Yummy Italy is Served

So, here we are. Yummy Italy is online. Finally and Yummily.

Yummy Italy is here to share with all those who are passionate about truly good food, all the Yummy things that the Emilia Romagna region has to offer.

Both in Italy and abroad, Emilia Romagna is considered the gastronomic capital of Italy and the famous U.S. food and wine journalist David Rosengarten says so too. In fact he even wrote a 10 page article about it in Forbes magazine last November. And if he says it, then it must be so…

There are probably hundreds of thousands or even millions of people eating Lasagne or Tortelloni or Tagliatelle out there in the world right now and probably not even one of those people knows that those same internationally famed pasta dishes and other products such as Ragù, Parmesan Cheese, Mortadella sausage, Prosciutto di Parma, Balsamic Vinegar, to name but a few, have their roots here.

In Emilia Romagna, people’s lives revolve around food. And it’s hardly surprising, as the region lays claim to a staggering 35 DOP and IGP products, more than any other region in Italy (we’ll be explaining what these are and the differences between them in a future blog). Locals will sit down to a six course Sunday lunch, whose gastronomic merits will be indisputable, and will talk about food for the entire afternoon and plan what they will be eating that evening. Even children will argue passionately over whose grandmother makes the best Tortellini. And there can be no doubt: EVERY ‘nonna’ makes the best Tortellini.

What about Spaghetti Bolognese, the most famous Italian dish of all, you may ask? In many parts of non-tourist-invaded Italy, most restaurant patrons may look at you slightly perplexed if you ask for this dish but will say nothing and serve you without question. Here in Emilia Romagna, it’s quite a different story. If one so much as mentions ‘Spaghetti Bolognese’ (the sauce is more correctly known as ‘Ragù alla Bolognese’), you might be the object of a string as long as a spaghetto of pseudo poetic Italian insults, but almost certainly chased out of the whichever temple of food you happen to be in by a rolling-pin wielding ‘sfoglina’ (pasta maker).

We hate to break it to you, but Spaghetti Bolognese DOES NOT EXIST. In Emilia Romagna, Ragù alla Bolognese is eaten with Tagliatelle and other wonderful egg pasta delights. So, now that that’s clear, Spaghetti Bolognese will, from now and forever, be that which must not be named.

So, the Yummy Italy blog will be sharing with you the merits of rolling-pin rolled pasta, introducing wines you have never heard of and explain why both locals and award-winning chefs love them. We will be presenting local chefs and their culinary specialities, explaining why the Bolognese Chamber of Commerce takes food so seriously, that it has officially registered the recipes for Ragù alla Bolognese and the Tortellino.

We will explain why the pasta from Emilia Romagna is anything but humble and take you on a voyage of discovery of the truffle. We will divulge some of the local nonne’s secret recipes, present local artisan producers and their wonderful products and all in all take you on a culinary journey, preferably in a Lamborghini or a Ferrari, where Fast Cars and Slow food collide to create experiences that are unique to this wonderful region alone.

Buon appetito!