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Italy will always surprise us with its culinary specialties. Each Italian city has its own touch, making each region unique. Italians manage to transform simple foods into delights whose secret only they know. The variety of their specialties manages to convince everyone. Whether you like light and refreshing starters, hot, savory dishes, good cheese, exceptional wine or desserts, you will inevitably succumb to Italian flavors.

1- Tagliatelle al ragù
Let's start with a classic of Bolognese gastronomy. Tagliatelle al ragù is known by all, as it is the famous Bolognese pasta recipe. I'm probably not telling you anything new if I say that this dish is made from minced meat and tomato sauce. However, in the traditional recipe, you need to add onion, celery, carrots, a touch of dry white wine and a few sprigs of basil. The meat making up the dish is a mixture of beef, veal, a little pancetta and finely chopped sausage meat. This sauce is delicately placed on a good portion of fresh tagliatelle. Add a dose of parmigiano to make this dish even better. It's impossible to leave Bologna without tasting this dish renowned worldwide.
2- Mortadella
Let's continue with another specialty known in the four corners of the globe, mortadella. This mild charcuterie is highly appreciated by both locals and visitors. To obtain the final product, pork is used, mixed in lard before being stuffed and cooked. This specialty is so emblematic that a celebration takes place every year in October in honor of this charcuterie. This festival is called MortadellaBo. Tastings are organized on the main square of Bologna as well as other events related to this emblem of Bolognese cuisine.

3- Cotoletta Bolognese o Petroniana
Here is Bologna's hearty dish par excellence. This specialty doesn't even need accompaniment as the portion served is so generous. The veal cutlet is dipped in egg yolk before being completely covered with breadcrumbs. The meat is then fried in lard or butter. Next, Parmigiano Reggiano and prosciutto cotto cover the meat. For an extra touch of flavor, local white truffle is added in small quantities, but its taste is very pronounced.

4- Gnocco fritto
Bolognese cuisine is renowned for being greasy, but that's not a problem, the objective here is to enjoy tasting as many specialties as possible. This is a recipe adopted by several regions with some variations according to geographical location. In Bologna, the dough is made with flour, beer yeast, salt and water. Some add a little olive oil to this preparation. The dough is then placed in a container wrapped in a towel. Every 20 minutes, the dough is kneaded. Finally, this dough is plunged into boiling lard to fry it.

5- Tortellini
Tortellini are a true institution of Bolognese gastronomy. The Bolognese don't joke around with the recipe and it must absolutely be respected to give them this name. It's a very fine egg pasta stuffed with a meat filling such as mortadella, pork, prosciutto as well as Parmigiano Reggiano, egg and nutmeg. The whole thing is closed in a ring and is ready to be cooked.
6- Lasagna verdi
Finally a dish that won't prevent you from doing what you want after eating! Well, I say that because it's one of the only rare dishes in this ranking that mainly contains vegetables. The preparation is similar to normal lasagna, namely several layers of pasta where we normally add meat between each layer. For lasagna verdi, the meat is replaced by spinach and zucchini mixed with ricotta.


7- La piadina
Piadina is an excellent way to taste Bolognese street food. In this case, piadina refers to bread made from purely local wheat flour. Piadina doesn't look like traditional bread like the famous French baguette. This is a rather thin dough, similar to a pancake. It is then folded on itself and is stuffed mainly with meat. You will also find piadina in vegetarian version.

8- Emilia-Romagna wines
The Emilia-Romagna region is renowned for its generous and very tasty dishes, but did you know that it also has exceptional wines? Local vineyards allow for the creation of very popular wines such as Lambrusco, Sangiovese or Cagnina di Romagna. Whether white, red or even rosé wine, Bologna will be able to offer you sumptuous wines that will perfectly accompany your dishes.
9- Nocino
Nocino is the local liqueur par excellence. It is made from macerated green walnuts. After distillation, the alcohol content must reach at least 30%.
