More Wandering and Delicious Bologna Food Tour

Monday October 24 was a mix of sun and cloud with a high of 25C.  No need for even a scarf as the evening temperature only went down to 21C.  Our plan was to wander, check out some new areas of the city and then meet up with our evening food tour scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

As we headed down our street, we were checking out the store windows.  We went into a wonderful scarf store called Lanificio Leo, which is the oldest textile factory in Calabria founded in 1873. Today, the textile factory is a design hub where a fleet of historic machines is integrated with the latest technologies.

Beautiful designs and well-made

Alonso bought the blue small checked scarf in the middle of the top row of the first picture

Then we proceeded to Gamberini, a beautiful caffè and pasticceria.  We both had espressos and Alonso had a fantastic pistacchio croissant.

Gamberini since 1907!

Gorgeous croissants (chocolate, pistacchio, cream, jam filled) as well as small pastries

All gone

Halloween display in the window

Our next stop was the Mercato delle Erbe-- just about a six minute walk from our apartment.  We had decided not to do any real cooking at the apartment as Bologna is such an amazing food city.  However, we wanted some fruit for our breakfast and a few things for a light lunch.

Outside the market

It is a small market, but the fruit and vegetables and meat all looked very good.  The fish section was not open on Mondays.   We got some pears, a few tomatoes, as we were going to have lunch at the apartment, We also couldn't resist buying two nice-looking artichokes (Toronto never really gets good fresh artichokes).

Fruit stand

We had a quick lunch as we knew we would be eating more on the food tour.  We decided to head out to the old Jewish ghetto area and then explore the university area before our 5:00 p.m. rendezvous.

A much quieter Piazza Nettuno than on Sunday

We had a small print out of a guide to the former 16th century ghetto, in the medieval heart of the city.  It is now full of small shops, artisan workshops and food stores and is in a charming area of the city.  There are some narrower streets off the main roads, but it is not dark or as worn down as the old ghetto area in Genova.

More porticos- Only reds, oranges and yellows are allowed for buildings in Bologna

Gorgeous looking Prosciutteria

We stopped at Bocchi Palace in the ghetto area.  The building was owned by Achille Bocchi (1488-1562) a humanist writer.  It opened in 1546, and became the seat of his Hermatena Academy.  The name was a combination of Hermes and Athena, alluding to the sum of all human knowledge.  Two inscriptions run along the base of the front of the building; one is the only example of an inscription in Hebrew on a monument existing in Italy and reproduces a verse from Psalm 119 from the Bible: Deliver me from the liars, God! They smile so sweetly but lie through their teeth.  The other side has an inscription in Latin and is taken from Horace: Rex eris, alunt, is recite facies (do well, thou shalt be crowned).

Outside of Bocchi Palace- the Hebrew quote

The Latin quote

We stopped at Piazza San Martino where the San Martino church that dates back to 1217-1227, is located.

There was a statue of the Madonna del Carmine by Andrea Ferrei (1705) that rests on a thin stone column in the middle of Piazza San Martino.

We stopped at the Jewish Museum, which opened in 1999, and is managed by a public foundation.  There was a locked gate and one had to buzz to enter.  We decided to take a pass as we wanted to continue our walk and are planning to go to Ferrara on Wednesday, to visit the Italian National Museum of Judaism. 

Outside of Museo Ebraico

Graffiti at a nearby caffè

Our final stop in the ghetto area was the site of the ghetto synagogue used until 1569, the year of the expulsion of the Jews from Bologna.  There was a plaque on the wall

The Jewish community in Bologna dates back to at least the 4th century.  There was a bustling Jewish population by the end of the 1300s.  They mainly settled in the area that later housed the ghetto.  The Jewish community had a very close relationship with the University of Bologna as Jewish students received degrees there and Jewish professors taught there.  

This "Golden Age" came to an end with the Counter-Reformation when the first Italian "Grand Inquisitor" became Pope in 1555.  The Jews were ordered to be locked up in what was called the Enclosure, which only later was called a "ghetto".  They were only allowed to have one synagogue which was located in Via dell' Inferno.  Free movement to and from the ghetto was forbidden in 1567 and they were expelled from the city in 1569. When they were allowed back into Bologna in 1586, they didn't go back to the ghetto and in 1597 they were expelled again by Pope Clement VIII.  Jews only returned to the city two centuries later.  

