Italy Travel And Hotel Guide

Eating and drinking are the mainstays of Bolognese social life. Eating especially is important to the Bolognese: the city is known as “La Grassa” (”The Fat”), the result of a rich culinary tradition, and the emphasis on food here can be taken to extremes. People travel a long way to take at the top restaurants, which are said to be the best in Italy, and even the simplest restaurants and the many osterie often serve dishes of a very high standard. Certainly the demand of a fancy menu or elaborate decor shouldn’t rule out further investigation, and you should endeavour to try some local specialities while you’re here. Handmade lasagne, tagliatelle and tortellini (small, shaped pasta with a stuffing of ham, sausage, chopped chicken, pork and veal, eggs, nutmeg and parmesan) are excellent and regarded with great affection by residents of Bologna, to the extent that elaborate stories explain their origin: the first tortellini are said to have been prefabricated by a Bolognese innkeeper trying to re-create the beauty of Venus’s navel.

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