This is especially for my commenter begonia, who is homesick for Italy. [I can't get into her blog to link to it.]
The parmesan cheese here looks, tastes and smells very different from that available in Britain, though the latter has improved greatly in quality in recent years. I just couldn't resist buying this perfectly coloured, crumbly chunk this morning. I expect it tastes even better if you are lucky enough to be able to buy it in Parma itself for even a short journey has an effect on it, so the deli owner round the corner tells me. He says that the same is true of the Parma ham, which changes its texture during the trip down here and this must be true as a friend whose daughter is studying there makes her bring supplies of it every time she comes home; she won't buy it in Sicily!
6 comments:
parmesan cheese, is one of those must have things we bought on our last, long ago, trip to Italy. It is the best.
I bet it tastes great even so, Welsh.
Two comments. First, well a question. How can you tell if Parmesan has gone off? I often end up throwing it away. I tend to keep it even if it has white spots on it but when it starts getting oily I worry about it then. Am I just ignorant and it never goes off?
Just a little story about going to Parma with Carlo and Grazia from Bologna. We went for the day and it is a great town with lots to see. Fabulous batistero. So it's time for lunch. Grazia starts talking to local people asking for recommendations. So off we go to this little restaurant where we have genuine Parma prosciutto for primo. Out comes this huge plate covered with prosciutto, nothing else. If it is better than prosciutto made elsewhere I didn't appreciate that fact. Tasted the same to me.
However I did appreciate the conversation with our waiter. He was the former owner and he had sold out to his son and retired. But he was bored to tears and came back to work there as a waiter. Lovely old fellow and I think he enjoyed chatting to us. Especially the strangely accented Italian speaking lady from Canada.
regards
jmb
Hi, Steve. Yes, there is nothing like it. Lee, it does! Jmb, well, I keep mine foil-wrapped in the fridge and it lasts for about a month here. I think it just starts to smell less good rather then "off". I've never had it go oily, so I don't know about that. Lovely story! I must go to Parma one day.
Does it change or is it that the surrounds really matter? Like eating an ice-cream at the beach or a luke-warm pie at the footy? Perhaps knowing you are in Parma influences your sense of taste?
JCN, you make a good point. I think the surroundings do make a difference, yes, but I also know that the freshness of food affects the taste a lot. I'll never forget the first time I ate watermelon in Italy - at a time when they weren't easy to find in Britain - and how disappointing the British one tasted when my Dad did find one.
Post a Comment