Early check out and pick up for our journey to Levanto with a stop in Parma. Oh yea a Parmigiano Reggiano tour of a family owned cheese maker, the Ugolotti family
They’ve been in business since 1980 and produce 14 wheels of cheese per day. It’s a difficult process that requires skills and strength. They only sell direct to the consumer.
There are many other makers of truly delicious Parmigiano Reggiano but only in 5 specific areas of Italy.
Very interesting process of making this unique delicious delicacy. Once you understand this, you will NEVER buy a substitute. We watched them go through the process of making a wheel of cheese.
We made our way to the salt room where they keep the cheese is a controlled environment in a vat of salt and water. It’s checked and turned often.
It’s stored and aged for one year before it’s inspected and given its final grade. Then it can age much longer, years…
During the aging process this machine pulls out the individual wheels, cleans the and turns them snd returns them to the shelf.
After a year they are inspected and if they pass as grade 1 they are given the final seal of perfection.
The inspector uses this hammer to check for sounds and this determines if it is Grade 1
Incredible process
We had a nice sampling of aged 1, 2, 3 year old and you could taste the difference. It was the best Parmigiano Reggiano ever tasted.
Time to continue to Levanto
Levanto is a hidden treasure where life unfolds quietly against a backdrop of sandy beaches, verdant hills, historic sites, and delicious local cuisine.
Caught a few Gattos in town
Nice beach walk, time for a lil grocery shopping and pasta dinner on our new patio
Lovely Levanto. Off to explore Cinque Terre tomorrow
