As a self proclaimed ‘foodie’, I first heard of the city of Modena when I watched the Netflix show ‘Chef’s Table’, a TV series dedicated to showcasing the best contemporary chefs globally. The show featured a restaurant in the ancient city called Osteria Francescana opened by Massimo Bottura, and known by many to be the best restaurant in the world. After watching the episode, I rushed to the Restaurant’s website, eager while in Italy to get a taste of the best pasta in the world. Unfortunately, as I scrolled through the impossibly hard reservation reviews, I realized that the dinner would be a minimum of 400 euros. Alas, not a price in the student budget I could work with!
However, part of what made the restaurant so famous was the use of modern techniques in a place with such classical and rich food history already. Modena exists in the heart of a region known as Emilia Romagna, a region famous for the cities of Parma and Bologna. The names aren’t an accident, and Parmesan cheese, ‘bolognese sauce’, Parma ham, and balsamic vinegar all hail from the region. Clearly, there was food to be had and eating to be done even without a reservation at Osteria Francescana. My friends and I travelled through the larger city of Bologna by train stayed in a lovely air bnb in the heart of Modena. Upon arrival at dusk, we were delighted by the quiet hum of the small Italian city. Unlike the noisy sirens and hordes of people which crowd the streets of Rome, our first walk in Modena we saw only elderly couples arm in arm and people and families heading to dinner. We didn’t hear English or see shops selling ‘University of Italy’ sweatshirts and tourist paraphernalia. This felt like authentically Italian! After a dinner of tortellini in brodo (a famous dish consisting of tiny pastas floating in rich chicken broth) and the amazing local wine Lambrusco (a sparkling red), we happily went to bed.
The next day, we headed to a market in the center of Modena for authentic balsamic purchases. Little did we know, a conference on Italian philosophy was taking place in the city center. Cramming the cobblestones, a mass of Italians (young and old plus their dogs), huddled together to hear men on a stage. Unfortunately, my introductory Italian skills were not up to par with the discussion. Instead, we happily dunked flaky, sugar dusted pistachio cornetto in frothy capaccino, and wandered through stalls of local produce. We continued walking around leisurely through the beautiful streets, relaxing before our afternoon bike tour in Parma.
The most stressful part of the day was booking tickets in the sweaty bus station to the neighboring town of Parma, but as the Italian countryside blurred past our stress melted with the ease of the Parmesan we hoped to sample. When we arrived, David our guide met us with bikes and helmets and led us out into the farm country. Because most of the factory production occurs in the cool morning hours, our Parmesan factory tour felt blissfully intimate. We saw all stages of cheese production and fermentation, and the tour ended with a delicious tasting of local cheese, meat, and natural wine. We headed home happily full and eagerly anticipating a full pasta dinner.
The trip was wonderfully relaxed, and satisfied all my foodie fantasies. And although it was certainly delicious, the best part was the chance to truly experience Italy. I felt included in the bounty of the place we visited, as if my weekend was just an extension of my everyday Italian life. Although undoubtedly tourism, I felt like I did a weekend of Italian tourism, just like any couple of Roman students might do after a weekend of University. The experience was everything I hoped it to be and more.
Ciao!
Ariel