Italy Unpacked 1: Emilia Romagna

 

Sunset over Bologna

I love Italy & have visited Milan, Florence & Venice & hope to get to Rome this year. So it was no surprise that I loved last years series 'Sicily Unpacked' so I was delighted to find they've done a new series 'Italy Unpacked' The series follows art historian 'Andrew Graham-Dixon and chef Giorgio Locatelli travelling through Italy exploring the country's history, culture, food, art and landscape'. 

Here's a few highlights from the first episode where they explore the region of Emilia-Romagna in Northern Italy:

 

 

 Visiting Giorgio Morandi's studio & the Museo Morandi in Bologna

Eating deep fried red mullet freshly caught from the padellone

Tasting 25 yr old balsamic vinegar that costs 250 euros for a small bottle!

 

Visiting the incredible frescoed dome showing 'The Assumption of the Virgin' in Parma Cathedral. It took Antonio da Correggio 8 years to complete & is better than the Sistine Chapel?! or a stew of frogs legs?!

Making Parma ham

 

Seeing & cooking from a 400 year old cookbook

See a clip from the episode where they visit the anatomical theatre in the oldest university in the world in Bolgna, and one from the next episode showing the oldest shopping mall in Milan where I've been! Viva Italia!

(all images from the episode via BBC iplayer) 

----Also see my posts about Part 2: Lombardy & Part 3: Piedmont-----