Bologna is the capital of the region and the main airport if you’re flying from the UK. And so, if you’re thinking food, you may be thinking ‘spaghetti bolognaise’. Don’t. It’s an aberration of Italian cooking and Italians have never heard of it.
What we know as ‘bolognaise’ is ragu in Italy; a simple tomato sauce, cooked with a mixture of pork and beef. It forms part of my first Italian lunch in a small village called Dozza, about three quarters of an hour’s drive from the airport, taken to break the journey to Ravenna, another half hour away.
At an atmospheric trattoria called La Locanda del Castello, in the shadow of a medieval castle, we eat home-made pasta with the ragu sauce, served alongside one of the regional specialities, capellitti pasta stuffed with three cheeses, served in a creamy Parmesan sauce.
In Emilia Romagna, tomato sauce contains nothing more than tomatoes and basil. It follows Pellegrino’s Artusi’s classic recipe from his La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiare bene – The science of cooking and the art of eating well – first published in 1891 and revised by him into 15 subsequent edition to include regional delicacies and reader recipes from around the country. It was Italy’s first national cookbook, collecting together classic dishes from the diverse city-states of which Italy was previously formed. And still today, you will find a much-thumbed copy in every Italian kitchen.
How to make Artusi’s tomato sauce
Saute a few thick slices of onion in 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the onion has browned, remove it from the saucepan. Stir peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes into the pan, add fresh basil, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for half an hour, by which point the sauce will have thickened.
We get a chance to experience Artusi’s culinary wisdom and put it into practice at the Casa Artusi institute in the town of Forlimpopoli. Northern Italy is famous for its pasta, the south for its pizza, so it’s fitting that we learn how to make several different types of pasta – from simple shapes and twists to the more elaborate filled capellata, similar to tortellini.
It’s surprisingly easy to do and definitely easy to recreate in a UK kitchen, without the need for complicated pasta-making machines. All that’s required is strong white flour, eggs, a rolling pin and strong arm muscles (don’t worry if you don’t have them before you start – they’ll have developed by the end!)
As well as the cookery school, the institute houses a library, museum, wine cellar, shop, event space and restaurant, founded in the name of this famous gastronomist, a living celebration of home cookery. For lunch we eat the pasta dishes we’ve just made and are delighted with our newfound skills – there’s talk of setting up a Facebook competition to compare our future efforts.
How to make pasta
Using the ratio 100g of strong flour to one egg; pour the required amount of flour onto a large wooden board, make a hole in the centre and break in the eggs. Using a spoon, mix the eggs into the flour and once blended, use your hands to knead the mixture vigorously for about 10 minutes. Then cover and allow the dough to rest for up to 15 minutes.
Once rested, roll the pasta into a large thin disk using a rolling pin – the trick is to keep turning the dough to get an even spread that won’t break; Italians also like to hang part of the dough over the edge of the table, to stretch it out, ready to roll. Finally cut your pasta into the required shapes and cook, or stuff with cheese/meat/vegetables to make tortellini.
Casa Artusi arranges bespoke cookery lessons for groups of up to 20 people. Email info@casartusi.it for information and prices or visit the website at www.casartusi.it.
Taking a wine tour
‘Regional’, ‘local’ and ‘food from just down the road’ has always been at the heart of Italian cooking and not just the buzzwords they’ve become for us in recent years. It’s all part of the ‘kilometre zero’ approach to cooking; and ensures menus change with the season. Here even the wine is likely to have been produced just a few minutes away from where you’re sitting.
So you should definitely make time for a tour of some of the region’s wineries, and sample the grape varieties of Aballa – for white wine – and Sa – for red. There are lots of local wineries in the area, where production takes place on a small-scale level and bottles are sold and drunk locally. If you’re looking for some unique ‘money-can’t-buy’ (at home) gift ideas, here’s where you’ll find them.
Fattoria Paradiso is a family-run vineyard close to the beautiful medieval city of Bertinoro. Today, three generations of the Pezzi family work to make wines from a variety of grapes, including the famous Sangiovese, which fast becomes our favourite tipple for the rest of the trip. I would suggest it’s almost worth a trip to this part of Italy to try it out the Sangiovese of Romagna.
If wine is your thing, it’s worth hiring a guide to take you around the local wineries – more information at www.vinotour.it
Sampling the local cuisine in Ravenna and Rimini
When you’re not hand-rolling your own pasta to eat, try the lovely Osteria del tempo Perso, a traditional trattoria with net curtains, dark wooden furniture and plenty of locals, in the historical centre of Ravenna.