Plaque on the building that was the ghetto synagogue

The plaque remembers the expulsion of the Jews in 1593, 

and the 'racial persecution' of 1938-1945

We decided to head up to the University District which is not too far from the former Jewish ghetto area.

Porticoes and university buildings

Walking up Via Zamboni

We stopped at the Chiesa di San Giacomo Maggiore, located in a very pretty square, Piazza Rossini.  The Church was built between 1267 and 1315 by the hermits of Saint Augustine.

Chiesa di San Giacomo Maggiore

Inside

Another view

Beautiful old buildings and porticoes in this part of the city.

A student hang out- Caffè 1088 (the year the university was founded)

Piazza Giuseppe Verdi-- many students and cafes with student prices 

The other side of the Piazza houses the18th century Teatro Comunale - City Theatre.  There were posters for the Operas to be performed during the October -December season.

Teatro Comunale with Opera Posters

There were a series of signs regarding the100th anniversary of the birth of Pier Paolo Pasolini (b. 1992, Bologna- 1975, Ostia).  He was born in Bologna and was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual.   He was openly gay and an avowed Marxist.  He was murdered in November 1975 by a male prostitute.  He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th- century Italy.  He attended the Literature College of the University of Bologna from 1939-45, when he graduated.

Photo from Pasolini's university years

One of the towers of Bologna

Walking back on the other side of Via Zamboni

We stopped at Caffè Terzi on one of the wider streets in the former Jewish ghetto.  Very old school, with excellent coffee.  It opened in 2001, and is solely dedicated to Coffee and Tea. 

Outside Caffè Terzi

Alonso bought some beans to take back to Toronto

We then inadvertently stumbled onto La Strada del Jazz (Jazz Street).  There was a plaque from 2011, noting that there was a club that Alberto Alberti owned on the street (Via Caprarie) that made jazz memorable in Italy since the 1950s.  It notes that he founded the Bologna Jazz Festival, that "made Bologna the Jazz capital of Europe".

Plaque honouring The Street of Jazz and Alberto Alberti.

Alonso with the Chet Baker star

The Miles Davis star

We stopped at Paolo Atti &Figli, an amazing pasta store and bakery that has been around since 1868. There are two locations around the corner from each other.

Inside the store

It was now time to meet Mattia, our guide for our "Delicious Bologna Food Tour", which a friend from Toronto had highly recommended.  We met outside a bookstore near the Bologna "Twin Towers" (Asinelli and Garisenda towers).  The tallest one (Asinelli) is the tallest of the twenty towers still standing in Bologna.  Originally, there were over 100 towers (most privately owned) in medieval times.

The two Towers- Garisenda Tower on the left and Asinelli tower on the right- the shorter tower was cut down from 60 metres to 48 metres due to its fragile structure and shifting soil.

Mattia told us that the smaller tower really leans as it was not well constructed and sits on shifting soil.

Mattia points to a building behind the towers, which houses recipes for Bolognese specialties

Mattia is very knowledgable about food and the food history of Bologna and is the founder of Delicious Bologna.  He has been doing food tours for about eight years.  There is a morning tour and an evening tour.  The morning tour was booked on Monday, so we chose the evening tour which ran from 5:00 p.m. to around 9:30 p.m.  It turned out to be a good choice.  There are only a maximum of eight people on each tour.  There was a couple from London, England, one from Sacramento, and one from San Diego that joined us.  All very interesting and a lot younger than us.

Our first stop was the Atti bakery and pasta place that we had just visited.  There were samples of a special Bolognese rice cake to taste.  As it had lactose, I was given an alternative cracker.

Torta di Riso, Specialità di Bologna

Lots of nice breads

Chocolate tortellini

Mattia with the rice cake samples

We then stopped at Simoni to look at a map which outlined the special foods of the Emilia-Romagna region.  Emilia is the portion in the western part of the Region and Romagna is the eastern part of the Region.  

