Città della nebbia, a secret ingredient of coppa, pancetta and salami, is the place to eat tortelli with its tail, pisarei and fasò and anolini in brodo. Here's where to go, for a gastronomic shopping and to try the best trattorias
To understand the gastronomy of a city, it can sometimes be useful to study its geography. Piacenza, Emilia. Border city. Lambita north from the river Po, which separates it from nearby Lombardy. Not far from Piedmont to the west and from Liguria to the south. Projected east towards the Italian Food Valley, of which it is the principle. Beautiful with the sun, even more with the fog, the real secret ingredient of its famous sausages, cup, salami is bacon. Perhaps less known than Parma, in recent years the city of Farnese has always been able to carve out a little more space in the chronicles of taste, thanks to its Tortelli With Tail, ai beans and pasta and to the anolini in broth. A genuine, genuine cuisine that goes well beyond the first three mentioned above. His beauty is that maybe he still has to get out of the stereotypes. Maybe starting with a gastronomic tour of Piacenza.
Coppa, pancetta and salami, three great certainties
For the people of Piacenza, Montanari it is a certainty, whether you go to the municipal market near Palazzo Farnese or to the more peripheral Nuovo Montale shopping center. If you want to buy good meats, those with the drop, that's where you have to go. The delicatessen has more than 50 years of history and three generations have passed behind the counter. Quality, however, is always there. First, for an excellent ability to choose the raw material already stuffed and then for the family cellar, where the cured meats are left to rest. There cup, for example – even if the Dop specification foresees a minimum of six months of maturing – Mr. Eugenio finds it of 11 or 12 months. Almost a rarity now, because to meet the growing demand, many prefer to shorten the production time. Always from him you can buy the salami, lo strolghino, the bacon, the Capitelli's pancetta cotta, and the Parma culatello of Zibello is culaccia of Felino, this seasoned two years, that when you eat a slice you can hear the fog in your mouth. (Salumeria Montanari – Piazza Alessandro Casali 2, Piacenza)
Starting from the fundamentals: fresh pasta
In Piacenza there should be fresh pasta shops at every corner of the street, not just for taste but also for pride. And, instead, find a shop where tortelli, pisarei and anolini are still done by hand, it is not so obvious. Those that are there, do not give too many arias. Like Emiliano Tosca, a Sardinian mother, lively and lively behind the counter, and father from Piacenza. Here we work continuously from the 80s, always with the same suppliers "as long as they are a guarantee of quality". In addition to the fresh pasta department there is also that gastronomy, so who wanted to cook i pisarei but he had not ready the bean sauce, here he finds it, the same as the broth of the anolini. Even the lasagna they are not missing. THE Tortelli With Tail they have a paste so thin and elastic that when they are put in the mouth they are an explosion of flavor. In the recipe, however, there is a small variant. In the stuffing, a bit of sheep's milk is added to the ricotta vaccine (maternal heritage since in Sardinia it is very much used). The result is surprising. For large numbers it is advisable to book in advance. (Pasta Fresca (S.N.C.) – Via Vittorio Veneto 1)
Lunch break with batareu, the rediscovery of Piacenza street food
The batareu (or batarò) it's a typical bread of Valtidone. A mixture of white flour and cornmeal, beaten, pulled and then cooked in a wood oven. A rarity still today, because it is usually found only in the village festivals and in some pizzerias between Borgonovo, Pianello and Nibbiano. For some time, however, this sandwich stuffed normally only with the cup or the gorgonzola e there bacon, has also landed in the center of Piacenza thanks to the initiative of a boy from Crotone, Davide Ancora, and his wife, Maria Luisa Russa. The couple has opened, near Piazza Cavalli, a small place where they prepare it for the moment. Cooking takes place by force of things in an electric oven and the condiments have been enriched with different variations to make it more "light" and therefore more suitable for city life, but we can say that the result is close enough to the original. (Batareu for a walk – Corso Vittorio Emanuele II)
Pastry Falicetto, traditional desserts makes them a Piacenza by adoption
The Piacenza cuisine is not only made with meats and pasta dishes, there are also some desserts that deserve to be explored. Among all there is one that is very little known, forged by the hands of a master chocolatier from Cuneo, Aldo Scaglia, who opened his laboratory in Piacenza in 1985. Le cherries from Villanova d'Arda, from the typical red yellow color and the firm pulp, are put in the spirit in a homemade liqueur, a kind of Spicy maraschino. Before they become excessively soaked, they are taken and soaked, one by one, in the chocolate that ends up covering them with a very thin blanket. That's how they are born Sgranfgnòn. Another sweet hardly available in the area but really typical only i buslanein, historical donuts typical of Rottofreno, sold, in "necklaces". Hard but fragrant, once they were eaten dipped in white wine. To try also the pumpkin bread, another Piacenza specialty, which is here in the shape of a snail and sprinkled with sugar on the surface. For the rest of the windows are a riot of chocolate and pastry cakes. Pastry Falicetto (Via IV Novembre 170/172)
At Osteria Santo Stefano the "new" typical Piacenza cuisine
Tradition is better when it is able to regenerate. The meaning of this statement can be grasped well at theOsteria Santo Stefano, the last stop on the gastronomic tour of Piacenza. Open uninterruptedly since 1908, it has always served the dishes of the typical Piacenza cuisine. Wooden tables, as in the past, without a tablecloth, laid with the bare minimum. Elegant. As well as the environment, white walls, exposed beams and, during the hot season, a courtyard covered by a wisteria arbor. Nothing superfluous. Very pleasant. Same principles of order and essentiality they also reign behind the stove. Few fat, a lot of good raw material. And also some surprise borrowed from the neighboring regions, but without exceeding. Appetizer of cured meats and hors d'oeuvres. First, tortelli with a tail stuffed with ricotta and spinach or pumpkin, pisarei and faso, rice bomb and anolini, to name the great classics. Second space al fifth quarter and to the poultry: roast duck, always baked pork head served with the ganassino (cheek) and black cabbage, tripe and veal brains. Since 2012, the management is in the hands of Amelia Fioruzzi who, with her young team, has already managed to conquer the satisfactions, including the reporting in the Osterie d'Italia guide Slow Food from 2013 and from 2018 also the Chiocciola. (Osteria Santo Stefano – Via Santo Stefano 22)
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