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Written by Otyugh on 07 Sep, 2003
Two completely different traditions have made up the cuisine of Piacenza along the centuries, namely "peasant" or country cooking and sophisticated, aristocratic cooking. The country cooking, or cuisine du terroir, is the better known of the two: its recipes have come down to us with…Read More
Two completely different traditions have made up the cuisine of Piacenza along the centuries, namely "peasant" or country cooking and sophisticated, aristocratic cooking. The country cooking, or cuisine du terroir, is the better known of the two: its recipes have come down to us with few changes through the years, particularly from the post-war period, and represent the core of any traditional menu of the town.
This cuisine is closely linked to the country labours and produce of the Po valley, the hills and the mountains. It is made up of simple and hearty dishes for big appetites, cooked with fresh market produce, and resulting in unsophisticated, but tasty meals, which satisfy the palate with the minimum of expense and the maximum of caloric intake.
The second, more elaborated cuisine, a favourite among the clergy and the aristocracy, has either disappeared or altered down the centuries, following the social and economic changes of the times. Very little is left of what once filled the tables of the wealthy nobility and clergy of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. Piacenza being a border town, its cuisine has therefore been greatly influenced by the neighbouring regions, particularly Lombardy and Liguria, and by the gastronomically richer and more inventive "heart" of deep Emilia.