From My Hometown to Yours: Parmigiano-Reggiano and Aceto Balsamico di Reggio Emilia

Hardly anyone outside Italy has heard of Reggio Emilia. With the exception of Jacques Pépin—who had not only heard of it, but had visited and knew it as the food destination in Italy—most people stare blankly at me when I tell them Reggio Emilia is my Italian home town. So you can imagine my surprise as I watched a recent episode of Iron Chef America—where the secret ingredient was Balsamic Vinegar—when Alton Brown actually mentioned that Reggio Emilia is one of only two places that produce Aceto Balsamico. Not only did it make me proud, but it was pretty darn convenient as I had already begun drafting this article.

Despite the fact that Parmigiano-Reggiano is the number one imported Italian cheese in America, and that Reggio Emilia is a top producer, people—save for Alton Brown and Jacques Pépin—still don't know about my little town.  Everyone knows Modena for its Aceto Balsamico and Ferrari headquarters, and Parma for its Prosciutto di Parma, but they just haven't heard of Reggio Emilia, its food, or the fact that it's located right in between these two famous towns.



Italians do know Reggio Emilia and its culinary reputation. In fact, there's a saying in Italy: "If you only have one night in Italy and can't eat at my Mamma's house, go to Reggio Emilia."

I'd like everyone to know Reggio Emilia and its culinary history. So I'll point you to the official website of Parmigiano-Reggiano, where you can watch a short film on the making of the cheese and read about its long history. You can also visit the international site for Parmigiano-Reggiano (look, Reggio Emilia is on the map!).

Besides our world-famous queen of cheeses, in Reggio Emilia we also produce award-winning Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, as Alton Brown rightly mentioned on Iron Chef. Though produced in smaller quantities and much, much harder to find outside of Italy, Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Reggio Emilia has better flavor than its mainstream, mass-produced cousins from Modena.



 

I once visited the esteemed Acetaia Cavalli Ferdinando, where I was given a personal tour of the facilities and allowed to taste some amazing Balsamics. When my cousins and I finished the tour, we entered the warehouse where the wine store is located to see what we could bring home. As we walked past the employee kitchen, one of my cousins recognized an old refrigerator and thought it looked just like the one that used to be in my Nonna's home kitchen before I was born. When we asked the gentleman who had escorted us around the grounds, he told us that they had bought the fridge second hand, nearly four decades ago, from a Varolli. We all laughed and couldn't believe it still worked, and that it was indeed my Nonna's old fridge.

The result of this bizarre coincidence was that I was allowed to purchase a "not for sale" bottle of Cavalli Ferdinando Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale Extra Vecchio, Oro, bottle number 6, which had won the Consorzio award in 2002. With a normal Gold Label costing about $240, I won't even say how much this purchase set me back, but it was worth every penny to buy the un-buyable bottle that had won such high honors.



I still have some left today because I only break it out for super special occasions, or when I want to impress one of my foodie friends with a rare product from Reggio Emilia that they simply can't get for themselves. It's amazingly thick, complex, sweet and delicious, and I only serve it on its own, a couple drops in a spoon, because Balsamic this good needs no accompaniment. Yet, on this week's Iron Chef America, neither Iron Chef Michael Simon nor the challengers did what one should do with a 50 year old Balsamic, simply serve it in a spoon or drizzled over vanilla ice cream—the two best ways to truly appreciate this gastronomic gold.



There is, of course, more to the culinary landscape of Reggio Emilia than Parmigiano-Reggiano and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, but these two products are a good place to start if you want to get a feel for the food of this little town I call my home in Italy. You can also check out my recipe for rich Bolognese, based on the traditional version of Reggio Emilia, and look for my upcoming recipes for Tortelli and Tortellini en Brodo, both classic dishes from Reggio Emilia. If you'd like to read up on the culinary traditions of my home town, and home region of Emilia-Romagna, the best book by far is The Splendid Table, by Lynne Rosetto Kasper.

RECIPE: Bolognese alla Regina, a.k.a. The Queen's Bolognese

Real Bolognese comes from the capital of Emilia-Romagna, the city of Bologna, but in Reggio Emilia, also located in Emilia-Romagna, we make a pretty wicked Bolognese ourselves. I'm not claiming my recipe is THE recipe of Reggio-Emilia, but it's the recipe I've been making for years—a bit lighter than the traditional, but way more flavorful and rich than most of what you find in the States. It's Bolognese alla Regina, which is me, and funnily enough, Regina means 'queen' in Italian. So that makes my Bolognese, "The Queen's Bolognese." And if I do say so myself, it's fit for even a real queen.

