Eating and drinking our way around Italy: part 1

Barolo

On Monday 12th June, we headed back to one of our favourite campsites in Europe, Camping Sole Lange in Vergne, just outside Barolo. Piedmonte is one of my favourite places in all of Europe.
We had an awesome dinner at the Ristorante at Buon Padre Cantina (winery), a 200m walk from the campsite. I think I may have eaten the best pasta in my life so far. 
Tajarin, the extra thin,extra light pasta, is a Piedmontese speciality, made with up to 40 egg yolks per kilogram of flour -Handmade by Maria in this instance, who has been doing it for 50 years!! A meal that also included 5 antipastas, a secondi piatti of slow cooked veal cheeks in Barolo wine, and 2 desserts and a complimentary glass of their 1995 DolcettoD'Alba.

Barolo

Awesome and it's not even a Barolo

Parma

After a few days we had to leave for Parma to meet Dave and Krissie. It was wonderful to have them as travel companions again. The Motorhome Camping in Parma is awful; a carpark next to a highway offramp and a truckstop!"Things can only get better." And the weather only gets hotter... Parma is not very touristy, so we mingled with locals strolling through town and enjoying the laid back evening on Via Farini. In this part of Italy "Aperativo Ora" means free snacks with your sundowners!Parma is the home of Parmesan Cheese and Parma Ham. Low carb eating was out of the window once more at the fabulous and historic Trattoria Correira with bowls of fresh pasta and the house speciality, Torta Fritta, crispy, puffy pillows of fried dough.

Lambrusco, of course

 

Modena

The next morning we went to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello for an emersion in red car culture.From there we just made it to Gavioli Antica Cantina in Nonatola, where the lovely Elize stayed open into her lunch time for us. There is a surprising wine and motor museum but we had come to taste the Lambruscos; sparkling red wines from the region. They are amazingly good and very reasonably priced. Dave bought a case of 12 for less than 50 euros.In town, we had a delightful lunch at La Piazetta del Gusto with chef Mateo, who spent some years in England, where he definitely picked up on the British sense of humour. I tried the local pasta, Pici, which is made with flour and water only. Not amazing! The campsite in Modena is located on an island of land between 2 highways but it has an amazing pool. The heat and the jet lag caught up with us all on our stroll through the city, famous for Balsamic Vinegar and Pavarotti, so we opted for an early night.