Or opt for a traditional lunch of piadina in Rimini – Italian flatbread with meat or vegetarian fillings – at Nude Crude, close to the historic quarter.
And once on the coast in Rimini, make use of the great sea views at an upmarket restaurant like Club Nautico, with its views of yachts tied up on the marina outside. Rimini is a bit of a party town and a popular seaside holiday destination for Italians; the beach strip has plenty of buzzing restaurants and bars.
What else is there to do in the region?
In-between meals you mean? Well, there’s plenty to do, from marveling at the beautiful mosaics for which Ravenna is world famous, to touring the medieval castles of the Malatesta and Montefeltro lands nearby.
Visit Castello di Montebello to hear its chilling ghost story. On the summer solstice 1375, a little girl disappeared in the castle storeroom and was never seen again. But every five years on summer solstice, she can be heard crying within the castle. On a guided tour you will be played recordings of what sounds like the plaintive cries of a child, made on recent solstices – it’s extremely eerie and a bit unsettling.
Less spooky is the Fortress of San Leo where, on the day we visit, a medieval re-enactment of life in the castle is taking place, complete with a medieval baby playing in the kitchen as women prepare a banquet and men demonstrate weaponry.
It’s a steep hike up to the fortress, so you’ll be wanting dinner after that. La Sangiovesa, is located in the picturesque town of Santarcangelo, wonderfully inventive Italian cooking produced with local ingredients.
Ravenna has eight UNESCO world heritage sites, which are the churches showcasing the wonderful mosaics that date back to the early part of the first millennium. Talk to a local about the Renaissance and they’ll dismiss it as recent history; the early Christian churches here date back to the 5th century. Back then, Ravenna had over 200 churches, and many of those remaining are clustered close together amid winding streets and large gardens.
You’ll need a ticket to visit the churches, but they’re well worth a look – it’s hard to believe that the shimmering colours and arresting images on the soaring ceilings, walls and domes, were worked in mosaic over 1600 years ago.
Back on the modern city streets, visit a mosaic workshop and see contemporary craftsmen at work, creating mosaic panels to hang on walls. You can buy them to take home with you or sign up for a mosaic workshop to create your own mini works of art. Visit www.kokomosaico.com for more information.
The region is also a great base if you want to go further afield for a day trip; Florence is just 99km away, Rome an hour and a half on a fast train. It’s well worth hiring a guide to show you the sights – and the best places to eat! We used the services of three during our four-day trip; for more information contact them individually: Paola.Golinelli@ad-arte.com, Nadia Smanio: nadiasm@tin.it, barbarastolecka@msn.com
Where to stay
We stayed at the Bisanzio Hotel in Ravenna – B&B from €80; and at Hotel Lungomare in Rimini, from €120 in peak season, €70 low season
Getting there
There are regular flights to Bologna with easyJet and British Airways from London Gatwick, and Ryanair from Stansted, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Dublin.
More information
For further information on Emilia Romagna, visit www.emiliaromagnaturismo.it/en – follow on Twitter @ERTourism
]]>School had finished and the the final exams – three days of art – were over. I was 16. I closed my sketchbook, put the lid on my box of pastels and thought ‘must keep that up’.
26 years later, I was slightly nervous travelling to Posara in Tuscany for a week-long watercolour course touted as being ‘suitable for all levels’. Despite having booked on the Watermill’s course several months earlier, despite having bought all the materials from a list supplied by the course tutor, despite vowing to practice diligently before I got there, I’d done nothing. I was seriously about to put tutor Mike Willdridge to the test. How would he cope with somebody who hadn’t held a paintbrush for over a quarter of a century?
Arriving at The Watermill in Posara
The Watermill is run by English couple Bill and Lois Breckon, and offers weekly painting courses throughout the summer in the heart of Tuscany. Visiting tutors conduct the courses which range from watercolours and oils to acrylics and pastels, the cost includes all tuition, accommodation, meals, drinks, day trips and airport transfers.
Five of us have arrived on the early flight from Gatwick to Pisa. Bill is there to meet us and hand us over to Paulo, who drives us for an hour through the Tuscan hills, past the marble mines that produced Michelangelo’s David, to the lovely village of Posara, nestled in a lush green valley.
We arrive at a beautiful old watermill, dating from the 17th century, which ground its last load of wheat, oat and chestnuts in the mid 1980s. Run as an artists’ and writers’ retreat for the past few years, a collection of stone and terracotta-coloured buildings lead off the courtyard, with smart accommodation in separate apartments.
