Eat! Mangia! ..no matter how you say it, you will enjoy the food of Emilia RomagnaBy Madelyn Miller, the travellady
I think the first Italian food I ever tasted was Parmesan cheese. I loved to sprinkle the stuff in the shiny green Kraft container all over my macaroni. How my taste buds have grown and changed. As I was exposed to more gourmet foods, I learned that cheese did not grow in a box and if you bought the fresh Parmesan cheese and grated it over your pasta, there was a world of difference.
Proponents of the Slow Food Movement encourage eating local foods. Once you have tasted the cheeses and Parma hams of Emilia Romagna, you will look at cold cuts, and sandwiches in a whole new way. I no longer visualize a package of Bologna—I recall ribbons of beautifully marbled pink meats that look like something that should wrap a gift. Perhaps it is just that –a gift of great taste.
I could tell you about the produce, but that is another story. When I was photographing the vegetables in the markets, I thought they all looked like still lifes. I remember my mother trying to get me to eat those vegetables. Perhaps if I had seen or tasted them in Italy, I would have felt differently about vegetables.
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But my biggest culinary leap forward was when I tasted Parmesan cheese in Italy. In fact on a recent trip to the Emilia Romagna region, I even saw Parmesan cheese being made. I am almost embarrassed to confess I once used the stuff that came in the green container. It should not even have the same name as the wonderful fresh cheese I experienced in Emilia Romagna.
Imagine a sandwich of bread, cheese and meat . If the ingredients come from Emilia Romagna nothing could be more glorious..jpg)
Madelyn Miller is a food and travel writer who loves to eat in Italy. You can see her stories on