{"id":3834,"date":"2014-11-14T02:19:07","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T01:19:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=3834"},"modified":"2022-05-31T22:49:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T20:49:35","slug":"typical-products-of-romagna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/typical-products-of-romagna\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle over Italy’s Food Regions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our group of irreverent expats (C.O.S.I.) is at it once again, joining forces in an attempt to impart our hard-won knowledge upon you, the unfortunate readers. \u00a0This week we welcome a member to our brood, Andrea from Sex, Lies, and Nutella<\/a>. \u00a0Admittedly, our discourse can often sound a bit cantankerous, as we lament the challenges of battling the Italian bureaucracy, or debate the necessity of superfluous bathroom hardware (a.k.a. the ubiquitous bidet<\/a>).\"typical<\/p>\n

However, this time around, we are here to sing the praises of one of Italy\u2019s greatest contributions to the world: its regional cuisines.\u00a0 On this topic, the only cantankerous part is arguing over which region is the best.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019ve each chosen a city\/region\/area to defend, expounding on the culinary wonders indigenous to the local farms, markets, kitchens, and restaurants.\u00a0 I could have chosen Rome\u2026probably should<\/em> have chosen Rome; it would have made perfect sense since it\u2019s the area that I\u2019m most familiar with.\u00a0 But after a few trips to Romagna this year, I\u2019m pretty excited about all of my latest tasty encounters, and I want to let everybody know about this relatively unexplored foodie paradise and some of the typical products of Romagna.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Of course, Romagna is part of the region of Emilia-Romagna.\u00a0 But when you look up the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna on the Internet, invariably the food from the Emilia side appears in the search results\u2014and for good reasons. We are all familiar with these capolavori<\/em> (masterpieces) of food artistry: Prosciutto di Parma, Aceto Balsamico di Modena, Rag\u00fa, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Lasagne Bolognese, Mortadella\u2014the list goes on.<\/p>\n

This will be an interesting comparison, because one of my C.O.S.I. partners, Maria, will discuss and defend the Emilia side.\u00a0 But since last month I had the pleasure of exploring the Romagna side with a group of fellow bloggers during #romagnabuonvivere<\/a>, I\u2019m going to share my discoveries about this diverse culinary landscape.\u00a0 Allow me to highlight some of the best products, traditional dishes, and fine restaurants.<\/p>\n

Typical Products of Romagna<\/h2>\n

Inland, the most frequent star on the secondo<\/em> menu is a type of pig called \u201cmora romagnola,\u201d<\/em> which is often fileted, skewered, or made into sausage and salumi.\u00a0 Delicious in all its forms, I do not discriminate. In one restaurant, which I\u2019ll mention below, we really \u201cporked out\u201d and sampled it three ways.<\/p>\n

\"mora<\/a>
Mora as it appears in the wild.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"mora<\/a>
Mora as it appeared on my plate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is also a specific type of onion called, \u201cscalogno,\u201d <\/em>which is sort of like a shallot, and it\u2019s often found in pasta dishes this time of year. Very flavorful, but not overpowering.\u00a0 Eat enough of them, though, and your breath still reeks.<\/p>\n

The famous cheese of the region is called \u201csquacquerone,\u201d<\/em> and it\u2019s soft, mild, white cheese. \u00a0Most commonly, one encounters it inside a piadina <\/em>along with the local variety of prosciutto cotto<\/em> (cooked ham).<\/p>\n

Piadina<\/em> is the Romagna ver\"romagna1\"sion of a soft flatbread, almost like a flour tortilla, folded in half and quickly grilled.\u00a0 They tell me that you can determine exactly which town a piadina<\/em> comes from by its thickness\u2014they are made fairly thick in the western part of the area near Faenza, and then become progressively thinner as you approach Rimini. Why? \u00a0I never found out\u2026<\/p>\n

The most popular wine by far is Sangiovese di Romagna. \u00a0That \u201cSangiovese\u201d means \u201cBlood of Jupiter\u201d (Giove to the Romans, Zeus to the Greeks) should not surprise you, as this is the most dominant red grape throughout Northern Italy.\u00a0 Genetically, it\u2019s the same grape grown in Tuscany to produce Chianti, but of course has its own unique \u201cterroir\u201d<\/em> in Romagna.<\/p>\n

Near the coast, you naturally find seafood dishes. \u00a0The canocchie<\/em> was my favorite food discovery of the entire trip. \u00a0If you\u2019re in the area and see this on the menu, do NOT pass it up!! If you can eat them aboard a boat floating in the Adriatic, they will taste even better.\u00a0 I should know.<\/p>\n

Some great restaurants<\/h2>\n

Lunch our first day was at Locanda il Cardello in Casola Valsenio<\/a>.\u00a0 Wow, this is a really foodie\u2019s paradise, but without being fancy or pretentious the way most self-proclaimed foodies are.\u00a0 First came a dish of delicate purple potato gnocchi, lightly dusted with shaved white truffles.\u00a0 Still swooning, the mora romagnola<\/em> arrived in front of me, accompanied by a light sauce of porcini mushrooms. Don\u2019t even get me started on the dessert, a small tart made from marroni<\/em> (sweet chestnuts) with grappa<\/em> syrup.<\/p>\n

\"marroni<\/a>
marroni with grappa syrup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next day\u2019s lunch was just as good, and in some ways more entertaining.\u00a0 We went to the Cooking School of Riolo Terme, where our lunch prepared by the students.\u00a0 The mayor of the town even showed up to dine with us.\u00a0 Everything was excellent, and made even more enjoyable by the students enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

