“Parmesan” is, by the way, the correct (Anglicized) way to refer to a person from the city of Parma, which is in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, just below the knee of the boot. Parmesan is also, of course, the name of the province’s most famous edible contribution to humanity. Other contributions include Parma ham, the film director Bernardo Bertolucci, the conductor Arturo Toscanini and Pietro Barilla of Barilla pasta (the dark blue box at your local supermarket, not to be confused with the medium-blue box of De Cecco, which is from Abruzzo). Parma is a city of inventive door knockers and narrow streets that become belligerently slippery after one instant of rain, and racks upon racks of men’s underwear in innovatively bizarre cuts and fabrics. In the city center, it is easier to buy a bottle of scent, high-end or low, than it is to buy a carton of milk.

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Persons: “, Bernardo Bertolucci, Arturo Toscanini, Pietro Barilla Locations: Parma, Emilia, Romagna, Italy, Abruzzo, Grasse