Moderation has never held a seat at Bologna’s table. The city’s moniker is “La Dotta, La Grassa, La Rossa”, and though the middle designation, “The Fat One”, may seem like a joke or an insult, it’s actually been a badge of honor here for almost a millennium.
While much of southern and central Italy built its cuisines on the lean, cucina povera foundations of olive oil, tomatoes, and dried wheat, Bologna developed a lavish, unabashedly rich gastronomy thanks in part to that “La Dotta”, or “The Learned One”.
