The Splendid Table

"It’s a very interesting area. It’s between Milan, Venice and Florence and includes Parma, Bologna and Modena, which are amazing centres of cooking. It’s a region that is rich and very proud of its food. Bologna is where you have bollito misto , which is mixed boiled meats. It’s an extraordinary celebratory dish which you very often eat at Christmas. You’ll have boiled beef, boiled chicken and cotechino sausage. You serve it with lentils and salsa verde. It’s delicious. There are some books for when you are in a hurry and want to do something quick, but when I really have time to cook and make a long, slow recipe, this is the book I go for. It’s for making your own pasta and slow-cooked sauces. It’s not just about meat on the grill, it’s much more intense. It’s salivatory. Oh yes. In New York you can definitely find more regional Italian. There are Roman restaurants as well as Florentine and Venetian. It is much more sophisticated now. Exactly. Hopefully those days are over."