA.
We were also provided with some nice salami, some grissini (breadsticks) and a curious Italian variant on Coke.
After waiting around a while for the tour-guide to appear and sucking down all of the mysterious soda-pop, we were allowed into the factory to observe the esoteric practice of cheese making. The factory was not very large - it's a small scale cheese producer - and had an either pleasant or icky smell of incredibly strong cheese.
These are the huge copper tubs the milk is pumped into. To make real parmagiano-reggiano cheese, the milk must come from 10 KM or less away. No imported stuff is allowed. The cheese is produced with a combination of whole raw cow's milk and naturally skimmed milk, and the combination is pumped into these vats. They are copper because copper facilitates swift cooling.
Starter whey is added, the temperature is raised, and the calf rennet (don't ask) is put in. The whole mix is allowed to curdle for roughly ten to 12 minutes, whereupon the curd is broken up into tiny pieces and the temperature is risen again.
The cheese-makers let the curd hang out for about an hour, then collect it in a piece of cheesecloth and place it into molds. The infant cheeses are then put into a stainless steel mold which can be tightened to ensure the cheese remains pleasingly circular.
After a few days of this tightening process, the cheeses are placed in brine vats, where they will absorb salt for roughly 25 days.
Fresh parmesan prior to the aging process.
Once the cheeses have been brined, they are transferred to the aging room, where they will reside for a year. The aging room was an impressive sight, a veritable Presidential library of parmagiano-reggiano. There is even a nifty little cheese robot that turns the cheeses over once every two weeks, preventing human workers from throwing their backs out. Still, a human being turns the cheese over once a week as well, just to ascertain that everything is coming along nicely. Fine cheese like this can sell for incredible prices. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars is not an uncommon price to pay for a healthy-sized wheel of fine parmagiano-reggiano.
After the cheese factory, we headed to the Pio Tosini prosciutto factory, located a bit outside of Parma in the prosciutto-obsessed town of Langhirano. Langhirano is a town entirely devoted to the production and consumption of ham: there seem to be at least 20 prosciutto factories along the little burg's main drag. The factory we visited makes a particularly high quality and old-fashioned product, processing thousands of pig legs a year.
We were given a special tour of the factory, which has been turning out prosciutto di Parma since the early 1900's. Final conclusion? Prosciutto is rather like hot dogs. You may not want to know how they are made. Nevertheless it was a illuminating experience, with tasty results.
We had to put on fetching paper gowns to enter the factory for hygiene reasons. Here's Sabrina posing next to one of the tenderizing and salting machines.
After the meat is cleaned, salted and tenderized to satisfaction, it is chilled in these tremendous walk-in fridges. Here our guide is pointing out the fine points of prosciutto. I believe he was discussing the import of a large ventral vein on the side of ham.
Prosciutto fairly early on in the aging process.
The people of Parma and surrounding environs are extremely passionate about their food products. Parma likes to call itself Italy's "food valley" and it is not difficult to see why. Artisan products sprout up everywhere here, gourmet meat and cheese products hang in every shop window, and locals are always happy to expound on their favorite edibles.
Amanda posing with some prosciutti.
The hams are taken through a series of cooling and pressing processes, in an effort to drain all the blood from the meat without breaking the central bone. The hams are hung to dry in a cool environment. High quality prosciutti like these are hung for 500 days.
The prosciutto warehouse is an awe-inspiring place. It's a tremendous dark building hung with thousands upon thousands of prosciutto, and it is dark, close, and silent. We took a huge clanking meat elevator everywhere in the building, and it was a bit of an offputting experience. I found myself thinking that a horror movie set in a prosciutto factory would be so very easy to make. (It's not pigs - IT'S PEOPLE. You get the picture). The lights went out for a moment among the resplendent meat, producing a particularly bizarre moment: standing in the dark among a veritable pantheon of swinging hog legs. The place smells exactly as you might expect. It's the scent of a good ham duplicated about five thousand times. Overpowering.
After the prosciutto factory, it was off to the Prosciutto Museum, located nearby. We were, it must be said about at the point of prosciutto factory overdose. Still, I happen to really like prosciutto, and only longed for vegetables a little tiny bit.
