Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Wine and Food of the Giro 2022 Stage 11: Santarcangelo di Romagna to Reggio Emilia


Where are we? Spending the day in Emilia Romagna.

Santarcangelo di Romagna: The Giro says: Santarcangelo di Romagna, Cittaslow, is considered as Portal to the Marecchia Valley, and the best place to discover the terrority’s enchanting medieval towns and incredible fortresses.
Walking through the fascinatingly, picturesque cobbled-stoned quarters, you are immediately struck by this old town’s magical charm, its warmth, the excellent quality of life and the welcoming hospitality of its people.
The old town, located on Jupiter Hill, is dominated by the imposing Fortress and the Civic tower. Its charm and character are embodied in the lively and colourful lanes, staircases and squares.


The food: Santarcangelo is very famous for its gastronomy, offering excellent food and wine. Walking through the town’s lanes, you will find lots of restaurants, trattoria, taverns and piadinerie where you can enjoy truly mouth-watering, delicious cuisine from the local area. There are also many shops where you can buy locally produced food, typical to the area.  
One interesting aspect of the local cuisine is the onion; many years ago, Santarcangelo was famous for its onions cultivated “from water”, so much so that the people from Rimini mocked them, calling them “Zvùléun”, “Cipolloni” or “Big Onions”. This type of onion is still grown and is very tasty when eaten raw with radicchio, seasoned with local extra-virgin olive oil, coarse salt, Sangiovese wine vinegar and a grilled sausage in a steaming hot piadina. This is considered Santarcangelo’s typical ‘street food’ and is popular during the San Martino Fair.

Reggio Emilia:  The Giro says: Located in the Po River Valley, Reggio Emilia is known as the Town of the Tricolour because here, in 1797, the banner – which later became the national flag – was officially adopted.
Known today for its gastronomy, for the quality of life and, internationally, for the “most beautiful kindergartens in the world”, Reggio Emilia is also a town of art: some of the most important personalities in Italian history were born here, such as the great Countess Matilde di Canossa, the poets Matteo Maria Boiardo, Ludovico Ariosto, the painter Antonio Allegri known as Correggio and the photographer Luigi Ghirri. Reggio Emilia is also a town with a strong artisan and industrial vocation. Many of the buildings that bear witness to this have been the subject of skilful interventions of industrial archeology and now host some of the most important excellences of the area in the industrial, educational and cultural fields. The Bridges and the Calatrava high-speed railway station welcome the visitor: the new access gates to the town, with their sinuous and light shapes, present the Reggio Emilia of the XXI century: a lively town, full of festivals – as European Photography – and artistic works.

The food: The creativity of the Reggio Emilia cuisine has mainly developed in the first courses: the king of first courses, that is cappelletto in broth; tortelli: filled with pumpkin, typical of the Po River plain, or green, with a filling of chard and spinach; green lasagna, rice bomb and homemade tagliatelle, which in the mountains area are served with mushrooms sauce. For starters: Erbazzone Reggiano, the most characteristic culinary production of Reggio Emilia, deserves a special mention; it is a salted pie made with spinach or chard, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and onion. Born as a poor dish, prepared with food leftovers and improved with the excellence of our land, the Erbazzone accompanies Reggio Emilia people at both any time of the day and on holidays. Not to be missed are Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, properly called the King of Cheeses, and two drops of Reggio Emilia Traditional Balsamic Vinegar: refined flavours for demanding tastes.


The stage: First, the bad news. After his historic win yesterday, Biniam Girmay had an accident yesterday on the podium. When opening the ceremonial prosecco, the cork flew out faster than he anticipated and he injured his eye. The injury was significant enough that he has withdrawn from the race. 
The stage today looked to be very straightforward--long, flat and likely to end up in a sprint. A two man breakaway of Tagliani and Rastelli was likely doomed. To the delight of viewers, if not riders, there were crosswinds, leading to one of our favorite things.
It would look several times that it would all come apart, but instead, it was just a very tense ride. Eventually, Dries De Bondt attacked, gaining some time. With 50 kilometers to go, he had 1:40. Under the 20 kilometer to go banner and he still had 21 seconds.
Ten kilometers to go and he had 15 seconds.  Four kilometers to go and he was hanging onto those 15 seconds. That gap would continue to drop as he was caught at the one kilometer banner.



The wine: Chiara Condello Romagna Sangiovese Predappio
From Dig:  Chiara Condello is a young, vibrant grower of Sangiovese who started here winery in 2015. Located in Predappio, a small village nestled among the fog-covered Apennine foothills, these. clay, limestone, and sandstone soils of 40 year old vines create a wine as vibrant as its maker. Aged 12 months in large barrels, here is a fresh, tasty wine expressing sweet red fruit balanced by lovely notes of earth. A lovely daily Italian red.

The food: Time to go classic.
Parmigiano-Reggiano is produced exclusively in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and parts of the provinces of Mantua and Bologna, on the plains, hills and mountains enclosed between the rivers Po and Reno.
The consortium says:
The History of Parmigiano-Reggiano DOP
It is not necessary to carry out laborious research to gather documents on the ancient origins of Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Nine Centuries of Excellence: its Origins
When it is said that Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese has been "a great cheese for at least nine centuries", it is not only highlighting its ancient origin. Indeed, it means pointing out that this cheese today is still identical to how it was eight centuries ago, having the same appearance and the same extraordinary fragrance, made in the same way, in the same places, with the same expert ritual gestures.
Historical evidence shows that already in 1200-1300, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese had reached its perfect typicality that has remained unchanged until the present day.
Today like in the past, cheese masters continue in their effort and in their risk by sincerely and proudly persisting in making their cheese with solely milk, rennet, fire and art, and in abiding by the rigorous centuries-old methods and application of the technique that is the result of special vocations and matured experiences.
Today: Recent History
The recent history of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is essentially the history of how the approximately 350 small artisan dairies of the typical area (that encompasses about three thousand milk producers) has obtained, by way of Law, the recognition of their determination in preserving the processing method and the very high qualitative level of the product.
It is the story of how the guarantee of genuineness of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is now an absolute guarantee, thanks to the precise rules, applied with strict conformity self-discipline and control.
Parmigiano-Reggiano is guaranteed from more than seventy years from the Consortium and, above all, it is loved since nine centuries for its generous taste.

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