An Edible Voyage

September 2021 Having had the most extraordinary gelato in Florence, I didn’t think there was any point trying to compete in Bologna, but I’ve always found something alluring about ice cream shops and cafes, places that traditionally in the UK close late afternoon, that are open late in to the night.   Maybe it’s feeling a little bit naughty having ice cream at night-time, or maybe it’s that feeling of being able to sit outdoors with a warm breeze, a late night culture meaning there’s a buzzy atmosphere despite it being dark.   So, to avoid competing, I went for something totally different – vegan ice cream in Bolognina, Bologna’s edgy, multicultural northern suburb. Often, whether home or away, I’ll pick the weirdest sounding thing on a menu just to try it.   Sometimes I regret it and think to myself “why don’t I just stick with the nice things sometimes!”, but when I saw wasabi ice cream, there was absolutely no way I wasn’t going to try it.   I like wasabi (exce...

September 2021 Pasta. The epitome of Italy.  Having spent 5 days hiking across the Apennine mountains on the Via Degli Dei, a big bowl of homemade pasta with a rustic sauce was even more gratefully received than usual. And I love the way there is so much more to pasta than initially meets the eye, with both the shape and the sauce being traditionally specific to a region, the shape designed to optimally hold that particular sauce. We ate a lot of pasta over our week of hiking, in fact, we had pasta every night.  And despite every restaurant being a totally different style to the others, in every one I could taste the passion and TLC stirred in by the cook. In Bologna, head north of the main train station to the edgy Bolognina suburb where you will find just as many homely trattorias as ethnic eateries.  Trattoria de Via Serra caught our eye, seemingly blending vibe with homeliness, but sadly it was fully booked.  We landed on our feet though, stumbling across the...

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 ...

October 2021 Despite Italy's reputation for excellent coffee, being a flat white sort of a girl, I'm generally not taken with Italian coffee, finding espressos too intense and cappuccinos too weak and frothy.  Pappare, in Bologna's historic centre, did come up trumps with an excellent cappuccino though.  Not only that, the display of croissants was particularly exciting, with white and dark chocolate stuffed charcoal croissants balanced by the nuttiness of sesame, alongside pistachio cream, and vegan dark chocolate and raspberry.  And there was definitely no shortage of filling.  One might be forgiven for thinking there was too much chocolate ganache stuffed in to my croissant as every bite caused another blob too ooze out, but really, can there ever be too much filling?!  They also offer hand brew coffee, as well as savoury pastries, sandwiches, and more substantial brunch/ lunch. Find Pappare on Via De' Giudei. Another coffee that really has to be tried once b...