The Museum is devoted entirely to Parma's favorite meat product, with exhibits focusing on topics such as the area's favored pig varieties, butchering tools, different curing and production methods, and the history of cured meats throughout the ages. It was interesting stuff, and the museum itself - located in the city's 1928-built cattle market, or Foro Boario - was a gorgeous piece of architecture. It is one of food-crazy Parma's four food museums. The others are a Museum of Parmesan, a museum devoted to Salami di Felino (as we sampled at Slow Food) and an institution in Collecchio all about tomatoes.
We had come for a Prosciutto degustation. This was a tasting of the area's finest meat products, accompanied with local wines and cheeses, a veritable feast of ham. The degustation was held in a lovely brick-and-ham lined room, where we were attended by a resident prosciutto expert, who bore a certain resemblance to an Italian and pig-obsessed George Clooney. He guided us through the magical world of Italian cured meats, a voyage which was accompanied by some excellent wines. You should probably do this immediately.
Decorative hams on the tasting room's walls. Meat is a form of household decoration in this part of Italy. (It's the same in Spain).
Giardinara, which are Italy's common mixed pickled vegetables. These were not too intensely vinegary and were very pleasant with the cheese. New Orleanians may recognize a relative of our beloved olive salad here.
Some very interesting hard rolls were served with the meats. These had a cracker-like exterior and a yeasty, soft interior. I liked these a lot. I have never had anything like them.
The excellent, local white wines we were served with the meats. The amadei was especially fine, with a sharp, white-fruit flavor. The other was a bit sweeter, with a taste almost like piquant honey. I'm going to seek these out when I get home.
Here we have our second taste of high-quality parmagiano-reggiano. The cheese is made by a tiny production group, who are developing their own "creme de la creme" brand - They are moving towards certifying each individual slice instead of each wheel, as is generally done. We were instructed to eat this fine cheese with millefloure honey and it was an ideal combination. The sharp, interesting bite of the cheese contrasted perfectly with the subtle sweetness of the honey. Millefloure honey, incidentally, is so named because it is made "from a 1000 flowers". It is harvested when the bees have finished their seasonal work.
The cheese was served with these delightful condiments. From left to right: walnut conserves with orange peel, strawberry and balsamic jam, and caramelized onion preserves. We went through more of these then we were necessarily supposed to. This is because they were delicious.
Everyone enjoying the tasting. The guide was extremely wordy and those of us ignorant of Italian could not catch too much of what he said. You should probably consult the English language guides to the rich history of prosciutto, conveniently sold in the museum store. I read most of the history, and it was well worth a look. It's very interesting and involves lots of warring Italian families and drama. And pork products, like all good matters of history.
You guessed it: fine, aged prosciutto di parma. Delightfully smoky, melts in your mouth, not greasy or heavy in the slightest. Yeah, this stuff deserves a museum.
Culatello, which is a particularly special variant on the prosciutto theme. If you are in any way familar with Romance languages, you may have guessed that is made from, well, the butt-regions of the pig. The meat is seasoned, lightly salted, then stuffed into a well-cleaned pigs bladder. It is then hung in a nice cool environment for 8-12 months, giving it its distinctive aged flavor. It takes an entire ham to make a culatello, and as a result, it's expensive stuff. This is fo good reason, as it is indisputably delicious.
A board covered in prosciutto and coppa. Coppa is produced from the necks of mid-sized swine, and then is "massaged" with spices. The meat is wrapped up inside a pig "bowel" (I did not inquire further) and seasoned for quite a few months. Although coppa is a form of sausage, it does not look like one. The taste is delightful: spicy and meaty, a good contrast to the subtle, buttery flavor of the prosciutto.
We were instructed to consume our prosciutto with this fine local butter. Sounded bizarre and was a bit difficult for our fat-phobic American palates, but I soon warmed up to it. Our meat curator claimed that prosciutto and butter are not actually bad for you when they are this high quality. I would like to believe him.
