We have eaten, tried and savored more than we had seen in Modena, but that was all part of the plan.
With the first news that we will be traveling to Emilia-Romagna post Christmas time, we did a lot of research and whole lot of plans. First few days were so busy with various tours that my immunity weakened. Still, nothing that an aperol spritz couldn’t cure 🙂
The best way to see what and where the locals shop is to visit the heart of the city; a farmers market.
For almost a millennium Mercato Albinelli was an informal collection of sellers on the nearby Piazza Grande, but in 1931 it moved inside the wrought iron facade of the current Art Nouveau building.
The market still serves as the city’s culinary heart but it’s also a very popular place for the tourists as the various stalls offer rich display of fruit, vegetables, bread, meat, and pasta in every shape, color, and size.
And speaking of that, we had a ton of differently shaped pasta.
But we started our days with coffee, a single espresso or caffé as the Italians would say and a cappuccio or short version for cappuccino.
One of the main thing that was on our list to try was gnocco fritto, a deep-fried bread made out of flour, yeast, water and lard, accompanied by some sort of salami.
Cut in diamond shapes, they come in large or small versions that you can enjoy with different types of sliced and cured meat (charcuterie) and an aperitivo that makes a big part of Italian culture.
A drink paired with a light meal that takes place at the end of the workday as a kind of warm up for the later dinner is very popular among locals. To that extent that we have wandered by chance in a bar that offered and served an aperitivo with all you can eat buffet for just 9 euros. Of course we went for that.
It was perfect opportunity to try some other local stuff like tigelline, small thin, round breads from the Modena area of Emilia-Romagna. Made from flour, water, salt, and yeast, they are traditionally eaten filled with cold cuts, and cheese.
Pasta is high in ranking when it comes to common and traditional food of Modena and Italy in general. The most original and traditional for Modena of course are tortellini. Small ring-shaped pasta are usually self-sufficient meal but most commonly served in a broth (in brodo).
Tortellini are stuffed with a mix of meat (pork loin, beef, raw prosciutto, Mortadella), Parmigiano reggiano cheese, egg and nutmeg and their usual weight must not exceed 2g so around 7 of them can fit in a spoon. Topping a soup with grated Parmigiano reggiano is another must and pure delicacy.
Larger size of similar shape pasta is called tortelloni but they have a different filling consisting of ricotta and leaf vegetables often stir-fried with melted butter and sage leaves.
Different shaped pasta is made with various topping of vegetable or meat origin, ragù being the most famous. Ragù!!! not Bolognese 🙂
According to the Italian culinary academy and the 1982 recipe established by the Bologna’s Chamber of Commerce the classic Bolognese ragù is made of ground beef pulp, pork belly, carrots, celery, onion, tomato sauce, red wine, whole milk, a little olive oil or butter, salt and pepper.
https://www.accademiaitalianadellacucina.it/it/ricette/ricetta/rag%C3%B9-classico-bolognese
As the pasta is usually eaten as a first meal, after appetizers, the meat will be your second meal option (but a third course if you opted for all). Definitely something with aceto balsamico and/or Parmigiano reggiano
Sausages and cooked meat makes great part of the Modenese cuisine as they have an abundance of cattle; cows give the milk for the cheese and butter is used more often than olive oil while the prosciutto comes from pigs if you didn’t know.
The best to water down this rich food is not water, but red sparkling wine called Lambrusco.
The lambrusco grapes and the wine originate from four zones in Emilia-Romagna and one in Lombardy―principally around the central provinces of Modena, Parma, Reggio-Emilia, and Mantua.
The fact that the grape has a long wine making history, with some archaeological evidence indicating that the Etruscans cultivated the vine is not of such an importance of how much the fact that aceto balsamico is made using this same grape.
We have tried all sorts of different Lambrusco wine, from the cheapest 4 euro bottles up ’till the double digit bottles in some fancy restaurant, and they were all different, but exquisite with a berry flavour and a touch of bubbles on the tongue.
When it comes to the desserts of the region, we have tried just a few. We would be so stuffed from all the pasta that the best dessert would be a pizza.
But tiramisu was also an option 🙂
So, if you ever find yourself in Modena, if you’re adventurous as we are, don’t miss out on these dishes and be sure to check some of this places that we went for:
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Aperitivo:
Dinner:
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NJUPANJE U MODENI
Probali smo, pojeli i proždrli u Modeni više nego što smo vidjeli, ali to je zapravo i bio plan.
Čim smo saznali da putujemo u Emiliju-Romagnu nakon Božića bacili smo se na iscrpno istraživanje i pravljenje planova. Prvih par dana bili smo na sto strana tako da mi je imunitet počeo polagano opadati, ali ništa što aperol spritz ne može popraviti 🙂
Najbolji način da upoznate novi grad jest posjet lokalnoj tržnici.
Mercato Albinelli je gotovo tisuću godina bio neformalno okupljalište prodavača na obližnjem trgu Piazza Grande, sve dok 1931 lokana vlast nije odlučila vanjsku tržnicu premjestiti unutar Art Noveau zgrade.
