Last year I had the pleasure of spending time in the Emilia-Romagna region in Blogville. After visiting Modena and making traditional balsamic vinegar, I not only fell in love with traditional balsamic and the entire process that goes into its perfection, but also in love with an Italian family and their story. The devotion of the family to the purity of traditional balsamic along with the balsamic cooking work attire (gloves, glasses, aprons), and the very fact that process of making balsamic is called ‘cooking’ – reminded me of one of my favorite TV shows: Breaking Bad.

Although the concept maybe was a bit far out there, especially considering the family had never seen the TV show and the show itself is an intense drama about making drugs, I couldn’t shake the feeling and excitement of wanting to shoot a video about. The tv show’s portrayal of the ‘pure’, real stuff, vs what most street consumers must endure was too great of analogy. Luckily, my new favorite Italian family was very open and cool and was willing to have some fun and go with it. It also seemed meant to be when I learned that the father of Acetaia Villa Bianca happened to be a former high school chemistry teacher – just like the main character, Walter White, in Breaking Bad.

I have done jobs all over the world, from working with tigers in Thailand to making tequila in Mexico, but my jobs in Italy, particularly making balsamic in Italy have been my favorite.
Mucho Amor to Italy and your never-ending love of tradition and quest for perfection.

by Turner Barr (@80worldjobs)

Turner’s original post can be found here:
Breaking Bad meets Breaking Balsamic