L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 10 THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022 L'Italo-Americano T he Bilzi fami- ly history is typ- i c a l o f o u r Made in Italy. E v e r y t h i n g began with a dream and a sense of initiative typical of t h e g e n e r a t i o n t h a t w a s young during the first years of the past century. From the creation of a dairy spe- cialized in the production of our iconic Parmigiano Reg- g i a n o - w e ' r e h e r e i n t h e province of Parma - to their m o r e r e c e n t e - c o m m e r c e ventures, the Bilzis want to bring the tradition and qual- ity of their dairy selection, t h e i r c u r e d m e a t s , t h e i r wines, and their other Ital- ian specialties to consumers and Italophiles around the world. As you would expect in a n y g o o d n o v e l f r o m t h e early 20th century, it was not all easy for the Bilzis. When Oreste, the founder of the dairy, started produc- i n g P a r m i g i a n o i n t h o s e early years of the 1900s, still far from the tragedy of the w a r s , h e p r o b a b l y d i d n ' t think he would have to give up on his dream only a few years later: the vicissitudes and the evil of the Second World War forced the family to sell the dairy. But, as you'd expect in a beautiful story with a happy ending, Oreste, who in the meanwhile had become a g r a n d f a t h e r , m a n a g e d t o c h a n g e t h e c o u r s e o f t h e world - at least that of his family's. With love and dedi- cation, he instilled a passion f o r t r a d i t i o n a n d c h e e s e - making into his grandson, himself called Oreste. It was h i m w h o , i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s , picked up where his grand- f a t h e r l e f t o f f a n d founds Zabo Form. Today, we of L ' I t a l o - Americano have the plea- sure to speak with Enrico B i l z i , t h e s o n o f O r e s t e "junior" and great-grandson of the first Oreste who did so much for the family. With him, we discuss the history of the company, but also the wish to make it internation- a l l y w i t h t h e C a s a l e d i P a r m a v e n t u r e , w h i c h offers customers from out- side of Italy a selection of quality and traditional prod- ucts. Your family has been producing Parmigiano Reggiano for more than a century: tell us some- t h i n g a b o u t h o w i t a l l began. It was Oreste Bilzi who o p e n e d h i s d a i r y i n t h e province of Parma, in the early 1900s. The impetus following the development of the company was given by his grandson, also named O r e s t e , w h o i n h e r i t e d i t from his grandfather and, with passion and thanks to h i s a g r i c u l t u r a l s t u d i e s , started Zabo Form in the 1960s. S i n c e t h e n , m a n y advances have been made and the family's activities, which today also included the making of prosciutto di P a r m a , a s w e l l a s o t h e r products of the Emilian tra- dition. Today myself, Enrico, and my sister Ketty continue the family business along with our father Oreste, who still dispenses valuable advice and suggestions, passing on h i s p a s s i o n a l s o t o h i s grandchildren, one of whom is, incidentally, also called Oreste! Your main products are Parmigiano Reggia- n o a n d p r o s c i u t t o d i Parma, two symbols of t h e c u l i n a r y M a d e i n Italy and of your region. What link does the com- p a n y h a v e w i t h t r a d i - tion? In the world of food, with particular reference to milk and cheese production, tra- d i t i o n h a s a n i m p o r t a n t value and represents a fun- damental plus. Tradition is the history and the deepest soul of our company. It isn't only a matter of carrying on and improving the dairy- making tradition with which we are associated, but also of creating and consolidating relationships over the years, with others that make the same values part of their e x c l u s i v e a n d r e s p e c t e d image. W i t h I l C a s a l e d i P a r m a y o u a r e a l s o proposing yourself on the US market, a market that loves Made in Italy but which unfortunately is also strongly associat- ed with Italian-sound- ing, that is, with prod- ucts that pretend to be Italian, but that of the real "made in Italy" have neither tradition, nor flavor, nor guarantees of safety and traceability: what is the right answer to this problem, in your opinion? Our products, in particu- lar Parmigiano Reggiano, constantly live under the unfair competition of Ital- ian-sounding products and, unfortunately, we've been a l s o p a y i n g t h e c o n s e - quences of it. Legal defense is funda- mental and the Consortium monitors the situation as much as possible, which is key. On our part, the best behavior is to keep on doing o u r b e s t , w o r k h a r d , a n d continue to produce excel- lence that consumers can recognize. Our company is always open to visitors, and our offices are happy to give i n f o r m a t i o n a n d a n s w e r questions from all those who c o n t a c t u s , w h o c a l l a n d write to us. W h a t a r e t h e m o s t requested products by your US customers? P a r m i g i a n o R e g g i a n o , absolutely, of all ages, but a l s o o t h e r I t a l i a n h a r d cheeses, olive oils, and vine- gar. Today your brand also includes other tradition- al Italian products such as pesto, pasta, organic products, and even truf- fles: how did you select what you wanted to add to your store? With Casale di Parma we wanted to offer private cus- tomers an excellent selection of Italian food and wines. Unfortunately, for health authorization issues, which cannot be obtained for small quantities of product, we c a n n o t o f f e r c o l d c u t s , wines, and other fresh prod- ucts to our US online cus- tomers, but we still have an excellent and vast assort- ment of Italian delicacies we are happy for our American friends to try. FRANCESCA BEZZONE At work at the Casale di Parma with the Bilzi Family (Photo courtesy of Enrico Bilzi) Bringing Italian food and tradition around the world: a chat with Enrico Bilzi LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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