OLD CRAFTS AND TRADITIONS

Handicrafts, food and wine: an itinerary of workshops and kitchens

The old town centre of Modena does not only feature ducal palaces and Renaissance art galleries, medieval cathedrals and scenic squares. It is also full of small old workshops where typical handicrafts are produced or restored: tanners, binders, furniture decorators, frame-makers, straw weavers and upholsterers. If you don’t have much time for shopping, try the “Mostra permanente dell’Artigianato Artistico Modenese” showroom (www.artigian atoartisticomodenese.it). Modena is also one of the Italian capitals of food and wine. In the old town centre there are several baker’s and conditioner’s workshops that welcome curious visitors, as do some producers of handmade pasta. If you want to try the real cured meat specialities – DOP Prosciutto di Modena, IGP Zampone di Modena and IGP Cotechino di Modena – do not rely on supermarkets, but head for one of the central butcher’s shops. And don’t forget to buy a bottle of traditional balsamic vinegar and one of nocino, the traditional strong liqueur of Modena made from alcohol, walnuts and sugar. Mouth-watering Bologna This is a gourmet tour of the typical food markets, osterie and old workshops of Bologna. The starting point is one of the most picturesque areas of the old town centre, the medieval market off Piazza Maggiore, in the maze of alleyways between Via delle Drapperie, Via degli Orefi ci and Via Clavature. Take your time to look at the goods on the stalls and in the shop-windows before you move on to narrow Via Pescherie Vecchie, the town’s fi sh market. Vicolo Ranocchi (ranocchio meaning “frog”) takes its name from the frog vendors who supplied the Bolognesi with one of their favourite delicacies, which abounded in the marshes surrounding the city. Bologna is also the city of inns, wine cellars and taverns (osterie). The most typical one is the old Osteria del Sole, which only sells beverages: if you don’t want to drink on an empty stomach, feel free to bring your own bread and mortadella like the locals. In Via Caprarie you’ll fi nd Paolo Atti baker’s shop, est. 1903, which does not only sell bread but also homemade tortellini and pasta – poet Giosuè Carducci and painter Giorgio Morandi were regulars. Close by, there is Tamburini salsamenteria (delicatessen and salami producers), est. 1896. Other historical places are the Caffè Zanarini on the corner with Via Farini, Majani chocolate makers (producers of the world-famous Fiat chocolate creams and Scorza dark chocolate bark), and the osterie in Via del Pratello, Via Mascarella, Via delle Belle Arti, Via Mentana and Via delle Moline.

Contemporary mosaics

The mosaic tradition is still alive and well in Ravenna, with a rich production of contemporary masterpieces ranging from naturalistic representations to abstract or informal art. Check out the Museo d’Arte, which holds Europe’s largest collection of contemporary mosaics, with preparatory cartoons (sketches) by artists such as Renato Guttuso, Afro, Renato Birolli or Antonio Porpora. For futurist wall mosaics, see the Sala dei Mosaici in the Palazzo Mutilato, decorated by the best mosaicists of the 20th century, from Renato Signorini to Antonio Rocchi. The municipality of Ravenna has even commissioned a tower entirely covered in mosaics, whose design was inspired by the representations of the towers of Zion in the Byzantine mosaics of San Vitale and Sant’Apollinare in Classe. The Fontana Ardea Purpurea in Piazza della Resistenza, made by Marco Bravuira in 1999, is a symbol of friendship and sisterhood between two cities, as a twin fountain by Andrea Purpurea stands in Beirut.

Forlì and the folk museum "Benedetto Pergoli"

Italy has many folk museums, but the "Benedetto Pergoli" museum in Forlì (Corso della Repubblica 72) has a particular touch of realism. It contains home interiors and workshops reconstructed using original vintage materials. The first room is an osteria (inn or tavern) with a bar and two massive tables with matching benches. Then there is a cellar with barrels, caskets and flasks, followed by two living rooms and double and single bedrooms. The last room is a kitchen dominated by a fireplace and a 17th-century cupboard; the rest of the furniture is late 19th-century, while the tableware is more recent (early 20th century). The kitchen was the heart of the home, the place where the householder (azdor in the local dialect) gave orders in regards to the housekeeping and the tilling of the land. There are also reconstructions of several old workshops: a cobbler’s, a hatter’s, a tailor’s, a cloth printer’s, a potter’s, a lute maker’s, a blacksmith’s and a goldsmith’s. The museum was founded in 1922 by a group of local intellectuals headed by poet Aldo Spallacci, and is still one of the main attractions in town.

From old piadina pans to rust-printed cloths

Piadina, the fl at, unleavened bread of Romagna, is always delicious, but even more so when it is cooked over a testo (typical pan). The best testi can be found in the small borough of Montetiffi near Sogliano al Rubicone, where a workshop still makes them following the century-old tradition. The secret is in the mixture of a particular stone with red and dark clay, which is placed on a potter’s wheel covered in ash to prevent the mixture from sticking and shaped in disks with a diameter of 35-40 cm (approx. 14-16 inches). The disks are left to dry from two to seven weeks (depending on weather conditions) and then baked for eight to twelve hours, whether in a kiln or on an open fi re. The quality of the testi is fi nally assessed by tapping them. Another fascinating craft is cloth-printing; in several workshops in Gambettola, Cesenatico, Forlì and Santa Sofi a visitors are allowed to watch the entire process. The strong smell lingering in those places is vinegar, used to fi x the dies. The traditional colour used for designs is rust brown, obtained from an iron oxide mixture, but blue and green are also classics. Typical patterns range from fl owers and vine leaves to peasant scenes.