Here we go – my first proper blog post!!
I thought I’d start with something that incorporates both food and travel seeing as that’s what I’m most passionate about.
Back in April, I spent 4 days in one of the culinary capitals of Italy – Bologna, aptly nicknamed ‘La grassa’, or ‘The Fat One’. I hadn’t been to Italy since I was about 6 years old so I didn’t really have any memories of the country itself, let alone the food.
I feel like once you arrive somewhere completely new, it can take a while to get your bearings food-wise, and so often, your first meal or two aren’t the best. Day one for us was literally just a case of needing to be fed. Any food. Just give us some food. We’re in Italy so surely nothing can be that bad?
We ended up wandering through the Mercato di Mezzo, desperately looking for a light lunch bite rather than an indulgent, heavy meal. There was so much on offer but willpower was strong, trying to save ourselves for a big evening meal.
So Lunch Number 1 – two arancini (deep fried arborio rice balls for those who weren’t sure). I think one was saffron and peas and the other some kind of meaty mince. We also shared this incredibly light bread topped with tomato. It eased us in to Italian cuisine but nothing mind blowing to begin with.
Before we know it, it’s 8.30pm, freezing, raining, pitch black, and we’re incapable of following a map. It’s also a Saturday night where every decent restaurant seems to be fully booked. You know when you’re so hungry you just give up and accept that you’ll eat anywhere. Yep. That. So when we eventually strolled past a completely empty but very open restaurant, we didn’t care. We didn’t care what the fact that there was no one else in there might mean. We braved it… and this what we ate…
Moral of the story – don’t judge a book by its cover!
Day 2 –
We were told that Italians always start the day with a sweet breakfast, never savoury. So that was our excuse to try as many sweet treats as possible.
The above was labelled ‘Sabidoni mostarda alchermes’ which we later discovered was a light dough filled with ‘mostarda’ or pear and quince jam and the colour and flavour comes from the ‘saba’ – cooked grape must. Despite their strange appearance they were delicious – a strong recommendation!
Okay Night Number 2 –
Had this one all planned out from the start. Ever since for Christmas I received the Lonely Planet 500 Ultimate Eats List, I had been checking out the travel bible’s top recommendations. There was only 1 for Bologna and that was Ristorante Da Nello al Montegrappa. Genuinely some of the nicest pasta I’ve ever had, in a classy, traditional setting.
First up is my Tagliatelle Bolognese. As the title of my post suggests THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE IN ITALY!!
In Italy, the type of pasta you have with a specific sauce is so important. The pasta shape is chosen based on how well it complements the sauce, so none of the mixing and matching we get over here. Traditional bolognese sauce isn’t thick and gloopy and tomatoey. It’s barely a sauce, and instead focuses on the minced meat so as to avoid overwhelming the pasta, which should be the star of the show.
However, even more delicious than this was Bologna’s other famous dish – tortellini. Unfortunately this was not my order so I had major food envy…
So simple but absolutely mouth-wateringly stunning.
On to dessert, which I have to admit, was not my favourite part of the trip 😦
We tried the traditional Torta di Riso and of course a Tiramisu. I’m not a huuuge fan of alcohol and both had strong liquor flavours so that kind of put me off. The texture of the Torta di Riso was also really odd…
Okay we are now onto our final day. It’s Day 3. If you’ve made it this far, grazie mille.
Possibly the most exciting foodie day of all. We started the day bright and early with A FOOD TOUR. Oh yes, 7 courses of Italian goodness.
Breakfast was pretty standard – 2 small pieces of cake (unfortunately including the Torta di Riso that I’d already decided I hated the previous evening).
Next stop we headed to see the sfogline (women who make pasta). They produced the tiny intricate tortellini from scratch before our eyes and worked so rapidly it was unbelievable.
Following this we headed to a ‘Salumeria’ for a selection of cold cuts and parmesan…
Then we went back for round 2 of pasta, but this time from a fast-food style place, which for me didn’t seem massively necessary.
Finally back to the desserts and treats with Fiat chocolate tasting, balsamic vinegar sampling and of course, what better way to finish but with Italy’s wonderful gelato.
I would never normally choose to eat gelato/ice cream/sorbet over other desserts but this was super creamy and the flavours were stunning. I had one scoop of Cinnamon cookie and one of vanilla custard.
For our last evening meal, pretending to be healthy, we decided to seek out a fish restaurant and fortunately there was one just down the road from our apartment. At Il Pescatore, we shared a starter of octopus which was beautifully tender, and then both of us had the mixed grilled seafood.
We have prawns, langoustine, white fish, scallops, squid and potatoes. It may not look the most appetising but tasted wonderful (even the potatoes, which as you will probably get to know are MY LEAST FAVOURITE CARB).
Food was 100% the main feature of this short break. 4 days in Italy and not a pizza in sight. If you’re heading to Bologna any time soon, definitely check out the Lonely Planet recommended restaurant for your pasta fix, but other than that just get exploring! There are bound to be hundreds more hidden gems just waiting to be discovered.
xo
¡Comemos! 