Romagna’s Culinary Heritage: A Gastronomic Journey

The Romagna region, a land of genuine hospitality, showcases its rich character through its exceptional cuisine and local products. From the Adriatic coast to the inland hills bordering Tuscany, San Marino, and the Marche region, Romagna’s culinary tradition blends coastal and inland influences. Its gastronomy, rooted in both farming and fishing practices, varies across its distinct territories, offering a diverse and authentic experience.

This bountiful region boasts an array of high-quality ingredients: Adriatic seafood, prized meats from native breeds of cattle and swine, flavorful cured meats, artisan cheeses, and an abundance of fruits and vegetables. The Po Delta’s network of rivers, originating from the Monviso massif and traversing the Po Valley, further enriches the region’s culinary landscape. Romagna’s history, interwoven with its thriving agricultural and maritime traditions, has shaped a robust regional identity, making its food culture a powerful tool for economic, environmental, and scenic development. Protecting this culinary legacy safeguards not only specific products but also the entire region’s historical, environmental, and scenic character. These indigenous products represent a remarkable asset of the region’s rural system that must be preserved to maintain its unique character and rural environment.

A wealth of delectable offerings await, from Cervia’s sweet cardoon to the renowned Fossa cheese. The Adriatic waters off the Romagna Riviera, stretching from Ravenna to Cattolica, teem with a wide variety of fish, including sea bream, castingola, anchovies (also known as alice, with its younger form called bianchetto), seabream, mullet, grouper, dentex, mormora, sea bream, amberjack, scorpionfish, cuttlefish, sea bass, boga, fragolino, goby, dorado, gurnard, John Dory, jack mackerel, salema porgy, red mullet, lobster, and spider crab.

Seafood is central to Romagna’s culinary scene. The traditional “rustìda” – cooking fish on hot grills – exemplifies the region’s seafaring legacy, evolving into today’s popular practice of grilling Adriatic catches. Blue fish, readily available, affordable, and frequently served, is easily recognizable by its dark blue dorsal and silvery ventral coloration. This category includes anchovies, garfish, alaccia, cicerello, costardelle, dorado, lanzardo, cutlassfish, swordfish, amberjack, sardines, mackerel, papalino, sugherello, John Dory, spiny dogfish, sole, sea bass, red mullet, and mullet. The availability of various fish varies due to each species’ life cycle and production phases, with fishing closed from August until early October in the Adriatic.

Romagna’s meat production features beef, pork, and lamb. The renowned Romagnola IGP breed of cattle provides high-quality beef. The Mora Romagnola breed of pig, characterized by its dark coat, and castrated lamb (“castrè” in the local dialect) grazing the hills of the Upper Rubicone valley, are other prized regional products. These meats are particularly flavorful and ideal for sauces and cured meats. The Romagnola cattle breed, with its pale grey to white coat (females are typically whiter), exceptional muscle development, and robust build, boasts Italy’s first IGP recognition for beef under the name “Vitellone Bianco dell’Appennino Centrale.” Its early growth and adaptability have made it a globally sought-after breed.

The Romagnolo chicken, prevalent in Romagna and parts of Emilia, is known for its colorful plumage, fine bone structure, and reddish comb. This rustic bird thrives in open spaces, often roosting in trees. It is a small breed – the male reaching a maximum of 2.5 kg and the female 2 kg after about 8 months of raising. The meat is dense and flavorful and the eggs, smaller than average, have white shells and large yolks.

Traditionally, almost every Romagna family raised pigs, relying on the “norcino” (pork butcher) to transform the meat into cured products and lard. Nowadays, Romagna raises two types of pigs: lighter pigs for fresh consumption and heavier ones for cured meats. Salame gentile, a flavorful and soft sausage, is distinguished by its limited garlic use. Every part of the pig is utilized, with various cuts used to produce hams, coppa, salami, pancetta, sausages, and cotechini. Bones yield broth, fat produces lard, blood creates migliaccio, and offal is used in cuisine. Ciccioli, crispy fried pork rinds seasoned with bay leaf and lemon, are another example of this resourcefulness.

The Mora Romagnola pig is raised throughout Romagna, with variations in coat color across different areas: “Forlivese” (black-reddish), “Faentina” (red), and “Riminese” (reddish with a white star on the forehead). Dozens of registered Mora Romagnola pig farms are located mainly in the provinces of Ravenna, Forlì, Bologna, and Modena, but also throughout Emilia-Romagna. “Salsiccia Matta” (“Ciavàr” or “Sambudello”) resembles sausage but is made from ground tongue, heart, offal, and head meat seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and Sangiovese wine. It is enjoyed fresh, grilled, or preserved in oil.

