Food, Culture and Cars in Modena, Modena, Italy

The home of Pavarotti, Ferrari and balsamic vinegar may be a small city of just 185,000 people but what Modena lacks in size it makes up for in culture and food. As the first stop on our French-Italian road trip, I fell in love with the quaint city which was bathed in sunshine throughout our two-night stay there in early April.

Situated in the Po valley around 100 miles south of Milan with Bologna to the south, the ancient city makes up the gastronomic Emilia-Romagna region of Italy so food is a big part of Modena’s identity.

Although there is a splattering of Michelin-starred restaurants in the city, including the three-starred Osteria Francescana run by chef Massimo Bottura, you don’t have to go gourmet. Delicious restaurants are everywhere, hidden in understated back streets and in small eateries which look like they could be somebody’s front room. A bad meal in Modena is highly unlikely.

One of the favourite meals we had was at the popular restaurant, Danilo, where we sampled Modena’s famous lasagne….a far lighter dish than I have ever tasted with countless layers of green pasta followed by a pork dish (the region is famous for the meat). Of course we started it with a platter of cured meat and cheese served with delicious fried puffs of bread called tigella. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).