Salami di felino, another of Parma's iconic food products. Salami felino is produced using the first part of the small intestine, producing a larger sausage with a longer life then other varieties. The salami is produced with about 75% lean pork meat (from the shoulder) and 25% delicious pork fat, which is ground together and spiced with salt and pepper. The meat is put into the intestinal casings and ripened for a good long time. 110 days is the industry standard. It's delicious and interesting stuff.
This is a special cake. Called pasta-rossa (though I think my spelling is wrong, as I can't find it on Google), it takes three days and 17 ingredients to make. The ingredients include what tastes like cherry preserves, butter, various chopped nuts, and a big hit of campari. The cake is dense, sweet, and delicious. The recipe, like many old Italian recipes was almost lost. It was only preserved thanks to the memory of an elderly Italian lady, who passed it on to willing acolytes. We devoured this with a bottle of excellent muscato.
Slightly lit, we got into the car for the five hour drive back to Bolsena. The drive happened to be through some very attractive territory, and I enjoyed dozing in the car, looking out the window as illuminated castles, mountains, and the flashing lights of Firenze zipped by. We arrived back at the convent around midnight in the middle of a pouring rain. We were also full of prosciutto.
EFSA, Parmesan Cheese, and Prosciutto
We woke up fairly early and headed over to the European Food Safety Authority for our morning lectures. EFSA'S headquarter were conveniently located extremely close to our hotel in Parma, and we enjoyed the AM stroll through Parma's morning street scene. The super-modern new buildings hosts the European Food Safety Authority's main offices, an organization which formed in Brussels in 2002 and was recently transferred to Parma. Parma is, after all, petitioning to be granted the status of Europe's "food valley" due to its profusion of artisan producers.
A brief account of what, exactly, EFSA is may be read here.
EFSA functions as the keystone of the European Union's Food and Feed Safety risk assessment. EFSA works with national authorities and independent stakeholders, in an effort to present scientific advice and communication on issues and dangers within the food system. EFSA works in tandem with top-notch scientists and experts to produce opinions on the relative safety of the food system, in the hope of heading off the next food-related disaster. The Authority produces opinions on topics such as nutrition, GMO's, nanotechnology, zoonoses (animal born diseases) and other topics related to issue of food safety.
EFSA was formed as a response to the widespread consumer drop in confidence that occurred after the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in the UK, a dreadful malady you may know as Mad Cow. The Authority's representatives presented us with three discussions, regarding how the organization functions, their review process (especially in regards to health claims from novel foods,) and some information on their nutritional review practices.
EFSA's formal headquarters in Parma.
After EFSA, it was time to leave Parma. We stopped briefly by EFSA's formal Parma headquarters - located in a very nice park - then drove out of town, heading across the rolling green hills and farmland to our next food venture. Our destination was a Parmigiano Reggiano factory, located about half an hour outside of the town itself. This valley is the only place in the world where cheesemakers may call their product "parmigiano".
When we got to the factory, an employee greeted us and presented us with a plate of (you guessed it) parmesan cheese. There were two kinds on offer. There was a fresh parmesan with a softer texture and flavor, and a harder, older version more familar to the Ameican palate. They were delicious: a clear, sharp, earthy flavor miles away from the junk in the green shaker-container. It is a shame that young parmigiano is not widely available in the USA.
We were also provided with some nice salami, some grissini (breadsticks) and a curious Italian variant on Coke.
After waiting around a while for the tour-guide to appear and sucking down all of the mysterious soda-pop, we were allowed into the factory to observe the esoteric practice of cheese making. The factory was not very large - it's a small scale cheese producer - and had an either pleasant or icky smell of incredibly strong cheese.
These are the huge copper tubs the milk is pumped into. To make real parmagiano-reggiano cheese, the milk must come from 10 KM or less away. No imported stuff is allowed. The cheese is produced with a combination of whole raw cow's milk and naturally skimmed milk, and the combination is pumped into these vats. They are copper because copper facilitates swift cooling.
Starter whey is added, the temperature is raised, and the calf rennet (don't ask) is put in. The whole mix is allowed to curdle for roughly ten to 12 minutes, whereupon the curd is broken up into tiny pieces and the temperature is risen again.
The cheese-makers let the curd hang out for about an hour, then collect it in a piece of cheesecloth and place it into molds. The infant cheeses are then put into a stainless steel mold which can be tightened to ensure the cheese remains pleasingly circular.
