In the strongholds of the Este family – Valentina Pigmei

Balsamic actually has much more ancient origins, as told by Massimo Fini, grand master of the traditional balsamic vinegar council in Spilamberto, where our journey along the road to the castles begins: “It has probably existed since the time of the ancient Romans, but it is the Este family that the word ‘balsamic’ was used for the first time. They did not invent anything, but they were able to enhance our black gold, which today is waiting to become an intangible heritage of Unesco “, explains Fini, who moves among the barrels like an alchemist, but with the cordial ways of the Emilian entrepreneur .

If the province of Modena boasts the richest selection of products with a protected designation of origin, it is perhaps thanks to the Lords of Este, even if Emilia has always been a land of farmers and entrepreneurs. A land “inhabited by ingenious people”, as it was described at the end of the sixteenth century by an emissary of Pope Gregory XIII, and so it still is today.

Although balsamic vinegar is an elitist product, because it is mainly made in the homes of the rich – in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when a noble married was given a battery of balsamic barrels as a dowry – there are also municipal vinegar shops such as that of Castelvetro and a magnificent project of popular vinegar cellar in the town of Spilamberto. “To make traditional balsamic vinegar you need a battery of barrels of different woods and sizes, and twenty-five years of time. Not everyone has them or can afford them, ”says Umberto Costantini. He is the young mayor of Spilamberto and responsible for tourism of the Union of municipalities Terre di castelli, which in addition to his city also includes Vignola, Castelnuovo Rangone, Castelvetro di Modena, Guiglia, Marano sul Panaro, Savignano sul Panaro and Zocca. “In Spilamberto”, explains Costantini, “we want to create a large vinegar factory where anyone can have a share, even people who come from outside the country”.

In the Torrione di Spilamberto, an ancient medieval bastion built to defend the Bolognese, there is also the seat of the Order of the Modenese Nocino: the Este family, again with their high gastronomic culture, loved the liqueur obtained from the walnut husk, which they had also included in their pharmacopoeia as a remedy to treat stomach ailments. In these villages the nocino is historically the prerogative of women: while the men were busy with the balsamic vinegar, the women made the liqueur. Since 1978, the Order of the Modenese Nocino, an association managed mainly by women, has made known this excellence of the territory through courses in the production and tasting of liqueur.

From the village of Spilamberto you go up towards Savignano sul Panaro, a millenary fortified city and one of the most evocative centers of Emilia-Romagna. Savignano simply goes around on foot, possibly getting lost in the fog and imagining that you are in the time of Matilde di Canossa, who is said to have lived here. The first gastronomic stop is Mrs. Silvana’s shop, basically a delicatessen that does not appear on any guidebook. It is the ideal place for an anti-fog aperitif, with a piece of fried gnocco and a glass of Lambrusco. After Savignano, which is the most romantic town in the area, you can go down towards Vignola, the “capital” of the Terre di castelli, which with its fortress and its morette cherries is known throughout the world.

Vignola is lively and should be visited even for only two reasons: a ladder and a cake linked by the same name. Inside the Contrari Boncompagni building, now the headquarters of Acli, the Christian Italian Workers’ Associations, there is the helical staircase by the architect Jacopo Barozzi: it is of a beauty that makes your head spin. Not far away, a stop at the Gollini pastry shop is a must to buy the Barozzi cake, which takes its name from Jacopo. Barozzi is a legendary cake (a kind of dark chocolate brownie and coffee) with a very secret recipe. No restaurant in the Modena area has ever succeeded in imitating it, so much so that even today it can be found on the menus with the name “Barozzi-type cake”. The original is not cheap, but lasts 50 days and is a bit like Nutella or Coca-Cola, an inimitable classic.

It is time for lunch, and lunch in Emilia, as we know, is a serious matter. If gnocco and tigelle are also known outside the region, the lesser known borlenghi will be the protagonists of the meal. Typical dish of Guiglia, they are folded sheets like very thin and crunchy crêpes, stuffed with lard and aromatic herbs. Very difficult, if not impossible, to eat them in Modena, the borlenghi are often found in the trattorias of this area. But with a recommendation: they should be accompanied by Lambrusco and not by full-bodied wines, for reasons that are understood at the time of digestion.

And speaking of Lambrusco Grasparossa, after lunch the road takes us to Castelvetro, the city of wine. Before visiting the splendid hilltop village with its famous piazza della dama, so named for its characteristic black and white paving, it is worth stopping at Fattoria Moretto, where one of the best Grasparossa in the area is produced. It is a family business where you can take a guided tour and a tasting. To get there, take via Tiberia, one of the most beautiful roads in Emilia-Romagna: among the pastel colors of the farmhouses, the road continues on the crest of the hill, on one side the castle of Levizzano Rangone and on the other the rows of loss of eye. It is worthwhile to go as far as the oratory of San Michele, a solitary Romanesque church immersed in the vineyards.

Finally we go back down to the plain, to conclude the trip to the first charcuterie museum in Italy: the MuSa of Castelnuovo Rangone. Here in the square, instead of the usual statue of the patriot, there is a bronze pig, donated to the Emilian village by the Dutch meat export body as a sign of recognition for the quality of work and commitment in the processing of pork.