Eating BIG in Parma

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
- Exploring the Capital of Italy's Food Valley 

After a night in Milan we headed off for a few days in Parma. The drive was pretty easy although the toll booths are hard to understand in Italy. We arrived in Parma in the afternoon and the first thing I did after dropping my bags at the Airbnb was take a walk around the area. By the end of that walk I knew that Parma was my type of town. The second largest city in the Emilia-Romagna is a college town at heart so there was an energy in the air from all the young kids getting their summer started. Parma is a very walkable city split in half by the river. The historic city center is car free and lined with historic cobbled streets and beautiful Romanesque buildings and of course lots of bars and restaurants too. 

Pics from Parma

Parma is a big time food town as it’s known for producing two of Italy's most prized possessions - Parmigiano Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma. Both of which have been given Protected Designation of Origin status or PDO which are products that owe their quality and or characteristics to the geographical environment, including the natural and human factors. All parts of the production, processing and preparation process take place in the specific region. There’s plenty of hands on tours you can take to see how both of these high quality ingredients are made. We visited a cheese factory on the outskirts of town and learned how the “King of Cheeses” is made (Hint: the same way it’s always been made). We got to watch as employees did their job making Parmigiano Reggiano cheese entirely from scratch with nothing but human hands and strength. It’s a very traditional process consisting of raw milk and huge copper vats. As we learned, it takes 550 litres of milk to produce each wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano at Caseificio Uggalatte (Dal 1930). Of course the best part of the tour was getting to try all of the cheeses at the end of the showing. I’m going to go ahead and disagree with Parma professor Alberto Grandi who was very likely paid off by Big Cheese when he claimed that “the only place in the world to find bona fide parmesan cheese was in Wisconsin”.

Pics from Caseificio Uggalatte (click pics to enhance)
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Trattoria Ai Due Platani 

If you do end up doing the cheese tour at Caseificio Uggalatte you would be smart to make a half day out of it by going over to Ai Due Platani for lunch. This was one of the most anticipated food stops of the trip and it lived up to everything I was hoping it was. From the service to the food to the location itself it was pretty much perfect. The history here dates back to the late 1920’s with the current owners going back to 2005. Almost 20 years later they run one of Italy's best casual dining destinations in the small town of Coloreto about 15 minutes from Parma. Diners come from pretty much everywhere including Chicago for some of the regions best pastas plus their most well known offering - a tableside ice cream service serving up an uber rich vanilla made in an old machine from the 1950’s. All of the pastas were phenomenal. Their signature offering is a colorful plate of cherry and chard tortelli which we all enjoyed. Same goes for the Ravioli di Coniglio (rabbit) but the one that stood out was the Anolini en Brodo which is a regional dish popular in Bologna. It’s basically an Italian version of wonton soup and one of my favorite pasta preps so I made sure to get some from here and it delivered in a big way. Also of note is the outstanding mortadella that comes out as an amuse bouche with a plate of Torte Frite (fried bread). The meats are used to stuff the bread. The ice cream was incredible. This was the most “Italy” meal I’ve ever had in that it would make a great set for directors looking to film a movie in the Italian Countryside but every meal in Piedmont felt the same way so do stay tuned. Due Platani is a short ride from the city center and close to the cheesemakers.

Meats and Bread at Ai Due Platani

Pastas at Ai Due Platani 

Ice Cream Station at Ai Due Platani 
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Frank Focaccia 

I walked over to Frank Focaccia for a sandwich and a beer and sat out on the town square to do some people watching. I ended up meeting some friendly college kids who had been to and loved Chicago and thus we hot it off. As the name of this place suggests they serve focaccia sandwiches and such. I asked my new friends what the best sandwich there was since the list was long and they suggested the salciccia sandwich was the way to go. Like I was saying, this is my type of town.

Sausage Sandwich at Frank Focaccia 
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Ristorante Cocchi

Dinner on day one in Parma was at the historic Ristorante Cocchi (Dal 1925). It’s one of the locals favorite spots for a night out and what not. It’s a higher end old school trattoria with a seasonal menu revolving around the cuisine of Parma. We started with a pristine plate of prosciutto which comes served with a plate of torte frite for stuffing. We tried two pasta preps from here including one with two types of tortelli, one of them topped with black truffles and also the Anolini en Brodo but neither of them were quite as good as the Due Platani. The star of this dinner was a Parmesan flan served with sautéed mushrooms and a Parmesan crisp sticking out of it. A plate of veal, potatoes, tomatoes was Italian comfort food at its finest but I forgot to take a picture of the menu so I can’t remember what we got for dessert but all the sweets I had in Italy were wonderful. I don’t know if I would return here bc it was just good, not great, but not every meal can be great so I was happy with overall product.

