|
Which brings us to the city's most famous ingredient – its food. Despite other regions' claims, Bologna's cuisine is the best in Italy. Cultivated, prepared, served and consumed with great pride and sensual pleasure but minimum ritual, food and wine have been Bologna's real religion since the city's foundation. Over this time the Bolognese have invented a tongue-twisting delicatessen and oral orgy of pastas, meats, cheese and sauces, from tagliatelle and tortellini to mortadella and squacquerone, to name just a few. And as they have invented them, so these dishes have passed into the region's tradition. But while today's chefs respect and vaunt their city's culinary heritage they also perceive their vocation as a process of development, a moveable or at least evolving feast, ripe for innovation. We're not talking fusion of Japanese with Moroccan food here, but specialities of the house, with subtle and significant nuances on traditional themes. The famed spirit of innovation and experimentation is expanding the territory of the city's gastronomic traditions, discovering new Dionysian delights to satisfy both gourmet and glutton.
|
