Handmade "tagliatelle" is a fundamental main course of the Bolognese cuisine, which is particularly popular in the plain area.
Tradition says that tagliatelle came from the inspiration of Mastro Zafirano, the personal chef to Giovanni II Bentivoglio, Lord of Bologna, on the occasion of the marriage between Annibale Bentivoglio and Lucrezia d’Este, who both reached Ponte Poledrano by boat in 1487 along the Navile canal, one from Bologna, the other from Ferrara.
Another legend suggests that Mastro Zafirano was inspired by Lucrezia Borgia’s blonde locks in 1502, when she passed through Bentivoglio en route to Ferrara to marry Alfonso d’Este. As a dowry, Lucrezia’s father, Pope Alexander VI, gave the Duke of Ferrara the territories of Cento and Pieve di Cento.
Today as then, the secret of good tagliatelle is all in the sheets of pasta, which must be spread out with a rolling pin so that they maintain the right roughness to go best with ragù, the typical Bolognese meat sauce, famous the world over, whose original recipe was deposited at the Chamber of Commerce on the 17th October 1982.
Tagliatelle is the protagonist of the “Sagra della tagliatella”, an initiative aimed at promoting tagliatelle as well as puff pastry according to tradition.
On the occasion of this festival, which takes place in Minerbio during the first weekend of July, visitors can attend the election of “Miss Tagliatella” – Enzo Tassi Trophy, which is awarded to the best hand-rolled tagliatelle, which are to be prepared in 2 hours.
This festival is also a chance to taste the tagliatelle, prepared in the traditional way and served with Bolognese classic "ragù" (the meat sauce).
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