The food valley: Parma's ham, Modena's balsamic, Bologna's kitchens, and Italy's fastest cars in between.
Food Valley • Via Emilia • Fast Cars
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The Via Emilia is a tasting menu
Bologna hubs the whole region in under an hour
Parmigiano, balsamico, prosciutto, ragù
Emilia-Romagna is why Italy tastes like Italy: Parmigiano, prosciutto di Parma, balsamic, Bologna's kitchens: plus Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Ducati for dessert. One region, most of the menu, all of the horsepower.
The Roman Via Emilia (187 BC) still runs arrow-straight through the region's cities, Piacenza to Rimini, and the Este and Farnese courts made Ferrara, Parma and Modena Renaissance capitals of art and appetite.
True balsamic vinegar of Modena ages a minimum of 12 years through batteries of shrinking barrels, and families traditionally started a battery at a daughter's birth for her dowry. The 'extravecchio' grade means 25 years or more.
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