Olive Oil (for the pan)
8-16 oz (1-2 cups) Chicken Stock (home-made is best, by far)
2 oz Pancetta, very finely diced
2 large yellow onions, very finely diced
1 small carrot, peeled and grated (box grater or food processor)
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground pork (you can use all beef or all pork, just use 2 lb)
Double-concentrated Tomato Paste (preferably imported Italian)
1-2 Rinds of real Parmiggiano-Reggiano cheese
4-8 oz (1/2-1 cup) Whole Milk, room temperature
Coarse Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Unsalted Butter, cold

In a heavy stock pot, bring the 16 oz of chicken stock just to a boil. Pour half of the stock into a small pot (your reserve), and leave both on the burners, set to low. While you're waiting for the stock to boil, do your mise en place (French for: dice all the ingredients so they're ready to go).

In a large, heavy sauté pan, on med-high heat, add just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Add the Pancetta and cook until the fat has been rendered and the Pancetta is browned. Remove the Pancetta from the pan with a slotted spoon and add it to the chicken stock in the large stock pot. You want the fat from the Pancetta to stay in the pan for the next steps.

Add the chopped onions to the pan and sauté over high, med-high heat. Sprinkle a bit of salt on the onions as this will help them to release water. Sauté, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until the onions are soft, translucent and golden brown. It's important to brown the onions, but to keep the bottom of your pan from blackening. You want to build a flavorful fond in the pan, so avoid burning anything.

When the onions are done, remove them from the pan and put them in the stock pot with the cooked Pancetta.

Maintaining med-high to high heat, add fresh olive oil to the pan if needed, then add the grated carrot to the pan. Lightly salt the carrots (again to release the water as well as for flavor), and sauté, stirring, until the carrots are soft and golden brown. Remove carrots and add them to the onions and Pancetta.

Add more olive oil, as needed, then sauté the ground pork in the same pan over medium heat, lightly salting the pork. Don't crowd your pan with meat though, sauté it in small batches if your pan isn't a big one. If you crowd any pan with any kind of meat, it won't brown properly because too much water will be released at once. Cook the pork until it is browned, and make sure you don't end up with large chunks of meat, you want the meat to break down into small, uniform bits.

When the pork is browned, add it to the stock pot. Add oil to the sauté pan as needed, and repeat this process for the ground beef, again being careful not to burn the bottom of the pan.

When the beef is done and into your stock pot, add 2 tablespoons (roughly) of tomato paste straight into your hot sauté pan and cook it on medium heat for about a minute. Then add enough chicken stock from your reserve to the sauté pan to cover the bottom, turn the heat up to high, and using a heat-proof spatula (I prefer a wood spatula), scrape all of the fond off the bottom of the pan until it's incorporated with the tomato paste and stock. Pour this liquid into your stock pot.

Add about 4oz of whole milk to the stock pot and stir to incorporate. Then add the rinds of Reggiano-Parmiggiano cheese. If necessary, add more chicken stock to the Bolognese so it's more soupy than saucy.

At this point, your Bolognese will simmer away on low heat for as many hours as you like, but for a minimum of two hours to really reduce the liquids and concentrate the flavors. During simmering, the carrots, onions and Pancetta should slowly melt away and become one with the sauce. As needed, continue to add warm chicken stock and room-temperature whole milk. There's no need to constantly stir the pot, so most of this simmering time is not active. Just stir it occasionally and keep your eye on the heat level (the sauce should maintain a low simmer, not a boil, so it reduces very slowly).

When I make my Bolognese, I usually start it after work and simmer it all night (of course, using some of it for my dinner that night too). I often leave the pot on the stove overnight, covered but not heated, and continue simmering it even longer the following morning. There's no need to refrigerate it for this one night, it won't go bad! Thing is, with a Bolognese, the longer it simmers the richer the flavor, but I don't always have time to accomplish this in one night, hence why I leave it out overnight and continue simmering and adding stock / milk for a couple extra hours the next day.

When the Bolognese has simmered for the desired amount of time, taste it to check for salt. I don't add salt during simmering because as the liquid evaporates and the flavors concentrate, the salt used to sauté the vegetables and meats gets concentrated and you can easily end up with too salty a Bolognese. For this reason I add my salt, to taste, at the end of the simmering process so I get the perfect amount. Same goes for the fresh ground black pepper.

At this point, you may be wondering where the butter comes into the picture. Well, the butter comes in at the point when you're going to use the sauce with your pasta. My Bolognese has about 14 grams (1 tbsp) of butter per person, stirred straight into the sauce just before serving.

Bolognese keeps well in the refrigerator (in an air-tight container) for up to a week, and it can freeze for up to 2 months (in a heavy-duty, freezer-safe container). Defrost it in your fridge overnight. Reheat it just to a boil before allowing it to simmer.

Besides just using Bolognese as a sauce (perfect for Pappardelle), you can also use The Queen's Bolognese for Lasagna, or on toasted Ciabatta with Mozzarella melted on top in a broiler, one of my quickie lunch favorites. One thing is for sure, whatever you use Bolognese for, it's always nice to have some in the freezer or fridge for a more than satisfying meal in minutes.
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