Let's discover 4 dishes that have contributed to the worldwide fame of Emilia Romagna, a region where you can taste good food.
Emilia Romagna is certainly one of the regions of Italy best known for good food. If you're passing through here, you can't miss their most delicious culinary specialties. Below is a description of some of their most famous dishes.
Gnocco fritto
Gnocco fritto is a typical appetizer of Emilia Romagna. It consists of a bread dough made of flour, water, yeast and lard. As the name suggests, it is fried and served with the typical salami of Emilia Romagna, cheese and a good glass of red wine. The recipe has been handed down to Emilians by Lombards during their domination; and depending on the zone of Emilia, it takes on a different name: in Bologna are called "crescentine fritte", in Parma "torta fritta", in Modena and Reggio Emilia "gnocco fritto", in Piacenza "chisulèn".
Tortellini
Tortellini are a true classic of Emilian cuisine, one of the world's best-known stuffed egg pastas. Originally it was a poor recipe, born to recycle leftover meat from the table of rich gentlemen. The name tortellino is the diminutive of tortello, which comes from the word torta, because they are round and stuffed. The filling can be meat-based, but also ricotta, spinach and pumpkin. If cooked in soup, they are the symbol of Romagna cuisine.
"Piadina romagnola” is the Rimini-origined food having the most successful export in the world. The “piadina” is a pastry made of wheat flour, lard or olive oil, bicarbonate of soda or yeast, salt and water, traditionally cooked on an earthenware dish, called teglia. The thickness of the piadina increases as you go towards the north of Romagna: the variant of Rimini is the thinnest, the one cooked in Cesena area is of medium height, while towards Ravenna and Forlì it becomes thicker. The piadina, which has a typical half-moon shape, can be stuffed according to different tastes; in Romagna it’s prepared with squacquerone, a soft cheese usually served with rocket and prosciutto.
Tigella
Tigellas are small leavened buns typical of Emilia Romagna, in particular of the province of Modena. Their name comes from the mould – made of refractory earth and clay taken from the chestnut groves – which was once used to bake them, named tigella indeed. Tigellas are a typical starter of Emilia and are served with sliced meats and cheeses, although the typical accompaniment is cunza, a pesto made by mixing lard, rosemary and crushed garlic.
