Mortadella and Tigelle. Bologna, Italy

October 2021 

Not one to pass up an opportunity for a traditional food item, I was straight on to researching tigelle as soon as I came across the unfamiliar word.  To my delight, bread being a favourite of mine in every country, injera excepted, tigella is a typical bread of the Emilia-Romagna region.  Traditionally cooked on clay discs called tigelle, cut in half and spread with pesto modenese, chopped pork lard mixed with rosemary, garlic and parmesan, they are now often cooked on metallic plates and filled with cold cuts such as mortadella or prosciutto crudo.




In Bologna, I came across a street, Via Calzolerie, with a whole row of hatches selling multiple permutations of cured pork stuffed tigella, rolls and piadina, Emilia-Romagna flatbread.  A particular favourite of mine was the pistachio studded mortadella and squacquerone cheese, a new but delicious discovery for me, it's a soft, creamy cheese from Emilia-Romagna.

Find Via Calzolerie just a few minutes walk north-east of Piazza Magiore. 

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