After a few days of this tightening process, the cheeses are placed in brine vats, where they will absorb salt for roughly 25 days.
Fresh parmesan prior to the aging process.
Once the cheeses have been brined, they are transferred to the aging room, where they will reside for a year. The aging room was an impressive sight, a veritable Presidential library of parmagiano-reggiano. There is even a nifty little cheese robot that turns the cheeses over once every two weeks, preventing human workers from throwing their backs out. Still, a human being turns the cheese over once a week as well, just to ascertain that everything is coming along nicely. Fine cheese like this can sell for incredible prices. Hundreds and hundreds of dollars is not an uncommon price to pay for a healthy-sized wheel of fine parmagiano-reggiano.
After the cheese factory, we headed to the Pio Tosini prosciutto factory, located a bit outside of Parma in the prosciutto-obsessed town of Langhirano. Langhirano is a town entirely devoted to the production and consumption of ham: there seem to be at least 20 prosciutto factories along the little burg's main drag. The factory we visited makes a particularly high quality and old-fashioned product, processing thousands of pig legs a year.
We were given a special tour of the factory, which has been turning out prosciutto di Parma since the early 1900's. Final conclusion? Prosciutto is rather like hot dogs. You may not want to know how they are made. Nevertheless it was a illuminating experience, with tasty results.
We had to put on fetching paper gowns to enter the factory for hygiene reasons. Here's Sabrina posing next to one of the tenderizing and salting machines.
After the meat is cleaned, salted and tenderized to satisfaction, it is chilled in these tremendous walk-in fridges. Here our guide is pointing out the fine points of prosciutto. I believe he was discussing the import of a large ventral vein on the side of ham.
Prosciutto fairly early on in the aging process.
The people of Parma and surrounding environs are extremely passionate about their food products. Parma likes to call itself Italy's "food valley" and it is not difficult to see why. Artisan products sprout up everywhere here, gourmet meat and cheese products hang in every shop window, and locals are always happy to expound on their favorite edibles.
Amanda posing with some prosciutti.
The hams are taken through a series of cooling and pressing processes, in an effort to drain all the blood from the meat without breaking the central bone. The hams are hung to dry in a cool environment. High quality prosciutti like these are hung for 500 days.
The prosciutto warehouse is an awe-inspiring place. It's a tremendous dark building hung with thousands upon thousands of prosciutto, and it is dark, close, and silent. We took a huge clanking meat elevator everywhere in the building, and it was a bit of an offputting experience. I found myself thinking that a horror movie set in a prosciutto factory would be so very easy to make. (It's not pigs - IT'S PEOPLE. You get the picture). The lights went out for a moment among the resplendent meat, producing a particularly bizarre moment: standing in the dark among a veritable pantheon of swinging hog legs. The place smells exactly as you might expect. It's the scent of a good ham duplicated about five thousand times. Overpowering.
After the prosciutto factory, it was off to the Prosciutto Museum, located nearby. We were, it must be said about at the point of prosciutto factory overdose. Still, I happen to really like prosciutto, and only longed for vegetables a little tiny bit.
The Museum is devoted entirely to Parma's favorite meat product, with exhibits focusing on topics such as the area's favored pig varieties, butchering tools, different curing and production methods, and the history of cured meats throughout the ages. It was interesting stuff, and the museum itself - located in the city's 1928-built cattle market, or Foro Boario - was a gorgeous piece of architecture. It is one of food-crazy Parma's four food museums. The others are a Museum of Parmesan, a museum devoted to Salami di Felino (as we sampled at Slow Food) and an institution in Collecchio all about tomatoes.
We had come for a Prosciutto degustation. This was a tasting of the area's finest meat products, accompanied with local wines and cheeses, a veritable feast of ham. The degustation was held in a lovely brick-and-ham lined room, where we were attended by a resident prosciutto expert, who bore a certain resemblance to an Italian and pig-obsessed George Clooney. He guided us through the magical world of Italian cured meats, a voyage which was accompanied by some excellent wines. You should probably do this immediately.
