Ukraine, Paul and Lauren Swanson have left the building! First stop: London! Getting our hundreds of kilos of baggage to London in the right order was a serious effort, and not without it’s share of drama. But even the check-in staff a Kiev, Borispil airport were enough to stop our determination to get to London. On Saturday we caught up with Linus, watched the comedic play 39 Steps and had dinner at a Scottish restaurant. Sunday was a free for all as we wandered around London doing whatever pleased before the big, and tiring, push to get to and out of Heathrow Airport.

Just when we thought that winter, the city and all that greyness was too much, spring break in the mountains of Bologna was able to turn everything around. We camped at a farm, in the mountains near Sasso Marconi, where we could camp for free in return for eating at their restaurant or purchasing their produce. Some days we rested, others we drove through Emilia Romagna enjoying the sights of beautiful, old city centres and visiting specialty food producers of the region.

Like all great, traditional food products from Emilia Romagna, Parma ham is a simple product that has been prepared masterfully and slowly. We took a lead from our friend Alfonso and went for a drive into the hills of Parma in search of the secrets behind the most famous of Parma hams, Prosciutto. As it turned out, we were given a personal tour of the multi-million factory by the owner and founder himself.

We’re all familiar with a leg of ham, but the Italians go one step further and carefully age the ham for up to 24 months. The end result is a rich, luxurious and flavoursome ham that is long lasting and entirely delicious.

The legs of ham are stored in a series of large fridges at low, but not freezing, temperatures. Initially they are salted, but after a few weeks the salt is washed off and a long, slow process of drying begins under the careful eye of the factories owner. To ensure that ham doesn’t become too dry, fat is smeared over the open end of the ham on a few occasions.

At the end of our tour we sat in the lunch room drinking espresso and listening to the owner recount his tales of how he began the company and perfected his style of production. In true Italian style he somehow managed to frequently return to comparing the process of making Parma ham to wooing a beautiful woman!

We left the factory with the aroma of prosciutto in our noses, a strong feeling of welcome and a handful of the bosses own special salami.

During Lauren’s first visit to Italy I received a call from her, she was all excited about her visit to a Balsamic vinegar producer and I just couldn’t understand why … until she came home with the goods! It turns out that the Balsamic vinegar I’d grown accustomed was a poor cousin to a much larger, and more exquisite, family tree. Thick, rich, sweet and complex, the real Balsamico is aged up to 25 years and is practically worth it’s weight in gold.

The locals in Emilia Romagna have been producing Balsamic Vinegar for a long time. Traditionally families would keep a “batteria” or battery of wooden barrels in the attic in which they would age the “cooked must” or grape juice that would eventually become a syrupy, sweet vinegar over many years of fermentation and evaporation. Interestingly, Balsamic vinegar is not made from wine, nor is it made from red grapes. The cooked must slowly evaporates over many years and takes on the colour and flavour charateristics of the different woods in which it ages. 

The batterias are kept in families for generations and are so valuable that they are often given as wedding presents. The vinegar is taken from the barrels at various intervals depending on the grade and value, ranging from three to twenty five years. The twenty five year balsamic is actually so sweet it is usually used to garnish sweets and desserts, and one small bottle will set you back at least eighty euros, but once you’ve tried it you can not be without it.

We’re all familiar with the bile-like aroma that eminated from a white powder some adult convinced us tasted much better than it smelt, as we dusted it over our spag-bol as a child; I’m talking about Parmesan cheese. Parmesan cheese, as we know it, is to Parmigiano Reggiano as instant coffee is to freshly brewed espresso; mass production to craftsmanship. Allow me to introduce Parmigiano Reggiano. 

For generations the inhabitants of Emilia Romagna, Italy have been producing and perfecting this amazing hard cheese, and it all starts with the dairy cow. Our host and manager of this farm, Alfonso, graciously took the morning to show us the complete process starting with our bovine friends right through to tasting the finished product. What an amazing experience!