For dinner that evening, we crawled into the wine impressive wine cellar at Antica Grotta<\/a>, right in the shadow of the town\u2019s massive Rocca (fortress).\u00a0 The young chef here dazzled us with both his cooking skill and wine knowledge. \u00a0This is where the \u201cmora trio\u201d made its appearance, much to our delight. \u00a0It was even included in the pasta dish in the form of, \u201ctaglioni di pasta al uovo con guanciale di mora e scalogno di romagna.\u201d<\/em> Out of this world.<\/p>\n

For the second part of the trip, we relocated to the coastal area of Romagna, and didn\u2019t waste any time getting into the seafaring mood.\u00a0 We boarded a working fishing boat to watch the fisherman harvest<\/a> the local cozze<\/em> (mussels), and then went back to port to introduce said shellfish to a boiling pot of water, and then a nice crisp white wine.\u00a0 They got along famously.<\/p>\n

\"fishing<\/a>
Fishing for mussels requires a lot of muscles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the celebrities of that show were the aforementioned canocchie;<\/em> steamed in a tomato-based broth and eaten with bare hands.\u00a0 These little critters were as tasty as could be, with the texture of a shrimp and the flavor of a mild lobster.<\/p>\n

\"canocchie\"<\/a>
canocchie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you do the math, you can see that only about three days into this trip we were already exceeding our calorie allotment for the entire month.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I was relieved to hear that we were \u201conly\u201d going to have an aperitivo for dinner on the third night.\u00a0 I do this quite often by myself when I don\u2019t have the time or hunger for a proper meal.\u00a0 Little did I know that the owner at Bevabb\u00e8 in Riccione<\/a> was eager to show us more of this region\u2019s inexhaustible bounty.\u00a0 A nice wine (yes, Sangiovese) and then plate after plate of local meats and cheeses.<\/p>\n

The next morning, our hostess\/liaison\/driver, Alessandra<\/a> woke up with the flu.\u00a0 She was being very brave, but I could tell that she felt miserable\u2014so I offered to drive the bus that day to get us to the Acquario di Cattolica<\/a>.\u00a0 My fellow bloggers thought I was crazy to get behind the wheel of a large vehicle in an unfamiliar Italian city.\u00a0 I reminded them that I drive in Rome occasionally, so the drivers along the Adriatic Coast don\u2019t scare me in the least\u2014in fact, I was practically bored by the so-called \u201cchallenge.\u201d\u00a0 To borrow from Beppe Severgnini, I felt like a champion matador facing down a milk cow.\"romagna6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But our visit to the aquarium was very enjoyable, as we were given a guided tour by one of the staff ichthyologists.\u00a0 He showed us many species of local fish (example: spigola<\/em>), crustasceans (example: gamberi<\/em>), and cephalopods (example: polipo<\/em>) swimming around in huge saltwater tanks. Beautiful and very relaxing. \u00a0At the end of the tour, he dropped us off at the seafood restaurant inside the park called Pesce Azzurro<\/a>.\u00a0 Lunch was delicious and it included\u2014you guessed it\u2014spigola, gamberi, and polipo.\u00a0 It\u2019s good to be at the top of the food chain.<\/p>\n

Afterwards we went to the restaurant\u2019s bar and the owner\/manager Lucia made me a great coffee drink called, moretta<\/em>. It\u2019s specific to the area, traditionally consumed by sailors and fishermen in the morning before going out to sea.\u00a0 You mix sambuca, brandy, and cognac, then heat it up with a lemon peel and sugar, and finally, you add the coffee.\u00a0 Perfect after a seafood lunch, but I\u2019m not sure how they drink it for breakfast.\u00a0 Those old salts are a tough bunch.<\/p>\n

I hear you saying, \u201cRick, you enjoyed\u00a0all these wonderful meats and cheeses, pasta and seafood, wine and grappa.\u00a0 But it sounds like you didn\u2019t see a vegetable on your plate all week!\u201d\"romagna7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

True, but we made up for it during our final dinner together where we participated in a vegan cooking class at a wonderful restaurant\/organic food co-op called La Serra.\u00a0 Everything was fresh, organic, and seasonal, and we used these ingredients to make each course, from the appetizer to the dessert.\u00a0 100% vegan.\u00a0 Appearances matter in professional cooking, and so every recipe included a very colorful assortment of edible flowers.\u00a0 Honestly, I was skeptical.\u00a0 But by the end of the meal, I was a believer.\u00a0 The meal was delicious and left me feeling satisfied without being uncomfortably full.\u00a0 Not only that, but it compensated for the total lack of veggies in my diet in just one sitting!<\/p>\n

The next morning I woke up at the exquisite Hotel San Giorgio<\/a> and waddled downstairs to say \u201cciao\u201d to my fellow bloggers. The management had put out a generous breakfast to help sustain us on our journeys.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t look at it.\u00a0 I took a double espresso and didn\u2019t eat again until dinner that night.<\/p>\n

If you consider yourself a foodie, enjoy exploring a culture by consuming it, or else just have a big appetite, I suggest that you put Romagna on the itinerary for your next Italy trip. \u00a0But you might want to go on a preemptive diet first.\u00a0 And don\u2019t bother packing your \u201cskinny jeans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other buongustai<\/em><\/h2>\n

So don\u2019t forget to click over to my friends\u2019 pages to see what they have to say about other regional cuisines of Italy. Let’s start off with Maria in Emilia because you can pick your side for the food according to tastes, but she clearly defeated me in the battle of food writing.<\/p>\n