Underground are the old mill rooms and cellars, there’s a huge ancient olive press and loads of nooks and crannies to explore, and upstairs a big light-filled studio. A river runs through the grounds with a winding river walk through overhanging trees and bamboos, there’s a walled garden off the courtyard with trellised roses, picnic tables and sunloungers, and a small terrace where we take our pre-dinner drinks every evening, all set against the backdrop of the green Tuscan hills.
Exploring Tuscany – armed with paints
There are enough vistas around the mill to keep any numbers of artists happy but, with Tuscany on your doorstep it would be rude not to explore. And so, after our first day ‘settling in’, painting and sketching around the Watermill, we head off into the surrounding countryside every day, with lunch booked for us in local restaurants or packed into picnic hampers to eat in the sunshine.
And – after a shaky start when I realise on our first evening in the lovely Café Elvetico in Fivizzano that pretty much everybody else in our group of 12 has been painting for years – I settle in to a week of becoming a ‘lady artist’, helped along by our excellent tutor. Even the seasoned painters (who take regular classes and painting holidays) agree he is one of the best teachers they’ve had. He mixes demonstrations with one-to-one advice sessions, and studio masterclasses on topics such as colour mixing, oil painting and using charcoals. He also shows us how to tackle perspective, paint running water and sketch busy street scenes and markets.
Why learning is such fun
But the great thing about coming on a course like this is that I don’t just learn from the tutor, but from everybody in the group; people are generous with their knowledge and happy to give me tips – and also to let me poke around in their art materials.
So now I know that watercolour pastels and pencils are great for sketching on the go, I know how to create colours using just a few basic shades and I know that the furry monkey trees we see on our walks home from Fivizzano date back to the time of the dinosaurs.
I love packing up every morning and heading out into the ‘Tuscan unknown’, driven by Paulo or Lorris into the hills – to Verrucola with its imposing castle, Pognana and its country church, and high high up to the tiny town of Monte dei Bianchi. And I love coming back every evening – either walking through the lush countryside as it winds its way downhill to Posara as some of us do, or taking a lift in the cars that carry our equipment. Back to dinner and the tasty home cooking of Marcella and Lois – delicious fennel bake, lasanges, Italian stews, risottos, Marcella’s tiramisu and Lois’s chocolate cake – so good we have it again the next morning for breakfast.
Midweek we have a day off (though we dutifully pack sketchbooks – obviously!) and a choice of a day trip to the medieval city of Lucca or the Cinque Terre fishing villages, both an hour away by train. I choose Lucca, Puccini’s birthplace, and wander through the cobbled streets admiring centuries-old architecture, take a walk on top of the Renaissance-era city walls, visit Tintoretto’s Last Supper in St Martin’s Cathedral and sit for an hour in the Piazza Dell ‘Anfiteatro, the city’s original amphitheatre, now ringed by buildings and a thriving hive of busy cafes and restaurants.
And then – my first exhibition!
On Friday night, our last before we head home the next morning, we have an exhibition of our work in the studio and I’m beside myself with excitement – my first exhibition! To the sound of Prosecco corks popping we admire the beautiful watercolour landscapes and sketches that have been produced during the week – yes, even mine. I’m particularly fond of my first work, a still life I call ‘Banana’, and also really like ‘Door’, a later work (dating from Thursday).
Art. It’s just like life really
And so I go back to London thinking (a) this was one of the best holidays I’ve ever had (b) I will forever carry a sketchbook around in my handbag and (c) isn’t painting a lot like life, judging by selected nuggets of advice from Mike throughout the week:
– You can try to copy somebody else’s perspective, but it will always look false, you have to find your own
– Always look for the colour in the shadow, things are never as black as you think they are
– Nothing is ever ruined, just wash it out and start again
– That one thing you didn’t mean to do, can suddenly pull everything together and make it work
One of the group, a painting class veteran, summed the week up perfectly on our way back from dinner one night. ‘It’s a fantastic few days, you meet like-minded people, you learn new things, it’s always interesting. It’s just wonderful.’
I agree. It was just wonderful.
Information, prices and booking
I stayed at The Watermill at Posara on a week-long watercolour painting course with British artist Mike Willdridge. Courses in watercolours, oils, acrylics and pastels, with a range of tutors, are offered from May to October every year. Prices include transfers from Pisa, all tuition, seven nights’ accommodation, pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals (including local restaurants), local travel and a mid-week visit to either the Cinque Terre or Lucca. There is a discount for non-painting partners. Flights not included. For more information contact www.watermill.net or 020 7193 6246.
Read more: Could a weekend workshop change the course of your life?