Parmigiano Reggiano is a sort of brand name for cheese that is produced under official supervision in the region of Emilia Romagna. Within the region there are many producers of Parmigiano Reggiano, all with their own unique twist or angle, but all produced with in strict guidelines of production and quality. Alfonso’s production is unique because he has his own dairy and the milk goes from his cows straight into the cheese. A mixture of full cream and skim milk goes straight into the giant vats that are warmed and stirred.

Active bacteria and rennet are added in stages to the warm milk and it curdles, at which point the master of the cheese begins to break up the curds with somethig resembling a large whisk. He does this with an almost ceremonial technique to ensure that the curds are of an even size, this later affects the structure of the cheese and it’s unique texture. At this point the curds look and taste like something similar to Mozzarella.

The curds are then gathered up from the whey into a linen cloth and form a large ball which is then split into the two pieces which will eventually become wheels of Parmigiano. The whey is later sold to pig farmers that mix it with grain for feed, as part of the process of producing cured hams such as Proscuito.

The balls of curd are then deftly coerced into cylindrical molds, which give the cheese its basic shape, and left to rest so that the residual whey drains away leaving only the curds.

After some time resting, the curds will be wrapped in a sheet imprinting the distinctive “Parmigiano Reggiano” brand and an official, unique serial number from the consortium. A large weight is placed on on top of the mold to ensure the curds compress into the desired shape and size.

To give the cheese its unique rounded sides it is stored yet another mold, to further dry, before it’s placed in a bath of salty water and left for many weeks to cure. During this time the cheese is both preserved and slowly absorbs the salt that gives it its unique taste.

Every bank has it’s safe and every Parmigiano factory has it’s vault. Once the wheels have finished bathing in their own version of the sea they are moved next door into the vault where they will age up to 36 months. But the work doesn’t finish there, the wheels needs to be dusted and cleaned every week, fortunately for Alfonso they have a machine to do that task.

As the cheese ages it acquires a golden, waxy skin that when ripe will have a uniform sound when tapped. Once the cheese has made it to this point, and only then, an official from the consortium will come and brand the cheese “Parmigiano Reggiano”. In some rare cases the a few wheels will be kept aside for additional aging up to five years. These wheels are kept for the family to crack open at Christmas or on a special occassion; sorry, these are not for sale but I can tell you, from experience, they are delicious!!

Our morning with Alfonso was unforgettable. It was amazing to see the whole process of producing Parmigiano Reggiano and to gain an appreciation of how it’s production is truly a craft that requires dedication and passion.

The tiled lions were fascinating to view.  But my favourite piece of in the museum was just around the corner.

This stone is the Egyptian-Hittite peace treaty the first known international peace treaty in history (1258 BC.)     The treaty was drawn  between Hattusili III (of the Hittites) and Ramesses II (of the Egyptians),   in the 15 years after the battle of Kadesh between these very rulers and their kingdoms.    Now, a copy of this treaty Hangs in the UN Headquarters.

Two highlights from the Islamic Art Museum.  Featuring amazing tiles and ceramics.

We concluded that the Museum Archaeology in Istanbul deserves a visit and a higher reputation.

Each morning at our Hotel Ada, we enjoyed a buffet breakfast and spectacular views of Istanbul, the ocean and the ruins of an Old mosque (as well as the more recent one).   Here are a few of breakfast view photos for your enjoyment.

On our way to the Istanbul’s Museum of Archaeology, we happened across this beautiful park, and we were impressed by the trees.   Then we made our way to the Archaeology Museums.   There are three museums, The Museum of Archaeology, Museum of the Ancient Orient and the Museum of Islamic Art.

The main building of the Archaeology Museum.

The bustling streets of Istanbul are full of interesting characters, things for sale, food and tea…

Did I mention interesting characters?

We walked along the bridge to the other side of the Istanbul peninsular.  The bridge was lined with fishermen catching small fish…