Experience the ultimate Italian travel experience in the heart of Parma and Emilia-Romagna, Italy’s Food Valley, with Academia Barilla and the VIP gourmet tour organized by Academia Barilla Culinary School Alumni Frank DiMaria we announced with a previous post.

The VIP gastronomy tour dates are September 21-26, 2008, and the gourmet guided tour to Emilia-Romagna includes:

Culinary Hands-on Experience
Exclusive tasting sessions
Regional delicacies
Authentic menus
Specialty recipes
English-Italian translation
5-Star hotel accommodations
All meals included
Castle and winery visits
World class facilities
Individualized instruction
Courses from Italy’s top local Chefs
One-of-a-kind gourmet and culinary tours
Daily transportation and transfers
Tuition and course materials

Culinary travel highlights include:

The cultural street life, authentic markets, food stores, retail shops, restaurants and cafés of Parma and surrounding areas of Emilia-Romagna

Two hands-on culinary courses at the Academia Barilla Culinary Center
The spectacular historic Torrechiara Castle and medieval town nestled in the countryside of Emilia-Romagna

Gourmet tours to award-winning Parmigiano-Reggiano and Prosciutto di Parma producers, where we will witness the production, authenticity and quality of traditional Italian products

Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar tastings with professional, expert techniques on how to taste these regional delicacies

An excursion to a winery in the Emilia-Romagna region for a tasting and lesson on discovering the intricacies and flavors of different wines

An excursion to the Ferrari Museum in Imola to experience first hand the history of an Italian icon

Gelato and sorbetto tasting in local area cafés

The exclusive group price for this luxury VIP guided tour is $2,900 per person, airfare excluded. For more detailed information about the VIP tour features, cost and booking please call Frank DiMaria at +1 847 965-0672 or +1 847 417-7587, or email Frank at frankdimaria@comcast.net.

We will be blogging more over the next few weeks about this VIP gastronomy tour to Emilia-Romagna, getting into details of each activity and destination to feed you with more Italian food culture and some desire to come cook with us in Parma!

We have been blogging a lot in the past about Academia Barilla’s gourmet and gastronomy tours in Parma and Emilia-Romagna, as well as the several initiatives from the Academia Barilla Culinary Center such as the culinary learning vacations that conjugate the pleasure of discovering Italian culture and food tradition with the ultimate experience of learning how to cook with top Italian Chefs.

We also blogged several times about other Academia Barilla initiatives that put together Italian food and culture - and no, we don’t mean “just” Italian food culture, but actually gourmet food plus Italian culture, such as in the gourmet cultural tours proposed by Academia Barilla to discover historic and artistic landmarks, contemporary art or classic opera.

Talking about which, we can anticipate that also for this year Academia Barilla will offer gourmet luxury packages to enjoy the Festival Verdi 2008, dedicated to the Italian Opera Maestro Giuseppe Verdi. We’ll blog about it soon, stay tuned!

We are not the only one blogging about the Academia Barilla gourmet, cultural and culinary tours to Italy. The Academia Barilla Culinary Center in Parma, Italy, is listed as a top culinary destination by several Italian food websites and directories, such as ChicagoTribune.com, Cooking In Italy, Alta Cucina and GreatEveryDayWines.com, among others. Not to mention of course Gourmet Magazine, who recently ranked the Academia Barilla Culinary Center among the world’s best cooking schools, among the top 5 in the world in the Luxury category. 

If you want to get more info and details about the cultural, culinary and gastronomic tours of Academia Barilla please get in touch with Academia Barilla in Parma at +39 0521 264060 (toll-free number from Italy 800 376-116), or in the United States at the US toll-free number 1-866-772-2233.

We also already talked about our VIP tours, too, as in the recent case of Lynn Novo’s VIP gourmet tour to Parma, organized by Chef and food entrepreneur Lynn Novo from Atlanta, Georgia.

