One of the things I looked forward to most in the second half of our Italy trip was the food and food tours. We had planned on doing a parma ham tour in Parma but ended up cancelling to squeeze in a trip to Venice. So we decided to make our own food tour in Parma. After watching some YouTube videos Kuah made up a list of places to go.
We started off at Pepen Pannina, listed as Da Pepen on Google maps. It is famous for La Carciofa Pannina which if full of ricotta, parmeasan and artichokes. It is crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. As this was our first stop after a car ride I had to use the ladies room. So we bought the pannina and headed around the corner to the Peppen coffe shop. There Kuah got a cappuccino, I got a sparkling water and we were able to sit at a table. More importantly, they had a nice clean bathroom for me.
Our second stop was Panetteria Gardellini for Anolini Da Passeggio. This was a little shop with a bakery, some pizzas and anolini da passeggio which is the treat we came for. They are small pasta bites stuffed with parmigian cheese, grated bread and nutmeg. They are served in a light meat broth. Kuah got his regular and I got mine with extra cheese grated on top. We both thought we had the best version. The biggest problem with these was that they were piping hot but so delicious it was tough to wait for them to cool down. Such a fun treat. They made them fresh for us. While we were waiting it was funny to see the chef pop out of the kitchen and cut off slices of pizza to snack. If I worked there I’m sure I’d do the same.
The final planned bite was at Frank Focaccia. It is famous for it’s focaccia sandwiches and often has long lines. We got there at opening so avoided the lines. We were able to get a nice table outside and Kuah ordered a horse meat focaccia. I tried a bit of the focaccia bread which was good but wasn’t daring enough to try the raw horse meat filling. I thoroughly enjoyed relaxing outside at our table while Kuah ate horse meat for the first time.
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- Horse meat foccaccia
After trying all of these we walked around the town popping into some of the shops. There is a lot to see around Parma but due to my foot injury we were not able to hike to the castle as I had hoped. While in town we did buy some strawberries and veggies in one of the markets to bring home. Unlike the grocery store strawberries these had lots of flavors.
On the way out of town we stopped in at La Prosciutteria Silvano Romani and bought some food to take home for dinner. If I had known how delicious it would be I’d have bought enough for several night’s dinners. The shop was super cute with lots of meats, cheeses and wines. They also had a large section of prepared foods. We got grilled vegetables, seafood, grains and other goodies. They were simple, healthy and super yummy! I wish they’d open up a location near me.
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- Dinner from takeout
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- Inside shop
It was a beautiful day to be outside walking in the sunshine. Being that it was a weekday it wasn’t too crowded either. If I came to this region again I would stay near Parma. Of course, I’d have to make a day trip to Bologna for chocolate. But the town here was super cute and the food absolutely delicious!
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