Food Chronicles

Cooking at the Academia Barilla in Parma, Italy

Originally posted on April 13, 2016
Reposted on July 13, 2020 (because it is sincerely one of the best food travel experiences)

Academia Barilla: Food Tours & Cooking Classes in Parma

For Italian cuisine, Academia Barilla is the destination for food and cooking enthusiasts.

For a true immersion into a cuisine, professional food tours and cooking classes access the behind the scenes source of ingredients and local producers.
 

Parma, Italy

Located in Parma, a city in Emilia-Romagna, the region is known as an Italian food mecca. Prosciutto, cheese, balsamic vinegar, and everything essential to the traditions of the cuisine.

And, the base of Italian cooking is the pasta. Headquartered in Parma, Barilla is the world’s leading pasta maker.

The family-run multinational opened its doors in 2004 with the Academia Barilla to chefs, industry affiliates, and food lovers alike in their mission to promote Italian culture.

 

Choose your tour’s theme

With your choice of food tours and cooking classes from one day to one week, visitors are fully immersed in the culture, heritage, and authenticity of the region.

Food tours start with a showcase local producers of cheese, ham, and wine. After walking through the factories, guests indulge in a hands-on cooking class to bring their experience and new knowledge back home.

 

Parmigiano Reggiano factory
Forming the cheese
Testing the consistency
Tying up the cheese cloth
The sacks of cheese arriving by machine to be shaped
Resting and aging
Inside the solution
Marked by age
The official signage of the region
The cheese bank
Rotated by machine
Gradations of age from pale to darker
The depth of each aisle
The official markings and dates unique to each wheel
Tasting a wedge after the factory tour
Introduction to pig parts in the Parma ham factory
A series of resting rooms
Another set of curing rooms
Greasing with lard
Close up of the cured hams
Almost ready to be sold
Cuts beyond the legs
Vineyard for wine tasting
Barrels of fun
Tanks of Malvasia and Lambrusco
Bottles of Malvasia and Lambrusco
A tasting feast of cheese, charcuteries, and fried dough paired with Malvasia and Lambrusco
The Academia Barilla auditorium
Gastronomic Library with original Italian cookbooks and menus
Training kitchens
Demo kitchen
Recipes for the hands-on cooking class
Chef Tommaso demonstrating and cooking dishes
Explaining the thicknesses of pasta
Teaching practical cooking techniques
Filling raviolis
Complete with a beautiful egg inside
Teaching, demonstrating, and photogenic
Placing the top layer of pasta
Cooked simply in butter and sage
Eating and drinking while enjoying the class
Plating our seasonal dessert

 
Academia Barilla | Website | TripAdvisor

 

 
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Angela

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Angela

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