Typical dishes of Ferrara
The city of Ferrara has a great amount of dishes and this proves how the culinary arts have always had a prominent role in this city.
In our shop Ferrara Store, in the historic center of Ferrara, we will be happy to give you advice on the best dishes of Ferrara, according to your tastes and your needs.
First courses represent the core of typical dishes of Ferrara.
Almost all of the first courses of Ferrara have a common characteristic: the presence of the pasta. Pasta is a type of dough made by eggs, flour and water, worked harmoniously by the hands of housewives.
This pasta is the basis of first courses such as:
- Cappellacci: cappellacci are a typical dish of Ferrara recalling the shape of the hat of the peasants, from which they took their name. Cappellacci are a typical dish made with pasta, similar to tortellini (in a larger version), stuffed with pumpkin or cottage cheese. Cappellacci are a typical dish of Ferrara that has an ancient history, as Giambattista Rossetti, carver at the Este court, gave us his personal recipe already in 1584;
- Cappelletti: Cappelletti are a typical dish of Ferrara, and are similar to cappellacci though smaller in size. Cappelletti are a dish similar to tortellini bolognesi, but different for the filling of pork is made with leaner meat. This dish can be eaten in Ferrara with broth or with meat sauce;
- Tagliatelle: they are a typical dish of Ferrara and Emilia-Romagna composed of strips of pasta about half a centimeter wide, expertly hand-cut and usually served with meat sauce;
- Lasagne: they are a typical dish of Ferrara and different from those of Bologna as they are larger in size; they are served covered with meat sauce and parmesan cheese;
- Macaroni pie: it is a typical dish of Ferrara that is offered during Carnival. It consists of a casing of pasta inside of which the macaroni are placed with meat sauce, besciamella and mushrooms; this dish offers a combination of sweet and salty flavours.
In addition to pasta dishes, the cuisine of the city of Ferrara also offers a large amount of second courses:
- The salama or salamina da sugo: flagship of the typical dishes of Ferrara. Salama da sugo has an ancient origins dating back to the Este court: this dish Ferrara consists of a gut in which is inserted a mixture of parts of pork and spices. After ten months of seasoning this salami has to be boiled for eight to ten hours, and finally is eaten accompanied with plenty of mashed potatoes;
- The Cotechino: it is a dish whose existence was already known in the fifteenth century by the writings of Frizzi and Cittadella. The cotechino is a gut in which is inserted a mixture of lean pork, rind, bacon and spices. It has to be boiled, after poking the gut with a fork.
- Salame with garlic: it is a dish born in 1383. The salame with garlic is a sausage composed of the parts of the pig (loins, thighs) and garlic that gives its the characteristic flavor;
- Salama da tai: a dish similar to the salama da sugo for its rounded shape but that is consumed raw as a cold cut, after several months of seasoning;
- Salame Zia Ferrarese: distinguished by his gut, which is the final part of the intestine of the pig, and its size, three kilograms. It is flavoured garlic;
- Marinated smelts: it consists of a marinade of fried smelts with vinegar and bay leaf, then packed in cans; smelts must be caught between October and mid-December, otherwise the fish heads become bitter;
- Eel of Comacchio Valley: it is a popular dish of Ferrara, and it is said that its cooking can take place in sixteen different ways, by boiling, grilling, on skewer or marinated;
- Clams of Goro: clams of Goro are one of the most popular dishes of Ferrara, so as to become one of the famous 17 pearls of Ferrara.
We invite you to visit us in Ferrara Store: you will find a welcoming environment in which you can choose with care between the various typical foods of Ferrara and where you can find the salama da sugo, the pumpkin cappellacci, the garlic of Voghiera, the pampapato, the wine of the Eliceo forest, the coppia ferrarese and the pumpkin flatbread. If you could not come and visit us in person, you can buy our products in our online shop by clicking here.
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