As you can see, authentic Bolognese is made with tagliatelle and you will be frowned upon if you ask for spaghetti Bolognese, it's just not a thing. While the ragu I tasted was delicious, it was nothing compared to the true Emilia-Romagna favourite, tortellini in brodo. Made from ham and cheese from nearby Parma and served in a classic broth, the flavours are simple but powerful, which is exactly what I love about Italian cooking. The best brodo we had was in a small restaurant in the centre of Bologna, Vicolo Columbina, that also served a great guinea fowl lasagne.
Almost every meal throughout our week in Emilia-Romagna consisted of a great antipasti board that was made up of local mortadella, ham, cheese and sausage. A particularly good platter came from Salumeria Simoni, a great little place to eat in or take away.
Of course, no trip to Italy would be complete without lots of Pizza and Gelato. The best of the pizza came from a little place that was very popular with locals at any time of the day,Pizzeria Due Torri, situated across the road from the two main towers in the city. The best gelato was hard to choose from as they were all great but Tasta Gelato just pipped the post ahead of Ugo, both on via San Felice.
A trip to Parma was quite understated, the food we had was ok but did not stand out and I felt like I missed a trick with the whole visit, maybe I need to read up on the best places to visit before another trip. What did stand out, as it always does, was a trip to Florence, especially as we had one of the best steaks I have ever had in the wonderful I'Tuscani 2.
Wherever you go in Italy you are met with people that are passionate about food and wine and something tells me that I will be heading back to Bologna one day. Until next time Italy!
