Pasta. Emila Romagna and Tuscay, Italy
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...