The Academia Barilla VIP tours are luxury guided cultural and culinary tours designed by Academia Barilla and managed by Academia Barilla Culinary School Alumni such as Lynn Novo or Frank DiMaria, who is organizing a new VIP tour from Chicago, Illinois.

Over the next few weeks we will publish a series of blog posts that will help recreate the experience, albeit in a virtual way, proposed by the Academia Barilla VIP tour organized and guided by Frank DiMaria. For the moment, we anticipate that there will be a lot of cooking, but also visits to local artisan food producers, Medieval castles, the Ferrari Museum, and guided tours to the historic and monument beauties of the cities of Parma and Bologna.

Stay tuned for the next blog posts. If you want to book or get more info on this specific Academia Barilla VIP tour, please call Frank DiMaria at all +1 847-965-0672 or email frankdimaria@comcast.net to reserve your space!

We have been asked to publish more info about the Giada de Laurentiis and Academia Barilla event in New York City, so we managed to get more pictures and the dinner menu, designed by celebrity Chef Giada De Laurentiis.

The evening, organized in conjunction with Fancy Food NY, officially launched the new celebrity gourmet food line Giada de Laurentiis Selected by Academia Barilla, a series of authentic Italian food specialties you don’t want to miss in your Everyday Italian cuisine.

The guests at the Astra Lounge, the exclusive NYC penthouse, had the pleasure to taste a number of dishes prepared using the new Giada De Laurentiis product line. Giada’s NY menu was definitely tempting, with innovative recipes such as:

Artichoke Pesto on Ciabatta
Parmesan Popovers (you can find the recipe here)
Whole-Wheat Penne with Green Beans, Ricotta and Lemon
Balsamic Chicken Skewers
Grilled Swordfish with Lemon, Mint and Basil
Balsamic Marinated Beef Tenderloin Skewers
Roasted Baby Potatoes with Tuscan Herbs
Anytime Vegetable Salad

The newly-launched gourmet product line designed by Giada De Laurentiis and selected and produced by Academia Barilla, is composed by:

100% Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil - artisan production from the sunny Southern Italy, this extra virgin olive oil has a subtle and smooth taste, with hints of arugula, artichoke and grass.

Balsamic Vinegar of Modena - a gourmet selection from Modena’s artisan producers, this balsamic vinegar presents a tart fruity taste with hints of raisin and red apple.

Natural Sea Salt with Fresh Lemon Zest - hand harvested from famous salt pans in Sicily’s seaside town of Trapani, this natural sea salt is enhanced with zest of fresh local Sicilian lemons.

Giada’s Tuscan Herb Mix - an aromatic mix of wild rosemary, sage, bay leaf, basil, marjoram, thyme, wild fennel and chili pepper. Hand harvested and dried in small batches on a Tuscan estate.

The entire product line is available at the best gourmet food store in the United States, and also online at the Academia Barilla online store, just follow the links above to get to each product!

Are you an olive oil virgin? Do you really know your balsamic? Are you ready to move past your salad days (well, at least for these two great condiments!)?

Join Academia Barilla Italian Culinary Specialist and Iron Chef Judge Mario Rizzotti on Monday April 21 at the Grovewood Tavern and Wine Bar in Cleveland, Ohio, for an evening of deep insight and gourmet tasting where you will learn how to distinguish real Italian products from the fakes.

Participants will learn how to taste extra virgin olive oil and Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena the professional way. More to it, the ingredients are matched to a yummy 5-course dinner where you can experience the ingredients “in action”!

The ingrediends and dishes on the Grove Tavern menu:

100% Italian Unfiltered EVOO From Sicily, made from Cerasuola and Nocellara del Belice olives. Medium fruitiness, with very fresh aromas, showing strong undertones of green grass, pachino tomatoes and oregano.
Course One - Antipasto Salumi Misti and Mozzarella di Bufala drizzled with Academia Barilla 100% Unfiltered EVOO from Sicily.

