Lina Germi and her husband, an electrician, live in a house originally used as wine shop and trattoria in the early 1800s. Signora Germi, a tiny woman who wears a tie every single day, says that despite her retirement, she works more now than ever, feeding her children, nephews and grandchildren, and she has a freezer full of handmade tortellini to prove it.
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When they moved in, they remodeled the kitchen making it more spacious, airy and modern. She decided to splurge and get racy red cabinets, but when the cabinets arrived, they were blue. "Vabb," she said. "Oh well." Though her kitchen has a great work triangle, crosses over the doors blessing the space, and little careful touches like having all the labels of her oils and vinegars turned out the same way, she doesn't seem to care too much for the design. This is a working home cook's kitchen. It's a place that's all about turning out pasta ("no dolci!") for her extended family who visit daily.
When she took me into the basement where she now has a full bar I asked her if they drink a lot of wine, given the way they had dedicated an entire floor of the home to it. She said not much, occasionally on Sundays. My fantasies of an Italian family who cooks every day and lives in what used to be a wine shop and restaurant were dashed!She made up for the loss of the red cabinets by buying herself a red couch and painting the china cabinet bright red, where she insisted we pose together for a photo. As I left I finally asked about that tie. "I wear a tie all day, even to cook and clean." I asked if she wore a dress in her wedding and she replied "Yes, and that was the last day I ever did."Thanks for the visit, Signora Germi!
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Related: A Peek Into Parma, Italy(Images: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)We're always looking for real kitchens from real cooks.
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As it is the rest of Italy, it goes without saying that the food in Parma is wonderful and abundant, but thanks to the producers of Parmeggiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and Balsamic vinegar in nearby Modena, this northern Italian region is also known to many as the true culinary breadbasket of the Italian nation.
First, I visited one of the official Prosciutto di Parma processors. The beginning of the Prosciutto di Parma production line when the legs come in, get salted, and are tied up in twine. This area is completely tiled in white and brightly lit.
The hams hang in their final resting room where they can stay until a tester decides they are ready for market. Some are aged for more than three years. This room was eerily chilly, quiet, and serene with wooden racks and dim lighting.
The beginning of the Parmigiano process where the milk is cooked and the curds are separated from the whey using giant stretched of hemp cheesecloth.
Like the Prosciutto, the Parmigiano rests in a simple, quiet room for many months. Some cheese are aged for up to five years. The cheesemaker knows the wheel is ready with a simple sound test using a small hammer.
Here are three cheeses I tried; from left to right a sixty month, a thirty month, and a twelve month.
Our group of journalists spent an evening at the Alma, The International School of Italian Cuisine. Intense concentration. We sat through a lecture and then received our assignment. Unlike my experience in culinary school, this lesson involved cooking a course alone, without a partner. Here I am making some crazy veal and foie gras creation. There was a lot of laughing. The chef yelled at us a lot. My toque was too tight. I'll never forget this night.
This is the kitchen of Lina, a 76-year-old woman who lives in the center of Parma in a tall skinny house that used to house an osteria and wine shop. She wears a tie every single day and keeps her kitchen spotless.
Here is a scene from the second tour, a kitchen in an apartment building where 50 people once lived and now one family occupies the entire place. On the third floor is Gloria, one of the adult daughters. She is an anthropologist with many collections. In her kitchen there is a collection of sugar packets, old stone cookware, and the number 17.
Gelato scooped like a flower.
These two ladies were taking a walk through one of Parma's parks as a Senegalese hip hop concert was happening just a few hundred feet away.
This violinist played in the same spot every single day.
Discussing important matters in the piazza.
Eating on the go is not a typical Italian scene, but walking casually between a bus and a Vespa is.
Moving through the piazza at the Duomo di Parma.