Traditional cuisine undoubtedly belongs to one people's history since it mirrors part of its character.
As a matter of fact, the name Romagna was unknown to the Romans who used to refer to it as Emilia. It is only during the Middle Ages that this land - the heart of the Byzantine sovereignty - became Romania: another name for another land with different customs, cultivations, products, traditions, a different cuisine with different tastes, seasonings, flavours and fillings. Amongst our starters, you will find outstanding sausages, sott'olio (vegetables preserved in olive oil from the under-wood produce, especially mushrooms), shallots, frittata (the Italian omelette).
The Romagna cuisine excels in the soups' variety, particularly in the ones with broth. Of course soups play a triumphant role also in the neighbouring Emilia cuisine but please never mistake cappelletti for tortellini: the first ones are bigger and have a completely different filling, made of a fine mixture of ricotta (soft, fresh cheese) and different kinds of cheese. The real basis of our soup dishes is the unique dough of the pasta called sfoglia, strictly home made with the help of a rolling pin according to the oldest tradition.
Also made of sfoglia are the tagliolini and the traditional manfrigoli pastas (the latter is a small kind of pasta ideal for soups).Worth tasting are also minestrone (vegetable soup) and pasta e fagioli (pasta soup with beans). But the most typical soup with broth, the oldest of them all, the only Romagna original is the Passatelli pasta: a delicious mixture of eggs, cheese, breadcrumbs and nutmeg processed by means of a specially-designed iron tool.
      Passatelli are usually served with meat broth, but they are very good with fish broth as well.
Among the pasta dishes you can enjoy a great variety. Typical is the perfect combination of the famous tagliatelle with the truffles from Dovadola, in our
Apennines.
Remarkable are also tagliatelle dressed with "strigoli" (a kind of green herbs). Worth mentioning are the traditional strozzapreti pasta whose dough is not the same of sfoglia, but the one of piadina, dressed with green herbs cooked in a thick sauce. Particularly tasty are also tortelli (stuffed pasta) and of course gnocchi (small potato dumplings).
Due to different cultural influences, this land of ours boasts delightful cooking varieties: the Apennines cuisine, mainly the one based on the under-wood produce, offers its own specialities and in those who love meat will the taste the real fiorentina (rare- done beefsteak ) cooked at its best as well as other dishes prepared according to the "Romagna-Tuscany" tradition.
Meat specialities do not belong to the traditional cuisine of the ancient Papal Romagna but worth tasting are: boiled meat, and all the succulent chicken, rabbit, pork, roasted and grilled castrate dishes.
Among the countryside specialities, Romagna produces not only truffles, but also high quality flap mushrooms and the prugnoli ( a small variety of French mushrooms), and, among the vegetables, rocket, nettle and asparagus are the main ingredients of local recipes.
Among cheese varieties: the good "Formaggio di fossa di Sogliano" (fossa cheese), other kinds of pecorino cheese and last but not least: squacquerone (soft fresh cheese) that when eaten on piadina makes the perfect combination. Additional information on the legendary piadina are to be found in the Glossary on Festivals.
As for cakes and pastries quite famous is the typical Romagna so-called "zuppa inglese" (literally English soup): a pudding made of a mixture of custards and creams together with a sponge cake and alchermes liquor.
Delicious are also ciambella e bracciatelli (cake and biscuits made of the same kind of pastry).
      Let us end this list with the fruits of this land : in Romagna there is an important production of peaches and strawberries. Therefore peaches should be enjoyed with the white Albana wine and strawberries should meet the flavour of the good Romagna red wine.
Top quality gastronomy enjoys high quality wine, which is a great supporter and teller of flavours. It goes without saying, that Romagna is also the land of many remarkable wines, and even Romans were quite aware of that: they used to drink Sangiovese though they called it Cesenate: that is the name the historian Plinio used in his book "Il XIV libro della Storia Naturale" (the XIV Natural History Book) when he classified it amongst the 80 vineyards and the 135 different wine qualities that were the most famous of his time. Let's get into details by introducing the winning team of the best original Romagna wines. Climate, environment, and composition of the soil are all natural factors contributing to the creation of some Romagna varieties of aromas and tastes.
Albana di Romagna: It is a d.o.c.g. wine (registered and controlled designation of origin), a classification attributed only to the most esteemed wines. There are different kinds and variants of Albana, a racy white wine: golden, distinguished and clean bouquet, well-balanced fragrance. The medium-sweet Albana gets perfectly well together with ciambella, fruit-tart and fruit. Dry Albana is particularly suitable for fish and pasta dishes. The preciousness of Albana has been celebrated since 1200 in the "Trattato di Agricoltura" (Treaties on Agriculture) by Pier Crescenzi. The hills around Bertinoro are the real homeland of Albana. Worth mentioning is the esteemed and noble Albana Passita: a sweet wine with a fine and uncommon taste.
Sangiovese: It is a dry, garnet, d.o.c. wine (registered designation of origin) with a pronounced and intense perfume, robust and strong body. The d.o.c. designation concerns five classical Sangiovese production areas: the Cesenate (at Cesena), the Forlivese (at Forlì), the Riminese (at Rimini), the Faentino (at Faenza) and the Imolese (at Imola).
As a matter of fact, the Cesenate Sangiovese has got a noble and fine bouquet, whereas the Forlivese Sangiovese tastes of violet and wood. These are the classical wine varieties that excite the flavours of the typical dishes of the country cookery: pasta dishes, white meat roasts, game. The Cesena production area, after Bertinoro, includes the valleys of the rivers Rubicone and Savio.
The Forlì district goes from Bertinoro throughout the valleys of Forlì, including Predappio.
Trebbiano: A dry white wine: straw yellow and weak perfumed. It is the ideal wine for fish, fried food and soups. Great as aperitif.
There's a wide range of good local wines that tourists may enjoy, like two other notable varieties from our province: the Pagadebit di Romagna, a fine, dry and white d.o.c. wine and the cheering Cagnina, a sweet red one, perfect for cakes and roasted chestnuts. In our province you can list about a hundred different local qualities and some of them are outstandingly good and quite well known. Finally, a nice anecdote about wine: at the beginning of May 1986, the Pope John Paul II visited Romagna, namely the towns of Forlì and Cesena. On that day, His Holiness had cappelletti with capon broth and, as for wines, Sangiovese and Albana.
Dedicated to the popular cuisine
Apart from the best seller Science in the kitchen and the art of eating well by the Romagnolo Pellegrino Artusi, there is another remarkable cook-book by the pure Romagna creativeness of famous Olindo Guerrini: L'arte di utilizzare gli avanzi per la mensa (The Art of using leftovers for dinner). It is a real catalogue on the popular and traditional cuisine, full of accurate researches and reliable and detailed recipes.