Decorative hams on the tasting room's walls. Meat is a form of household decoration in this part of Italy. (It's the same in Spain).
Giardinara, which are Italy's common mixed pickled vegetables. These were not too intensely vinegary and were very pleasant with the cheese. New Orleanians may recognize a relative of our beloved olive salad here.
Some very interesting hard rolls were served with the meats. These had a cracker-like exterior and a yeasty, soft interior. I liked these a lot. I have never had anything like them.
The excellent, local white wines we were served with the meats. The amadei was especially fine, with a sharp, white-fruit flavor. The other was a bit sweeter, with a taste almost like piquant honey. I'm going to seek these out when I get home.
Here we have our second taste of high-quality parmagiano-reggiano. The cheese is made by a tiny production group, who are developing their own "creme de la creme" brand - They are moving towards certifying each individual slice instead of each wheel, as is generally done. We were instructed to eat this fine cheese with millefloure honey and it was an ideal combination. The sharp, interesting bite of the cheese contrasted perfectly with the subtle sweetness of the honey. Millefloure honey, incidentally, is so named because it is made "from a 1000 flowers". It is harvested when the bees have finished their seasonal work.
The cheese was served with these delightful condiments. From left to right: walnut conserves with orange peel, strawberry and balsamic jam, and caramelized onion preserves. We went through more of these then we were necessarily supposed to. This is because they were delicious.
Everyone enjoying the tasting. The guide was extremely wordy and those of us ignorant of Italian could not catch too much of what he said. You should probably consult the English language guides to the rich history of prosciutto, conveniently sold in the museum store. I read most of the history, and it was well worth a look. It's very interesting and involves lots of warring Italian families and drama. And pork products, like all good matters of history.
You guessed it: fine, aged prosciutto di parma. Delightfully smoky, melts in your mouth, not greasy or heavy in the slightest. Yeah, this stuff deserves a museum.
Culatello, which is a particularly special variant on the prosciutto theme. If you are in any way familar with Romance languages, you may have guessed that is made from, well, the butt-regions of the pig. The meat is seasoned, lightly salted, then stuffed into a well-cleaned pigs bladder. It is then hung in a nice cool environment for 8-12 months, giving it its distinctive aged flavor. It takes an entire ham to make a culatello, and as a result, it's expensive stuff. This is fo good reason, as it is indisputably delicious.
A board covered in prosciutto and coppa. Coppa is produced from the necks of mid-sized swine, and then is "massaged" with spices. The meat is wrapped up inside a pig "bowel" (I did not inquire further) and seasoned for quite a few months. Although coppa is a form of sausage, it does not look like one. The taste is delightful: spicy and meaty, a good contrast to the subtle, buttery flavor of the prosciutto.
We were instructed to consume our prosciutto with this fine local butter. Sounded bizarre and was a bit difficult for our fat-phobic American palates, but I soon warmed up to it. Our meat curator claimed that prosciutto and butter are not actually bad for you when they are this high quality. I would like to believe him.
Salami di felino, another of Parma's iconic food products. Salami felino is produced using the first part of the small intestine, producing a larger sausage with a longer life then other varieties. The salami is produced with about 75% lean pork meat (from the shoulder) and 25% delicious pork fat, which is ground together and spiced with salt and pepper. The meat is put into the intestinal casings and ripened for a good long time. 110 days is the industry standard. It's delicious and interesting stuff.
This is a special cake. Called pasta-rossa (though I think my spelling is wrong, as I can't find it on Google), it takes three days and 17 ingredients to make. The ingredients include what tastes like cherry preserves, butter, various chopped nuts, and a big hit of campari. The cake is dense, sweet, and delicious. The recipe, like many old Italian recipes was almost lost. It was only preserved thanks to the memory of an elderly Italian lady, who passed it on to willing acolytes. We devoured this with a bottle of excellent muscato.
Slightly lit, we got into the car for the five hour drive back to Bolsena. The drive happened to be through some very attractive territory, and I enjoyed dozing in the car, looking out the window as illuminated castles, mountains, and the flashing lights of Firenze zipped by. We arrived back at the convent around midnight in the middle of a pouring rain. We were also full of prosciutto.
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