Food and Wine
A trip to Piacenza is a pleasure for your palate! Did you know: the province of Piacenza has the highest number of Doc wines and Dop products in the whole Emilia-Romagna region (see p. 11 for Doc and Dop). Its treasures are three great Dop salami: Coppa, Pancetta and Salame. Dop certification ensures that these products are made using pork meat obtained exclusively from locally reared pigs, which is then cured following strict protocols, ensuring the most delicious results.
Other great products of this area are Dop Grana Padano and Dop Provolone Valpadana cheeses. The most popular local dish, pisarei e fasò, consists of dumplings made from stale bread served with an unusual sauce of red bean (you need seven beans for each dumpling). Pasta specialities include traditional anolini (small tortellini filled with stewed meat and served in broth) and "tailed tortelli" (tortelli con la coda), which was served at the tables of 18thcentury aristocrats and consists of a thin layer of pasta rolled out by hand and filled with herbs and ricotta cheese, then twisted like sweet wrappers. Among the meat dishes, roast pork (coppa) and picula ad caval (horse tartare served with tomatoes, onion and peppers) are worth a taste. These dishes require the appropriate wines – you can choose from among 17 local varieties, such as the Ortrugo white. The wine culture here is thousands of years old: it is said in Latin, "Vinum merum placentinum laetificat" – genuine wine from Piacenza will lift your spirits.