The hilly areas of Romagna are known for sheep farming, leading to high-quality meat and cheese production. Since 1998, lamb meat has been protected by the Q.C. (Controlled Quality) mark, ensuring quality through a strict set of regulations. The most prized meat comes from castrated lambs. The meat from these castrated lambs, raised on pasture with grains and cereals until around 5 months old and weighing approximately 60-80 kg, is prized for its tenderness and flavor. The two main breeds are the Appenninica (native) and the Sarda (introduced in the 1950s), along with the Biellese and Bergamasca breeds that arrived during transhumance. The most prized cuts include the leg (suitable for roasting or grilling), loin (ideal for roasting), and shoulder (perfect for skewers and stews).

The Fossa cheese, a PDO specialty from Sogliano al Rubicone (and Talamello in the Marche region), dates back to the Malatesta era. This semi-hard cheese, made from a mix of cow’s and sheep’s milk, undergoes unique aging in sandstone caves, lending it a distinctive earthy aroma. Cow’s milk used comes from the “Frisona Italiana,” “Bruna Alpina,” “Pezzata Rossa” breeds and their crosses, while sheep’s milk comes from “Sarda,” “Comisana,” “Massese,” “Vissana,” “Cornella Bianca,” “Fabrianese delle Langhe,” and “Pinzirita” breeds and their crosses. The quality is ensured by regulations stipulating that the animals are fed forages and wild herbs from the pastures. Other noteworthy cheeses are squacquerone DOP, a fresh, sweet, slightly acidic, and subtly salty cheese, and reviggiolo, a fresh white cheese from the hills of Tuscany and Romagna.

The “caveja,” a wrought-iron tool with a decorated plate, is a symbol of Romagna, representing both agricultural tools and decorative motifs in rust-printed fabrics. Another iconic figure is the “zdora,” the traditional female pasta-maker who skillfully produces fresh, stuffed pasta for Romagna’s signature “minestre” (soups). Thanks to the zdore, the region has preserved traditional dishes such as passatelli, cappelletti, gnocchi, spoja lorda, garganelli, and manfrigoli.

The piadina, a flatbread made from flour, water, fat, and salt, received IGP status in 2014, ensuring its quality and production methods. It is enjoyed both plain and with countless savory and sweet fillings. The traditional piadina from Forlì-Cesena and Ravenna provinces measures 15-25 centimeters in diameter and 4-8 millimeters in thickness, while the “Riminese” version is larger (23-30 centimeters in diameter) and thinner (3 millimeters). Piadinerie, or piadina stands, offer a vast array of creative fillings, also producing miniature versions for children’s parties or thin crackers.

Romagna’s winemaking reflects its terroir. Sangiovese, celebrated by the late Romagna song master Raul Casadei (“…evviva la Romagna, evviva il Sangiovese…”), is a significant wine alongside Albana (Italy’s first DOCG) and the revived “Famoso” or “Rambella” (dialect) grape, which yields Burson wine. Four wine routes promote the region’s integrated tourism, linking viticulture, gastronomy, and sustainable tourism services.

Olive groves thrive in the hills near Romagna’s Adriatic coast (Rimini and Forlì-Cesena provinces), with Brisighella, in the province of Ravenna, and limited areas in the province of Bologna being notable exceptions. The region produces high-quality olive oil, thanks to local cultivars, specific microclimates, and careful cultivation techniques. This oil, primarily from areas defined by PDO regulations (Brisighella and Colline di Romagna), boasts superior nutritional and organoleptic qualities.

Cervia’s integral sea salt, produced by evaporating seawater, is exceptional. It’s washed only with concentrated seawater (“acqua madre”), preserving its rich mineral content, and is then dried in open-air piles.

Romagna’s peach production is noteworthy, featuring both peaches and nectarines (also called “pesca noce”), both with IGP status. The former has a velvety skin and juicy flesh, while the latter has smooth skin and firm flesh, both coming in yellow or white varieties.

Cervia’s sweet cardoon, characterized by its distinctive sweetness thanks to maturing underground, is a unique product distinguished by the Recognition Label. It’s entirely hand-cultivated, from land preparation to planting, tying, and burying, resulting in small-scale production.

Numerous Romagna recipes are part of Italian culinary heritage. Zuppa inglese, a classic dessert, has roots in this region and an original recipe appears in Pellegrino Artusi’s renowned cookbook, “La scienza in cucina e l’arte di Mangiar bene”. It’s known today as a spoon dessert, but originally was a round cake with a shortcrust pastry base, still available in some traditional pastry shops.

Romagnolo hunter-style rooster and grilled Mora Romagnola pork are other examples of rustic dishes, along with classic hunter-style chicken.

Romagna offers diverse dining options, from restaurants and trattorias to osterias and agriturismos. The region’s commitment to fresh, seasonal ingredients and local specialties ensures a satisfying culinary experience, whether one chooses seafood on the coast or land-based dishes inland. First courses (“minestre”), cured meats, cheeses, grilled meats, and piadina are staples, always accompanied by Albana, Trebbiano, and Sangiovese wines.