Balsamic Must of Modena, aged 8 years The luscious aromas of the Modena grapes and the sophistication of barrel-aged vinegar blend into a unique product that contains all the richness of a Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and the full-bodied texture of the honey-like grape must.
Course Two - Primo piatto Risotto with Amarone and radicchio, in Parmesan cup, drizzled with balsamic must, aged 8 years.

100% Italian EVOO From Italy, made from a blend of traditional Italian olive varietals. Delicate intensity, with fresh olive flavors and a well-rounded body.
3 year old Balsamic Vinegar of Modena From Modena, the aroma and flavor are tangy with hints of fruit and wood; rich and full of oak. The texture is thick, sweet and pungent.
Course Three - Insalata Insalata Tricolore – Belgian endive, radicchio and arugula, served with 100% Italian EVOO and 3 year old balsamic vinegar of Modena.

Chianti Jelly Artisinally produced. The condiment shows a delicate but intense aroma, without wine notes but rich in fragrance. On the palate it is delicate, non-alcoholic, fragranced, soft and with a rounded texture.
Toscano Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) From Tuscany, made from Moraiolo, Leccino, and Frantoio olives. Medium-strong intensity, showing aromas and flavors of herbs, artichoke, green pepper, and olive pulp.
Course Four - Carne Seared Lamb Chop with Chianti Jelly and drizzled with Toscano EVOO, accompanied with penne pasta with yellow squash and balsamic vinegar.

25 year old Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale This exclusive product comes from the ancient cellars in and around Modena. Its all-enveloping flavor and unmatched aroma depend on the meticulous selection of the best local grapes, and on the masterful ageing process which entails numerous transfers of vinegar to small barrels over the 25 year period. This most precious of elixirs shows an intense and captivating aroma and concentrated flavors, with a creamy, dense, remarkably rich texture.
Dessert DOLCE Vanilla gelato with fresh berries, drizzled with 25 year old Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale.

Interested? Then rush to make your reservation by calling +1 (216) 531-4900, as seating is limited and by reservation only. The dinner and tasting price is $40 per person (add wine pairings $24, tax and gratuity not included).

The address to the Grovewood Tavern is 17105 Grovewood Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44110. As usual, we provide you with a useful Google Map for your driving directions.

Today, March 21, is the first day of Spring; we leave behind us the cold days of winter (not so cold this year, after all) and look forward for more and more beautiful days of primavera, spring time.

So how about planning a trip to Parma, in the heart of Emilia-Romagna and the Italian Food Valley? Academia Barilla could be your perfect host for your Italian gourmet vacations.

Amazing Medieval town rich of culture and with plenty of historic highlights that meet culinary culture (check out our blog article from last year for a virtual visit to the city), Parma is also, as our readership knows, home to Academia Barilla, its Culinary School, and of course BIGAB, Academia Barilla’s Gastronomic Library.

Both Academia Barilla’s Culinary School and Gastronomic Library will release their official calendar of events and gourmet and cultural initiatives soon (you get a peek preview on BIGAB’s activities from a previous post), but make sure that you will have plenty of choices that you can customize.

Academia Barilla’s culinary learning vacations include everything from gourmet tours of the Italian Food Valley to hands-on Italian cooking classes at the Culinary School, cultural guided tours, exploration of traditional farms and local artisan producers of Italian regional specialties and more, including on the cultural side of experiencing Italy. Opera? We got that too. Contemporary art? Of course. Cinema? Yep.

Getting curious? We suggest you stay tuned with this blog for more details coming up soon, but also that you start inquiring at Academia Barilla about the gastronomic and cultural initiatives for 2008. You can call directly Academia Barilla in Parma, Italy at +39 0521 264-060 or toll-free number (numero verde) 800 376-116; if you are in the United States you can reach Academia Barilla the toll-free number 866 772-2233.

In the meanwhile, explore our Parma photo set on Flickr.com! (click on the image to go to the photo set).

See you in Parma in primavera!