Outside of Simoni- one of the best salumeria's in Bologna-- where we had the plate of mortadella and cheese on our first night 

Map with specialties from the area

We spent a few minutes in Piazza Maggiore and Piazza Nettuno.  As we are going on a "Free" walking tour on Tuesday, we will leave the details until the next post.

Outside of Basilica San Petronio

The Neptune sculpture

We then stopped at Bruno e Franco, a wonderful, quiet salumeria on Via Guglielmo Oberdan, the same street as the Terzi Coffee shop.  Mattia indicated that we would be returning to the salumeria for a balsamic vinegar tasting, but that we were going to have a plate of meats from the shop in another location, where their pasta is made.

Outside of Bruno e Franco

Gorgeous meats

Homemade pasta

We went up to a second floor shop where the pasta is made.  One table had eggs and clean boards laid out for the next day's pasta making.

The upstairs pasta shop

Mattia explaining what each meat was

Our very favourite meat was the one at the top of the platter called Culatello di Zibello which is DOP and is the most prized salumi.  Apparently, it is not exported.  It was fabulous.  We also liked the Mortadella IGP, which is SO much better that the Mortadella we get in Canada. Mattia spent some time explaining what DOP and IGP designations are.  The DOP mark (Protected Designation of Origin) guarantees that the production process from the first to the last stage is carried out in a specific territory, while the IGP mark (Protected Geographical Indication) requires that at least one of the stages is carried out in a specific geographical area.

The meat plate with some parmigiano reggiano DOP, that we had with some balsamic vinegar
- meats included a local salami, prosciutto di Parma DOP,  Culatello di Zibello DOP, mortadella IGP, and some head cheese (the brown meat).

After finishing the meat plates, we returned to Bruno e Franco for a quick balsamic vinegar tasting.  Balsamic vinegar can either be IGP or DOP.   The key is to ensure that it is made of the must of the grapes and that if vinegar is listed, it should only be secondary after the grape must.

Different balsamic vinegars

Outside poster of Bruno with his prosciutto guitar

Our next stop was a wine tasting at Enoteca Storica vini naturali, in operation since 1924.  Natural Wine has become popular recently-- no added chemicals.

Outside of the Enoteca--- our group had a table at the back of the tiny space

Lots of interesting bottles--- Art is the way!

We started with a local white wine called Pignoletto.  The bottle we had was from a small producer.  It is a bit fizzy.  Interesting, but not our favourite.

The white wine

Back of label-- says it is "vino frizzante"

Cheers with the white wine

We then had a red Sangiovese called Pian. It was very good.  Mattia explained that because it was a natural wine, it is a young wine that needs to be drunk within about two years.

The red we tasted

On the way to our next food stop, Mattia showed us one of the few remaining wood porticoes.  Wood was only sparingly used as it could catch fire easily.  At one time, there were apartments over the portico, but there is no one living there now.

A very ancient wood portico

We went to La Salsamenteria, on Via Altabella, a homey restaurant with traditional Emilian fare, including delicious home-made pasta.  

Outside of the restaurant

We were given servings of three different pastas.  I just had two, as the lasagna had a béchamel sauce.

The first was tortellini in brodo.  Tortellini are one of Bologna's trademark pastas.  Tortellini in brodo (in broth) is often served at Christmas time.  The tortellini are stuffed with different local meats and some Parmigiano (Mattia said there is no lactose in the real Parmigiano cheese).  This was our favourite dish.

Our first pasta- tortellini in brodo

The next two pastas were served together.  Tagliatelle with ragù and a green (spinach) lasagne, bolognese style.   I just had the tagliatelle witch was excellent.  Alonso also had the lasagna.  We each had a glass of Sangiovese wine, which was very good.

Alonso with the tagliatelle and the lasagna

A wonderful meal at a great quiet restaurant

After our pasta dinner, we walked over to Cremeria la Vecchia Stalla, which has some of the best gelato and sorbetto in Bologna.

Outside of the Cremeria

Buzzy and fun Place

Alonso had crema and pistacchio and I had strawberry and mixed berry sorbetto.  Excellent.

We walked back to the apartment just after 9:30 p.m.  

The porticoes in Bologna are the best

What a fabulous day.  We were very happy with the food tour and the evening timing was great as we had a nice meal at dinner time.  Didn't need to cook at all.  It also freed up our day to explore.