Dinner at Ristorante Cocchi
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Da Pepèn

You can often tell the popularity of a spot by checking the number of google reviews that it has. The long-standing iconic restaurants will often have 1000’s of reviews. Da Pepèn has close to 2000 in part due to its location on the corner of a narrow street in the heart of town. You’ll notice it bc of the crowds of people picking up sandwiches there and or coffee from their cafeteria next door. They aren’t known for any sandwich in particular although artichoke, horse, and polpette are common mentions in those google reviews. The horse is a tartare and it was a bit too early to be trying that plus I was getting sandwiches not just for me but also my nieces who weren’t into the idea of getting one. So instead we tried a few of the more American offerings including an excellent cold roast beef panini served on wonderfully light and fluffy but also extra crunchy bread. I would recommend that and the prosciutto but it’s hard to go wrong as both the meats and the bread and the rest of the fillings are high quality.

Sandwiches at Da Pepèn
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Officina Dedicata

I chose to go to Officina Dedicata for a dinner due to the fact their menu was both seasonal and a bit more modern than most of the other spots. We arrived around opening and had to wait a bit for the kitchen team to get going but once they did it was a smooth ride starting with an order of fried pumpkin flower stuffed with anchovies, ricotta, lemon. All of the pasta options here were intriguing but at least a couple of the ones we tried were room temp which was a bit of a letdown. Of the three we got I liked the Chitarra style taglioini (anchovy butter, tomato confit, lemon) the most as it was the one served hot. Neither the tortelli or a spinach gnocchi did much for me and the same can be said for a piece of pork belly served with poke rice. Plain and simple - I was expecting more from this spot. 

Dinner at Officina Dedicata
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Tabarro

There’s no shortage of wine in Italy. You can find it just everywhere. Wine bars are a dime a dozen but some of them stand out more than others. Tabarro caught our eye with the crowds outside. I did a quick google search and the reviews were convincing so we grabbed a table and got some drinks and snacks. I really liked both the food and the vibes here. It’s in the middle of town so there seemed to be a nice mix of tourists and locals. You’ll find a good selection of local wines paired with local meats and cheeses and some really good sandwiches. We had a seasonal salad with fresh tomatoes that were by far the most flavorful I came across over the summer. The produce is so much better in Europe.

Drinks and Snacks at Tabarro 
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Tra L'uss e L'asa

What is it about the sandwich scene in cities that start with a P? Places like Philly, Porto, and Puebla to name a few and Parma too as I’d come to learn on this visit. I noticed a ton of interesting sandwich shops during my research of spots and decided I would try a few of the more intriguing options like this Cotechino offering at Tra L'uss e L'asa in the center of town. The cotechino is a big tube of Italian pork sausage that requires a slow cooking as it’s usually simmered at low heat for a few hours before it’s ready to be sliced. While some do choose to eat it as is or as an entrée with sides it also makes for a kick ass sandwich filling when paired with crusty bread spread with pesto and mayo. This was a fantastic sandwich from a real mom and pop type of spot. They're a panini shop at heart but they're also said to make great plates of  food too. A contender for the best sandwich I’ve had all year.

Cotechino Sandwich at Tra L'uss e L'asa
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Ciacco

I tried a fair amount of gelato through the entirety of the trip and it’s possible the first spot that I had it at was the best of the bunch. Ciacco was so good and so close to our Airbnb that I didn’t bother going to any other gelato spots in Parma. The flavors change daily since they’re all made in small batches almost exclusively with ingredients from the region. I prefer the fruit options over the chocolate and nut flavors so my first trip in I got the melon which is what got me hooked for the rest of the trip. I think we came here three times, so every day we were there. Some say this is the best gelato in Italy. 

Gelato at Ciacco 
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Click HERE for a google maps guide to all the spots I hit up plus places I didn't get to check out.

See ya next time @chibbqking