Emilia-Romagna: the culinary capital of Italy?
By a stroke of luck I ended up in Emilia-Romagna, an Eden of good cuisine and tasty ingredients. I had been living in France for almost a decade and though the food captivated me, each trip to Italy begged for another. Growing up in the US, I had an idea of Italy as a European state, but now I was discovering its endless provincial diversity. The nation has millennia of history, but has only been a unified country since 1861. Twenty individual regions weave a multi-colored mosaic of provinces, cities, and towns: bygone kingdoms and feudal states.
In 2000 I got a job as a tour guide in a company based in Forlì. I have no idea where that was. I picked up my world atlas on the kitchen table and flipped through the index: F… For… Forlì. Italy sculpts more a leg than a boot on the map. Forlì lies in Emilia-Romagna: a wide expanse that stretches across your thigh like a garter. The region takes its name from Via Aemilia, the 160-mile ancient Roman road that stretches east, straight as a tightrope from Piacenza to the Adriatic Sea.
The Apennines, the mountainous backbone of Italy, arch east and then south from the Mediterranean Sea to form the lower edge of the territory. Sloping vineyards and gentle grassy slopes meld north to neat orchards. Packets of kiwi populate the flat plain of the Po River. Renaissance towers, medieval ruins, and cypress spiers cover rolling hills. And undulating grids of silver olive trees adorn the slopes.
Emilia-Romagna’s cultural heritage encompasses Parma’s mighty-arched cathedral, Bologna’s leaning brick towers, and Ravenna’s 6th-century mosaics; once the capital of the Western Roman Empire. Pellegrino Artusi, the father of Italian cuisine, grew up in Forlimpopoli.
But Emilia and Romaña are one on paper. In the 8th century, the Frankish king Pepin III pawned the troubled regions of the southeast into the hands of the papacy. Like twins separated at birth, they matured into individual people. Romagnoli they are “country pigeons raising chickens”, say the “alleged, know-it-alls” emiliani.
NOBLE EMILIA
Emilia prospered under centuries of wealthy and high-born families who maintained their prestige through lavish banquets. Parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar, prosciutto di Parma and dumpling – an opulent dish of boiled meats – all come from the region. Bologna sausage too, even if you only knew its poor American cousin: bologna. In 1088, the oldest university in Europe was opened in Bologna la Grassa (Fat Bologna) – also the culinary capital of Italy. Parmesan cheese in process
Lucky for me, it’s also the birthplace of handmade pasta: the centerpiece of weekly family gatherings. On Sunday mornings, Emiliana’s grandmothers dump mounds of flour onto their table-sized cutting boards. Mixing only eggs, they knead it into sticky yellow balls. With meter-long rolling pins, they flatten this sfoglia thin enough to see the wood grain of the board. From the far edge, they roll the immense sheet into a tube, take a wide flat-bladed knife, and cut quarter-inch rounds. As the spirals unfold, classic noodles arise. The rough texture of the noodles will soak up a rich ragout of slow-cooked ground meats, tomato sauce, red wine and chopped aromatic vegetables.
Local wines often shine to combat such a rich meal: the bubbles and acidity cut through the fat. Lambrusco made the area famous in the 1980s with “Riunite on ice, that’s nice.” Natives call the sweeter version “the wine soda,” but the dry, sparkling red pairs well with lasagna and heavy meat dishes. Malvasia and Barbera also produce refreshing drinks, most often with sparkling, sparkling head.
RUSTIC ROMA
Romagna faces south towards Rome, from which it gets its name, and the Vatican. Subject to the rule of the church, Romagna kept a simple and frugal character. Under the balsamic sun of the Mediterranean, it evolved around seafood, rural gardens, grilled meats and unleavened bread. While cream and butter flood Emilia, the Romagna cooks with her own olive oil.
Here, your fresh pasta can be eggless, like twisty strozzapretti, also known as “strangle the priest”. Since the housewives had to make extra money for the church, the many stories behind the name end badly for the clergyman. In one vivid version, the cook imagines himself wringing his neck as he turns pieces of flat pasta between his palms. Brisighella in Romagna
I remember my first passatelli in brodo. For generations, winter brings fierce competition to the mountain town of Rocca San Casciano; rivalry within cities is also strong. the annual Phallus Party divide the community in two rioni (neighborhoods): market against Borgo. Just like the world famous Siena pallium horse race, the people of the town turn 100% into preparing the weekend celebration. It takes months to organize the food, the parades, and the phallus: two skyscraper bonfires challenging each other across a glacial stream.
The men invited me to help out for a few winter weekends. We collected trucks loaded with brooms to erect the towers. Chainsaws hummed as we slogged through frozen mud and up snowy hills. For hours we collected branch after branch, the boys passing the time with exaggerated stories of what they did the night before. Finally at noon, we headed into town for lunch. The women of the village had prepared Passatelli: Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs squeezed into thick, golden noodles. More than a dozen of them floated in beef broth – the liquid left over from our scone: the next course. We ate out of plastic bowls at makeshift tables, but the scalding soup was more welcome than a gourmet meal.
We water the meat with Sangiovese. This grape produces some of the best wines in the country: Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, to name a few. Its origins lie somewhere in the Apennines, and Romagna’s best bottles rival those of its more famous Tuscan neighbor. But most locals drink simple concoctions, dispensed from carafes at lunch for a few euros.
The great diversity of Italy strikes me most at this more rustic level. Centuries of competition keep traditions alive. The history, the rivalry and the landscape are revealed in the people and at the table. Emilia’s open stretches and rich history result in sumptuous meats and cheeses. The rustic character of Romagna gives you stronger flavors and a smell of the sea. Is it the rivalry that keeps them so unique and so delicious?