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La Grassa
La cucina bolognese
Bologna is the food capital of Italy's food region. Eat well, eat local, and learn the names.
Never order spaghetti alla bolognese. It does not exist here. The dish is tagliatelle al ragù, served on fresh egg ribbons, not spaghetti. This single rule saves you from the most common tourist gaffe.
Coffee and drinks cost less standing at the counter (al banco) than seated (al tavolo); the seated price pays for the table, which is normal and fair. The aperitivo, an early-evening drink with snacks, is a daily ritual, best enjoyed on the Pratello as the street fills up.
Fresh egg ribbons with a slow-cooked meat ragù. THE Bolognese plate.
Note: Never order spaghetti alla bolognese. It does not exist here, and asking marks you as a tourist. The dish is tagliatelle al ragù.
Where to try: Osteria dell'Orsa, Trattoria Anna Maria, Trattoria di Via Serra
Tiny hand-folded pasta filled with pork and mortadella, served in capon broth. The Christmas dish, eaten year-round.
Note: Not tortelloni (larger, ricotta-filled), and traditionally served in brodo, not with cream.
Where to try: Trattoria Anna Maria, Ristorante Diana, Da Me
Green spinach pasta layered with ragù and besciamella, baked.
Where to try: Trattoria di Via Serra, Ristorante Diana
A breaded veal cutlet topped with prosciutto and Parmigiano, finished in broth.
Where to try: Trattoria da Vito, Antica Trattoria della Gigina
Warm flatbreads and puffed fried dough, eaten with cured meats and squacquerone cheese.
Note: Tigelle are the round griddled breads; gnocco fritto is the fried, puffed dough. Both go with salumi.
Where to try: Osterie across the city, Appennino spots
The Romagna flatbread wrap, more a coastal-Romagna thing but everywhere here.
Where to try: Piadinerie across the city
The real thing: silky, pistachio-flecked, gently spiced. The ancestor of all 'baloney'.
Note: Nothing like American bologna. Eat it freshly sliced, or cubed at aperitivo.
Where to try: Quadrilatero delis, Mercato delle Erbe
The king of cheeses, aged and crystalline, from just down the Via Emilia.
Where to try: Quadrilatero, any market
True traditional balsamic, aged for years, syrupy and precious. Not the cheap supermarket vinegar.
Where to try: Acetaie near Modena (day trip), good delis
The local hill white, often frizzante, the everyday Bolognese aperitivo wine.
Where to try: Osterie, aperitivo bars on the Pratello
The fizzy red of Emilia, dry and food-friendly, nothing like the sweet export version.
Where to try: Osterie, Cantina Bentivoglio
The robust red of the Romagna hills, the region's serious table red.
Where to try: Osterie, trattorie