What to eat in Bologna

What to eat in Bologna: tagliatelle al ragù, tortellini in broth, mortadella, tigelle and gramigna with sausage — not spaghetti bolognese, which does not exist here. A plate of tagliatelle al ragù at an osteria in the centre costs about €14.

Ragù is not bolognese sauce

Ragù cooks for hours and holds more meat than tomato. It goes with tagliatelle, wide and hand-rolled, whose rough surface holds the sauce, and into green lasagne too. Spaghetti does not hold it. Smooth and thin, it lets the sauce slide off, which is why the pairing never took root here.

Tortellini go in broth

Tortellini are small, filled with a mixture of meat, mortadella and parmesan, and in Bologna they are eaten in brodo, a beef and capon stock, instead of cream or sauce. Tortelloni are larger, filled with ricotta and greens, and go with butter and sage. The name follows the recipe: tortellini in broth, tortelloni with butter, and kitchens here do not mix them up.

Day tripsModena is half an hour away, Parma an hour — and they eat differently:Day trips from Bologna →

What to order

• Cotoletta alla bolognese is breaded veal fried in butter, then topped with prosciutto and parmesan and finished in a little broth until the cheese melts.
• Mortadella is a serious matter here. Ask for it sliced fresh, paper-thin, and eat it with tigelle.
• Tigelle are small round breads baked in a mould and filled with a lard-and-herb spread, cheese or jam, while a crescentina is Bologna's version of fried dough, the same thing Modena calls gnocco fritto.
• Gramigna with sausage, a short curled pasta with a sausage sauce, is what people eat here when they are not eating tagliatelle.

Where

• In the Quadrilatero, salumerie, cheesemongers and fishmongers work in the morning. Mortadella and cheese are bought here by weight and carried to the Osteria del Sole on Vicolo Ranocchi, open since 1465, which serves only wine and lets you eat your own food.
• The Mercato delle Erbe is a covered market on Via Ugo Bassi, with places among the stalls for lunch and dinner.
• At the sfogline, workshops where the pasta sheet is still rolled by hand with a pin, you watch the work through the window, from the street.
• Via del Pratello is a street of osterie west of the centre. People go out here in the evening.

What not to order

• Spaghetti bolognese. It does not exist. If it is on the menu, the menu was written for visitors and the rest of it probably follows.
• Fettuccine Alfredo. A Roman dish by Alfredo di Lelio that found fame in America; it has nothing to do with Bolognese cooking.

Hidden gemsWhat these streets hide that no guide lists:The Bologna you miss: a canal window and seven churches in one →

2 daysWhich part of the day these meals fit best into:Bologna in 2 days →

Where to stayWhich area is closest to these markets:Where to stay in Bologna →

BudgetWhat food adds to a day's budget:What Bologna costs →

When to goWhether the season changes the crowds at the markets:The best time to visit Bologna →