Tržnica je a i dalje sadrži glavnu gastro ponudu grada, ali je ujedno i omiljeno turističko mjesto s brojnim trgovcima koji prodaju sve od voća, povrća, kruha, mesa te tjestenine svih oblika, veličina i boja.
A kad smo već kod toga, pojeli smo i tonu tjestenine različitog oblika.
No, dan bi naravno, započeli s kavom, espressom ili kapućom, skraćeno od cappuccino.
Jedna stvar na popisu bio je gnocco fritto, duboko prženi kruh od brašna, kvasca, masti i vode, najčešće poslužen uz sireve i suhomesnate proizvode.
Rezan u obliku trapeza, podsjeća na naše “poderane gaće”, dolaze u manjem ili većem obliku, a najčešće se jede uz aperitiv koji čini važan dio talijanske kulture.
Lagani obrok uz piće koje slijedi uglavnom nakon napornog radnog dana, zapravo je mali uvod u veću večeru nešto kasnije.
Aperitivo je na tako dobrom glasu među lokalcima da smo lutajući gradom naišli na bar gdje se taman počeo služiti aperitivo uz buffet za 9 eura! Naravno da smo iskoristili priliku i uboli nekoliko piva i aperol spritzeva dok smo degustirali talijanske delicije, sve ono što nam je bilo na popisu.
Naišli smo tako na tigelline, male tanke okrugle kruhčiće iz okolice Modene. Napravljene od istih sastojaka kao gnocco fritto, samo ne duboko pržene, već pečene između malih okruglih ploča (tigella), preteče današnjeg tostera, poslužuje se također uz suhomesnate nareske.
Tjestenina je visoko rangirana kad je u pitanju tradicionalna hrana u Modeni, a najoriginalniji i najtradicionalniji su svakako tortellini. Mala tjestenina u obliku prstena najčešće se može jesti i sama, ali je uobičajeno poslužiti ju u juhi (in brodo)
Punjeni mješavinom mesa (svinjski kare, junetina, pršut, mortadela, parmigiano reggiano, jaje i muškatni oraščić) tortellini ne smiju biti teži od 2 gr komad te njih sedam mora fino sjesti u žlicu. Tako im je najudobnije : )
A naribati parmigiano reggiano u juhu je drugi zlata vrijedan savjet koji smo vrlo brzo i uspješno usvojili.
Veći po veličini su tortelloni, no oni imaju drugačije punjenje, najčešće mješavina ricotta sira i lisnatog povrća te su preliveni topljenim maslacem i listom kadulje.
Tjestenina različitog oblika prelijeva se raznoraznim umacima, bilo povrtnog ili mesnog porijekla s tim da je ragù najpoznatiji. Ragù !!! ne bolonjez. 🙂
Prema naputcima talijanske kulinarske akademije i recepta kojeg je 1982. usvojila Gospodarska komora u Bolonji, klasični bolonješki ragù radi se od mljevene junetine ili govedine, svinjske potrbušine, mrkve, celera, luka, umaka od rajčice, crvenog vina, mlijeka, maslinovog ulja ili maslaca, soli i papra.
https://www.accademiaitalianadellacucina.it/it/ricette/ricetta/rag%C3%B9-classico-bolognese
Kako se tjestenina najčešće jede kao prvo jelo, nakon predjela, mesna jela su uvijek bila druga po redu. I to definitivno nešto s acetom ili/i Parmigianom reggianom.
Kobasice i kuhani meso čini velik dio tradicionalne modeneške kuhinje obzirom da imaju mnogo stoke; krave daju mlijeko za sir i maslac koji se koristi više nego maslinovo, čisto zbog razloga što ga više imaju, dok pršut dolazi od prasadi, u slučaju da to niste već znali.
Grlo smo močili i puno si točili crveno pjenušavo vino, Lambrusco
Lambrusco vrsta grožđa i vina podrijetlom je iz četiri zone Emilije-Romagne i jedne u Lombardiji, te se najčešće uzgaja u okolici Modene, Parme, Reggio-Emilije i Mantove.
Činjenica da vrsta lambrusko vinove loze ima dugu povijest u vinarstvu, s nekim arheološkim podacima iz doba Etrušćana, nije od tolike važnosti koliko činjenica da se aceto balsamico radi upravo od mošta ovog grožđa.
Probali smo razne vrste Lambrusco vina, od onog za samo 4 eura do nekih skupljih, i moramo priznati da su sva bila drugačija, ali izvrsna s laganim notama bobica i mjehurića na jeziku.
Kad je slatko u pitanju, probali smo zanemarivu količinu. Zapravo smo se toliko ubijali u tjestenini da više ništa nije ni stalo, ali nije bilo ni potrebe.
Tiramisuu smo rijetko odoljeli, aman taman toliko da nas zasladi do pizze 🙂
Ako se ikad nađete u Modeni i krenete našim stopama, nek se gore navedena jela nađu na vašem meniju i svakako posjetite sljedeća mjesta
Doručak:
Ručak:
Aperitiv:
Večera:
