Out and about in Italy

This blog is a great place to disprove the myth that we spend all our time swanning around the pretty places in Europe and eating vast quantities of excellent food. It is the perfect platform to reveal the attention to detail, the hours in the office, the battles with language barriers and the sheer graft involved in bringing our products to the shelves. However, I have been on my travels for the past few weeks, so here are some of my snaps instead!

First up are the ladies who hand apply fat to the ends of the Parma Ham legs before they go in to the next stage of maturation. Their skill is pretty amazing to watch and vital for protection of the meat in the months that follow.

I took this picture of an old windmill on the lagoon at Orbetello in Tuscany. They are characteristic of the area. The lagoon is famous for its fish and I ate an oven-baked fish dish with potatoes there that evening. Those amongst you with eagle-eyes may have spotted the egret perching on the windmill base, also there for the fish!

These olive trees, on a hillside above the same lagoon, grow in amongst the ruins of a huge Roman temple. Which is rather nice. We were filming when we visited this site and spent a while spotting the trees with the most gnarled and twisted trunks. These trees are harvested for olive oil production rather than the table (eating) olives we sell. A tradition even older than the Roman ruins around us.

Making the most of the day’s last light for filming. Looking out to sea and towards Monte Argentario.

Anyway, back to the desk job…

Simon