Emilian cuisine
If you ask an Italian where the best food is from, he will surely answer “from my mother”. But if the request is to indicate which region stands out in the kitchen, the answer will almost always be: Emilia-Romagna.
If you decide to take a trip to this region, you will need to equip yourself not only with the traditional tourist guide, but also with the gastronomic guide.
Juggling the many typical dishes of the two areas, that of Emilia and of Romagna, is quite difficult. Saporare will take care of giving you some useful tips, starting with Emilian cuisine.
Emilia is the richest and most fertile land, developed almost entirely in the plains and this richness is found in the products that, more than others, speak of Emilia to the world: Parmigiano Reggiano, balsamic vinegar of Modena, Prosciutto di Parma and the Mortadella of Bologna.
Emilia has a considerable gastronomic history, deriving from almost eight centuries of autonomy of its cities, from the age of the municipalities to the unification of Italy. Some even had the role of capital and some of the largest noble families ruled from there … and their courts served the most celebrated and famous cooks.
Emilian cuisine is undoubtedly abundant and tasty and is synonymous with excellent cuisine all over the world.
The Emilian meal
A true Emilian meal cannot begin without a piece of fried gnocco or fried cake, tigelle or crescentine and erbazzone, accompanied by cold cuts, cheeses and jams, the most famous is that of sour cherries from Modena.
True jewels of tradition are certainly the first meals: starting from Piacenza and passing through Parma we find the anolini; in Reggio Emilia we have tortelli with herbs or pumpkin with amaretto and meat cappelletti.
Going down to Modena, Castelfranco and Bologna we taste the tortellini. Many variations of the same product, very tasty in all its versions, whose origin is one of the oldest disputes between the Emilian cities.
But the tagliatelle di Bologna are also famous, unforgettable eaten with ragù.
Emilia is also famous for its cold cuts that reach peaks of excellence: we can mention Modena and Parma ham, greaves, coppa and pancetta piacentina dop, culatello di Zibello, mortadella di Bologna … but also zampone or cotechino, typical Christmas dishes, excellent served with lentils.
And to end up with a flourish, why not to try a nice slice of rice cake or Spongata di Parma, a regional dessert made with hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, honey, candied fruit, sultanas and spices.
Do not forget to accompany the meal with excellent Emilian wine, such as Lambrusco di Sorbara or Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, pleasant to the eye and to the taste
If we have intrigued you, stay with us; with the next article we will learn how to cook a famous Emilian dish.
Here is a little hint for you: it is a chard-based specialty from Reggio Emilia… Can you guess what it is?
If you missed it, catch up on our post on tuscan cuisine!
