Back home, this would be Thanksgiving day. We celebrated in grand style, but more on our amazing dinner in a bit. First, we were up early to enjoy coffee and pastries at Pasticceria Santo Stefano, across the street from our B&B. Our rental included vouchers for coffee and pastries every day – just hand the voucher to the server and we’re all set!
It was raining, so after breakfast we took a cab to the rental car place near the train station. We’d rented a car for the day and had hired a private tour guide to take us around the region, visiting producers of Parmigiano Reggiano, Aceto Balsamico di Modena, and Prosciutto. We ordered our rental car through VIP Cars, and picked up the car at Maggiore (rental car company). It was an easy process from beginning to end. Once we met our guide, Ersi, we were off to our first stop – visiting a producer of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Caseificio Bio Reggiani – Parmigiano Reggiano Producer
Caseificio Bio Reggiani is an organic Parmigiano Reggiano producer. The tour was great! We were greeted by one of the farm cats as we exited the car, then met an employee of Caseificio Bio Reggiani who would take us on the tour. We got to see the entire process of cheese making, from the milk stage to the aging. The smell was a bit overpowering for Teresa, but I loved it! After the tour we got to sample several ages of cheese, from fresh ricotta all the way up to Parmigiano Reggiano aged 48 months. They had some good balsamic to go with the cheese. Delicious! We bought some 48 month Parmigiano Reggiano to bring home.
On to the next stop: a balsamic producer!
Acetaia Villa San Domino – Balsamic Producer
When you think of real Italian balsamic, you think of Modena. There are two main types: Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP, which is the traditional and most authentic form, and Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP, which is a regulated but less stringent version for mass production. Acetaia Villa San Domino has been making balsamic since the early 1900’s, and has one of the most renowned Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP in the world. On the tour, we learned about the process, and saw everything from relatively new barrels to over 100 year old barrels. We tasted a 12 year old and a 24 year old balsamic. We got to see a 100 year old, but didn’t get to taste. We did get to see the series of barrels Pierce Brosnan bought in 2017. It’ll be ready for him to enjoy in 2029 at the earliest. We purchased a bottle of 12 year old Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale DOP to bring home.
Next stop: a prosciutto (and other salumi) producer.
Prosciuttificio Leonardi – Prosciutto Producer
We toured the production facility of Prosciuttificio Leonardi, which has been producing high-quality prosciutto and other cured meats since 1988. So much meat! They make a special prosciutto just for Mossimo Bottura – the pigs are fed a special diet, and are allowed to grow bigger than normal. Teresa started to feel sick from the smell.
After the tour, we visited the attached store (Salumi Leonardi & Ciardullo) and were served a lunch consisting of a variety of salumi (Teresa’s favorite was the mortadella) and fresh breads (tigelle and crescentina fritta/gnocco fritto). Tigelle are small, round, flatbreads originating from the Modena area, and are typically served warm, split open, and stuffed with meats, cheeses, etc. Note that if you ask for tigelle in Bologna (vs Modena), you’ll get something different. What they call tigelle in Bologna is called crescentina in Modena. To make things even more confusing, what’s called gnocco fritto in in Modena is called crescentina in Bologna. So confusing! Whatever you want to call it, the other bread we had is a fried puffed bread, and was delicious! We also had tortellini with sage and butter sauce, and a bottle of lambrusco to wash it down.
After lunch, we dropped our guide, Ersi, at the train station in Modena so she could head back to Bologna. We explored Modena a bit before dinner (which will be a post of its own). In Modena, we went to the photography exhibit “Capa in Color” at the Estense museum. We then headed to one of the two Ferrari museums.
Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari
The Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena is built around (and in) Enzo Ferrari’s house that he sold as a young man in his 20’s to fund the start of the company. There’s a large pavilion that houses many different Ferrari’s and shows a film about Enzo Ferrari. In Enzo Ferrari’s birth home and his father Alfredo’s workshop, there are exhibitions and exhibits on Ferrari motors, logos, and the life of Enzo. We had a great time visiting the museum. There were far too many things to photograph, so I’ve only included a few below.
The other Ferrari museum, which we didn’t visit, is about a 20 minute drive in the town of Maranello, and is attached to the Ferrari factory.
After the museums, it was time to head to our BIG DINNER, which will require a separate post.
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