Food to Try in Parma: Prosciutto, Parmigiano, Tortelli, and More

Parma is not just associated with good food - it has institutional status. The city holds the headquarters of the European Food Safety Authority, and the province produces two of the most regulated, copied, and counterfeited food products in the world: Prosciutto di Parma DOP and Parmigiano Reggiano DOP. Eating here is not a supplement to the cultural visit; it is part of it. Here is what to order and where to find it.

Prosciutto di Parma

The most internationally recognised product from this city is made in the hills south of Parma, particularly around Langhirano, where the specific combination of mountain air from the Apennines and sea breezes from the Ligurian coast creates the microclimate that producers say is responsible for the flavour. By law, the pigs must be raised in one of ten northern Italian regions and processed in the province of Parma; each leg is marked with a crown stamp and a code identifying the producer and year.

In the city, buy it at a salumeria rather than a supermarket. Salumeria Garibaldi (Via Garibaldi 42) has whole legs in the window and staff who will cut and fold it while you wait. Ask for a mix of 12-month (more delicate, sweeter) and 24-month (more intense, slightly saltier) to taste the difference. A 100g portion costs approximately €4–6.

Prosciutto di Parma is at its best eaten simply: folded on bread (ideally a torta fritta), with a glass of Malvasia di Candia frizzante or a dry Lambrusco. The combination is old and has survived for good reason.

Parmigiano Reggiano

The cheese produced in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna (west of the Reno river), and Mantua is arguably the most important cheese in Italian cooking, and the version you encounter in Parma is meaningfully different from exported product because it has not spent months in transit. Wheels are aged for a minimum of 12 months; the categories you will see in shops are:

• 12 mesi (12 months): mild, creamy, sometimes eaten in flakes on salad
• 24 mesi (24 months): the standard reference point; nutty, crystalline, the flavour most people recognise
• 36 mesi (36 months): more intensely savoury, slightly grainy, best eaten alone with a drizzle of aged balsamic

The dairy cooperative Caseificio Rosola and several others near Collecchio run morning production tours. At the city centre level, any good alimentari will have freshly cut wedges in the refrigerated case. A 200g wedge of 24-month Parmigiano costs approximately €5–8 in shops as of 2026.

Culatello di Zibello

Culatello is the product that Parma locals consider the true pinnacle of the region’s salumi tradition, even though it is less famous internationally than prosciutto. It is made from the muscle of the pig’s hind leg - the same animal, a different cut - and aged in the humid cellars of the Po Valley in Zibello, about 30 km northwest of the city. The mould that forms on the casing during ageing is considered integral to the flavour.

It is harder to find than prosciutto and more expensive: a 100g portion from a good salumeria runs approximately €8–12. The best place to start in Parma is Salumeria Bianchi on Via Farini, which sources directly from small Zibello producers. Culatello has a more complex, slightly wilder flavour than prosciutto - sweeter fat, a longer finish, a faint funkiness from the mould environment.

Tortelli d’Erbette

Parma’s signature pasta is not a filled pasta in the sense of being a bite-sized parcel. Tortelli d’erbette are large, roughly square pockets filled with ricotta and cooked Swiss chard (bietola), which gives them a pale green tinge. They are dressed only with butter (melted, sometimes slightly browned) and grated Parmigiano. No cream sauce, no ragù - the simplicity is the point. A portion typically contains six to eight pieces and is eaten as a primo piatto.

Every trattoria in the city makes them. The quality variation is real. The best versions have thin, uniform pasta that holds its shape through cooking, and the filling is well-seasoned and not watery. Ristorante Parizzi (Via della Repubblica 71) is generally regarded as serving one of the best versions in the city. Trattoria Corrieri (Via Conservatorio 1) is cheaper and busier but makes an honest, well-executed tortello.

Torta Fritta

Not a dessert - a snack. Torta fritta is squares or triangles of dough fried in lard (traditionally) or vegetable oil, eaten hot and slightly puffy as a vehicle for culatello, prosciutto, or coppa (cured neck). Almost every bar and osteria in Parma serves it during aperitivo hours, usually from around 6pm, paired with drinks. It is the canonical Parma bar experience and costs almost nothing. Order a glass of Malvasia frizzante, wait for the torta fritta to come out hot from the oil, and fold a slice of prosciutto around it.

Anolini in Brodo

Less well-known outside the city than tortelli, anolini are small circular pasta pockets filled with a slow-cooked meat and bread stew, traditionally served in capon broth. They appear on trattoria menus most reliably in autumn and winter and on major feast days (Christmas, Easter). The filling takes hours to prepare and the result is intensely savoury. Not a summer dish; if you visit in the warmer months you may not encounter them, but worth looking for in any trattoria that writes a daily specials board.

Wines: Malvasia and Lambrusco

The local wine tradition in Parma province leans toward sparkling wines, which balance the fat in the salumi. Malvasia di Candia Aromatica is the white - slightly floral, off-dry, with fizz ranging from a gentle frizzante to a fuller spumante. Drink it young and cold. Producers from the Colli di Parma hills south of the city make the most expressive versions.

Lambrusco is the broader regional red - associated primarily with Modena but made in Parma province too. In bars and trattorias you will encounter a range from lightly sparkling and slightly sweet (the export style) to bone-dry and tannic (the style local wine shops sell). The dry versions pair better with food and are harder to find outside the region. A glass of local Lambrusco in a Parma osteria costs approximately €3–5.

Where to Eat: A Short List

Osteria del Trentino (Borgo Palmia 5): neighbourhood osteria, fixed daily menu, excellent tortelli, no tourists. Lunch only Tuesday–Saturday.

Trattoria Corrieri (Via Conservatorio 1): reliable for tortelli d’erbette and anolini in season. Popular with university staff, which is a useful indicator.

La Greppia (Strada Garibaldi 39a): mid-range trattoria with a good selection of local charcuterie and one of the better wine lists in the city for Colli di Parma whites.

Filippo (Strada Farini 8): the most celebrated formal restaurant in Parma, with modernised interpretations of regional classics. Booking required, especially Friday–Saturday.