AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 11

City Stories
(meat-based sauce) is easy to find. Even so, you likely won’t find it
paired with spaghetti. Locals prefer the thicker tagliatelle noodle
because it holds more sauce, and after a few meals, there’s a good
chance that you will, too. And even if pasta isn’t the center of your
food universe, the Emilia-Romagna region has a vast, traditional food
culture that can and will fulfill your every possible desire, a fact which
has earned Bologna another moniker, La Grassa — the Fat One.
For anyone who feels that taking meals has become an overly
mechanical process, more about efficiency than enjoyment, Bologna
is a great place to find some culinary perspective. A standard bearer
of the slow-food philosophy of old, Bologna is a place where the social
misstep of ordering coffee to go will quickly mark you as a tourist and
invite a few quizzical looks. And in fact they may have a point. The
city’s many restaurants offer several dishes with which Americans
are familiar, made with time and care, without a focus on mass-production,
long storage and quick preparation. The result is a discernible
difference in quality.
To experience this part of the culture first hand, just take a
morning walk along the streets of Old City (sans coffee). Chances
are you’ll find yourself stopping at the glass fronts of many shops
and restaurants to watch the experts at work as they freshly stretch
and cut noodles for the day, rolling and stuffing tortellinis by hand.
Mortadella, the cured, spiced, and thinly sliced pork delicacy born
in the city and known in its more industrial form as bologna, is
another common delight. Bologna is also the hometown of prosciutto,
making it the hero of charcuterie boards everywhere. And for
those with the time and ambition to venture 40 minutes or so out of
town, the nearby town of Modena boasts the world’s oldest continually
operating makers of balsamic vinaigrette. Vastly different from
what we find in the salad dressing aisle in most supermarkets, traditional
balsamic vinaigrette in Modena is aged from years to decades
in barrels that can be more than a century old. The thick, rich product
of this process is used sparingly, only in drops, on a surprising variety
of dishes that can range from ice cream to Parmigiano Reggiano, the
iconic hard cheese that’s usually grated over pasta, but is even better
in crumbles with a vinaigrette topping.
What to See
Bologna is less of a tourist attraction than some of Italy’s other
remaining medieval towns, so time spent there can be enjoyed at a
slower, more relaxing pace. Even so, it’s possible to see much of
the medieval fortress town in one day. The twin plazas of Piazza del
Nuttuno and Piazza Maggiore are perfect places to start the day, and
return to throughout. These expansive plazas are perfect for people
watching while taking in the beautifully aged hue of the buildings, for
which the city has earned yet another nickname, La Rossa — the Red
One. From there, lovers of architecture will enjoy wandering the Old
City’s streets, taking in the Fontana di Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune),
designed by architect Tommaso Laureti in 1563, with the massive
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