Finally Friday

Friday morning and we finally were on the bus heading off to San Daniele...
The village is located near Udine, close to the Austrian mountains, and the tradition of making hams there comes from a combination of the cross winds between the mountains and the sea, and making use of the geography of the carst to dry the ham.
These days however, the tradition is recreated artificially in ham plants - but the one that we went to see was pretty incredible. It was all the more interesting because it was not solely robotic - the parts of the process that really relied on expertise in the old days are still done by hand today.
The factory was spotlessly clean, including a room for slicing that is 140 times cleaner than the standard required for an operating room in a hospital. We were also lucky enough to have the CEO of the company, a member of the family that has been making the ham for decades, conducting the tour.
All parts of the tour were interesting, but especially to see the testing of the ham with a horse tendon and sense of smell. The CEO said he was happy for people to take pics in the factory as it wasn't a case of seeing or not seeing the equipment they use - the expertise in the production is the important thing. Italy is so known for its food products and it was really terrific to see the passion that the management has for the product they make and sell.
It can't be a bad business either, from the look of the Porsche the CEO drove away in!