Food Tour, Parma

Parma is famous for its food and rich gastronomical tradition: two of its specialties are Parmigiano cheese and Prosciutto di Parma (Parma ham). Because of this we decided to take a guided food tour of the city. Our guide, Alessia took us on a foodie trek to some of the best establishments in Parma.

We started with aparetifs of prosciutto, salumi, bread and Lambrusco - a sparkling red wine, at Panino d’artista. This restaurant is a tribute to the composer Verdi and is decorated with many of his images and work. It was so good we ended up going back there for dinner tonight.

For the next course we had pasta and more bread at Officina Alimentare Dedicata. We tried having lunch there on our first day in Parma but it was fully booked, so it was good to be able to enjoy a meal there. Their pasta, like most of the restaurants in town, is hand made on site by a dedicated chef whose only job is to make all the pasta. The fresh pasta is so different to store bought that we are more than likely going to source fresh pasta for cooking when we get home.

Main course was from Salumeria Garibaldi and they provided a ‘picnic’ of locally sourced veal and potatoes. We walked up to the nearby university and ate our lunch sitting on the edge of the fountain. This was our least favourite course as it was quite rich and salty but we gave it a go.

To finish off the food tour we had gelato at Gelateria Ciacco, who only use natural plant based ingredients. The taste of the gelato was so fresh and with genuine, natural flavours.

After walking for about 5km between these food stops, which we needed to to burn off some of the calories, we went back to our apartment for our siesta.

This evening we returned to Panino d’artista for dinner in their adjoining restaurant, La Cucina del Maestro where we eventually enjoyed another delicious meal. Unfortunately they seemed to have forgotten us and we did have to wait quite some time to be served, but that gave us time to really enjoy the decor.

We had a massive food day and are both so full. But the plan was to take advantage of the Parma food experience while we were here and I think we have achieved our goal.Read more