Eating Bologna
I admit to not knowing much about Bologna in northern Italy – until recently that is. I knew that Spaghetti Bolognaise was probably named such because it was from Bologna and that was about the sum total of my knowledge. As it turns out, the citizens of Bologna don’t use spaghetti in their cooking – they use tagliatelle to carry the meat ragu that is known around the world as ‘Bolognaise.’ So even what I thought I knew – I didn’t.
It was the celebrity chef, Rick Stein, that piqued my interest in one of his television shows “Weekends away.” Rick Stein is my sort of tourist; interested in the food culture. What he found in Bologna was very enticing to this fellow traveller – mouth-watering produce and cuisine. After all, mortadella comes from this region (and who doesn’t love mortadlella?) but that’s not all.
Lunch al fresco in Bologna
Mortadella, bread and white wine.
What’s more, Ryan Air had a flight that flew directly into Bologna from Marseille airport (which is 20 minutes from my home in Arles, France) that only took a 50 minutes. Perfect.
We made the hotel bookings and even booked an organised tour into the nearby countryside of Emilia-Romagna to checkout some interesting things.
Now going on organised tours is something I rarely do as I don’t particularly like being herded around like cattle – and it’s usually the way. However, in this case, we realised that the things they offered would be difficult (if not impossible) to achieve going it alone.
It started off badly: I had been suffering with a stomach bug for four days prior to leaving for Italy and expected it to be gone by the time I left. It wasn’t. I went anyway. (Do you know the penalties for cancelling flights and/or hotel bookings?).
I managed to arrive at the hotel in Bologna without any disasters (having completely fasted the day before) but by the time I got there, I was exhausted and fell into bed and slept for around 18 hours straight. Luckily Bologna hotels have soft, comfortable beds – at least the one we stayed at.
Our well-appointed and situated hotel
The foyer
The sleep helped. I woke up feeling a lot better which was just as well as we had an early morning pick up for the organised tour.
And, as you may have already guessed, this tour was a ‘foodie’ one as the Emilia-Romagna region is famous (principally) for three food products – cheese: in particular Parmigiana Reggiano, vinegar: balsamic and preserved meats like parma ham.
We left the city in the early morning (while still dark) in order not to miss seeing the cheese being made as the process is usually all over by mid-morning and it was about 45 minutes away.
Inside the factory
The cheese is being cooked.
The cheese is ready
The drying process begins
The cheeses take shape
The next stage
The spectacle was worth getting up early for and it was a sight to behold to see the large wheels of cheeses stored by their thousands on shelves in the storerooms.
Parmigiana Reggiano
Thousands of them
The cheese factory had its own dairy farm and by morning tea time we were sitting in the sunshine, among the baby cows (calves, if you like) sampling huge chunks of Parmigiana Reggiano, of differing ages and maturity, with gallons of the red, sparkling wine of the region, Lambrusco, with which to wash it down.
At the cheese factory
Part of their herd – just a baby
Checking it all out
prior to morning tea
Generosity was the main theme of this tour and, like a good Italian ‘Nonna’, “Mangia, mangia” was the mantra of our very funny and accommodating tour guide, Ricardo.
Ricardo unleashes his passion
I wish he’d have put the knife down first! Haha
Ricardo’s passion was D.O.P – Denominazione d’Origine Protetta (in Italian) or Protected Designation of Origin. The very strict D.O.P label is only given to authentic and original regional products who use the proscribed methods of production and are contained within the proscribed areas. It is meant to preserve and protect regionally-produced produce from the encroachment and imitation of lesser versions. As such, to Ricardo, Grana Padano were dirty words.
Stomachs full, we drove on to a small village where we decamped into what looked like someone’s home. And indeed it was just that – but not only that. It was also a distillery for vinegar replete with a room for aging the vinegar – a cellar, but on the first floor rather than underground.
Vinegar
The aging process
More Vinegar
…left to age
After a quick tour, we sat at a long table laden with all the implements and paraphernalia we’d need for a balsamic vinegar tasting. We tasted from the lowest to the highest-grade vinegar and learned about the tradition of creating a vat of the finest quality vinegar when a child is born that is bequeathed to him/her when s/he comes of age – a legacy, if you will.
A welcome table
The finest examples of this vinegar come with a hefty price tag. The highest grade vinegar comes in a specifically and obligatory shaped 100ml bottle and retails for around $AU70.
Top grade balsamic vinegar
The small, 100 ml, obligatory-shaped bottle – alas now almost empty. (Juxtaposed against a tea cup for scale.)
The producer provided samples of food to taste with the vinegar – foods whose flavour was enhanced by it and, of course, Lambrusco – gallons of Lambrusco with which to wash it down.
Lastly, we checked out smallgoods (hams) where we stopped at premises that were ostensibly a shop selling all manner of mouth-watering preserved meats. But, beneath that shop was another world – this was where the hams were produced, including special orders from chefs made to their specifications. (One from a three-Michelin-starred restaurant.)
Ricardo
A ham amongst the hams
Then it was back upstairs for a tasting – all washed down with gallons of Lambrusco.
By this time, we’d eaten and drank more than our fill – but lunch was still to come.
In a restaurant, in the middle of the countryside, we were welcomed with a multi-course lunch of regional specialties including tortellini (small stuffed pasta) that the locals eat in a clear broth ‘tortellini in brodo as well as all manner of other things, too numerous to mention.’ “Mangia. Mangia.”
The countryside
From our restaurant’s window
There’s no doubt that our stomachs filled with good food and wine had set the pace for a jovial lunch complete with the obligatory de-corking of the Lambrusco (and there were gallons of it) using a single flourish of a ceremonial sword. It works, it doesn’t look like it should.
The revellers
Mangia, mangia
I would say that this is the ONLY organised tour I’ve ever thoroughly enjoyed and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. You can book the tour here – it is the tour that starts early to catch the cheese-making.
Bologna is a lovely, ancient city, a joy to explore. There is more to it than just its food (however excellent) and I will take you there at another time. For now, this is a good introduction.