Since I am a foodie, I knew I had to go to Parma and Bologna. Actually I would loved to have spent more time In Bologna. It was one of my highlights. My only regret was that we didn't spend the night in Bologna, allowing more time to see the city, shop and eat more of their delicious food.
But first we went to Parma where we ate pizza at Orfeo Ristorante and Pizzeria. It was the best pizza I had during our trip to Italy. I mean how could it not be, with Parma hams and sausage, the porcino wild mushrooms and the cheeses. 
Porcino mushrooms appeared on the menu often during our time in Italy. They are pale brown in color and can grow to about a pound each. Most of the mushrooms we ate were about two to three ounces. Porcini have a woodsy flavor and are meaty in texture. They are not commonly found fresh in the U.S. so I ate a lot of them while I could because they are very delicious.
The next day was a gourmet food tour through "Amazing Italy Tours." It was awesome. Our tour guide, Natalie shared so much information about the food and history of Bologna that I was amazed. We tasted chocolate from one of the most famous chocolate producers in Italy, The Majano family. Many years ago the most noble sat around a table and discussed the quality, taste and texture of the chocolate and all agreed that Majano's was the best. I am not a chocolate expert but it was very good.
We tasted toasted chocolate, cream chocolates, and light and dark chocolate to compare the difference. I liked the bitterness of the dark chocolate the best. The last chocolate was a chocolate dipped slice of chewy orange flavored candy. Wow, what a way to start the day. I am on a sugar high.
Next we tasted salami, prosciutto, and Parmesan Reggiano and Caciotta Bell' Emilia cheeses. By now we are "salami experts. The meats were wonderful. We've also had a fair amount of Parmesan Reggiano by now and I've really enjoyed it. I also enjoyed the Caciotta. It is a soft cheese that has about the same texture as Mozzarella but actually has a little more flavor. I bought some to take with me.
Parmesan Reggiano comes from Freisen cows. There are 471 cheese makers in Parma and over 275,000 cows. Parmesan Reggiano is lower in fat than many cheeses but it spends about 21 days in salt. I have always loved Parmesan Reggiano cheese and it was a dream come true to be enjoying it in Italy. Often it was served with different jams and this was delicious. I will try this at home.
Next was the pasta tasting. I discovered that I really love home made pasta. As I will share later pasta making is not difficult but it is pretty time consuming. So I tried really hard to eat as much as possible. I even took a cooking class where I learned how to make delicious home made pasta. I thought I knew all about pasta making but I learned a few new things in my cooking class.
During the tour, we tasted two pastas, both made to order. The tortellini was stuffed with chopped ham, chopped mortadella, chopped loin meat, eggs, nutmeg and salt. Again, northern Italian cooking isn't heavy with tomato sauce. The lasagna was layered with spinach noodles, ricotta cheese, a béchamel sauce and ground beef. Both pasta dishes were unbelievably delicious, so far the best pasta I've had.
We finished the tour with Gelato. Dennis is becoming an expert. He said that this was the best so far but very close to the first gelato he tasted in Lake Como. Maybe that was because it was his first real Italian gelato. All I know for sure is that this gelato was very good.
