What to eat in Piacenza and Val Trebbia
If you are wondering what to eat in Piacenza and Val Trebbia, you are in one of the richest areas of Emilia-Romagna in terms of gastronomic tradition. From PDO cured meats to fresh pasta first courses, strongly flavoured meat dishes and homemade desserts, Piacenza cuisine tells the story of a border province, deeply connected to the land and its valleys.
I pisarei e fasö, piatto tipico piacentino
What to eat in Piacenza: starters and PDO cured meats
The most natural way to begin a typical meal in Piacenza is with a platter of cured meats, the true calling card of the area.
The province is the only one in Italy to produce three PDO cured meats recognised at European level: Coppa Piacentina PDO, Pancetta Piacentina PDO and Salame Piacentino PDO, known for their sweetness, aroma and careful ageing.
Alongside the PDO products, other local charcuterie specialities often appear on the table too, such as mariola, salame gentile, ciccioli and pistà ad grass, a mixture of lard, garlic and parsley used to flavour crostini and pasta dishes.
In the Trebbia, Nure and Tidone valleys, starters may be accompanied by fried specialities such as burtlëina, batarö or chisulén, small focaccias and fritters that are ideal to enjoy with cured meats and cheeses.
Typical Piacenza first courses: pisarei, tortelli, anolini
Among the typical dishes of Piacenza, pisarei e fasö are perhaps the best-known symbol: small dumplings made with bread and flour, cooked and served with a rich bean and tomato sauce.
Originally created as a humble dish to use up stale bread, today they are a regular feature on the menus of traditional trattorias and restaurants in the city and province.
Tortelli con la coda are another icon of Piacenza cuisine: fresh pasta filled with ricotta and herbs, or spinach, closed in the characteristic “tail” shape and usually served with butter and sage.
Anolini in brodo, or anvéin, are the great festive dish, especially at Christmas: small pasta parcels filled with meat or cheese, if you move towards the Parma area, served in a rich broth, often “in terza”, made with different types of meat.
What to eat in Val Trebbia: first courses from Bobbio and the upper valley
When you move towards Val Trebbia and the Bobbio area, the question “what to eat in Val Trebbia” finds its answer in some very distinctive first courses.
Maccheroni alla bobbiese, also known as maccheroni con l’ago, are a type of pasta pierced by hand with a knitting needle and traditionally served with slow-cooked meat sauce: a hearty dish, perfect after a day spent among villages and trails.
Very typical of the upper Val Trebbia are Pinoli bobbiesi, or pìn: small dumplings made with potatoes, ricotta, herbs and flour, with an elongated shape that recalls a pine nut.
Contrary to what the name might suggest, they are not a dessert but a proper first course, served with flavourful sauces, especially mushroom or meat-based ones, and deeply linked to the tradition of Bobbio.
One-course dishes and festive first courses: bomba di riso and other classics
Among the local specialities, bomba di riso alla piacentina, or bomba ad ris, stands out: a rice timbale filled with meat, often pigeon, and mushrooms, baked until it forms a golden, crispy crust.
Originally a dish for special occasions and linked in some areas of the Piacenza province to August festivities, it is also typical of the Bobbio area and can still be found today in some restaurants and valley festivals.
Among the more “important” first courses, there are also dishes such as risotto alla Primogenita, made with ragù, mushrooms, tomato, saffron and Grana cheese, and lean lasagne alla bobbiese, often served on Christmas Eve with a mushroom sauce.
These are dishes that tell the story of festive cooking, designed for sharing time at the table with family.
Meat main courses: slow-cooked stews, horse and donkey meat
Piacenza cuisine is also known for strongly flavoured meat main courses, cooked slowly and often served with polenta.
Stracotto alla piacentina, prepared with beef or donkey meat, wine, tomato and herbs, is one of the most traditional dishes and is also used as a base for the filling of anolini.
One distinctive feature of the province is the presence of horse and donkey meat in various traditional recipes.
Pìcula d’caval is a stew made with minced or finely chopped horse meat, slowly cooked with vegetables, tomato and pistà ad grass, and almost always served with polenta.
Stracotto di asinina alla piacentina, on the other hand, uses donkey meat cooked slowly in wine with vegetables and herbs, creating a very flavourful dish.
Here too, the deeper logic of peasant cooking emerges: making the most of every cut available and turning humble or less prized meats into rich dishes through slow cooking and robust seasonings.
Flavours of Val Trebbia: snails, stuffed vegetables and Christmas Eve dishes
In Val Trebbia, some preparations express an even more specific identity.
Lumache alla bobbiese are a traditional Christmas Eve dish: snails are boiled and then baked with white wine, vegetables, tomato sauce and herbs, served as a meat-free yet substantial dish.
Among the main courses, you will also find stuffed vegetables, such as courgettes, cabbage and savoy cabbage, which recall the Ligurian influence on the cuisine of the Piacenza Apennines, and tasca di vitello ripiena, or tasto, a local reinterpretation of cima alla genovese, widely prepared in homes across Val Trebbia.
These dishes express very well the meeting point between Piacenza culture and Ligurian cuisine, typical of border areas.
Typical desserts from Piacenza and Val Trebbia
Typical Piacenza desserts are made from simple ingredients — flour, eggs, sugar, milk and dried fruit — and clearly express the most homely side of the area’s cuisine.
Buslàn, or buslan, a large soft ring cake, and buslanein, small ring-shaped biscuits, are the traditional cupboard desserts par excellence: they accompany breakfast, afternoon snacks and the end of a meal, often dipped in wine or coffee.
Latte in piedi, or latt in pe’, is another great classic: a spoon dessert made with milk, eggs and sugar, considered one of the oldest versions of what today resembles crème caramel or panna cotta.
Traditionally, it was prepared in spring, when eggs were plentiful, and was often offered by landowners to farmers as a sign of gratitude.
Among the most distinctive desserts is sbrisolona piacentina, a crumbly cake made with white and yellow flour, butter, lard, sugar and almonds, particularly linked to the Colli area and the lower Piacenza plain.
It is a rustic dessert, broken into irregular pieces, often served with a glass of sweet Malvasia or other local dessert wines, and found in many pastry shops and restaurants across the province.
Alongside these, tradition also includes apple cakes, chestnut cakes, plum tarts, almond cakes and desserts linked to the religious calendar, such as turtlitt, small sweet filled pastries prepared between January and Carnival, often with fillings made from chestnuts, chocolate or mostarda.
In Val Trebbia, you can also find almond or hazelnut brittle and fritters linked to the Christmas period, the feast of Saint Joseph and Carnival, completing a meal based on typical valley dishes on a sweet note.
Wines from the Colli Piacentini: what to drink with typical dishes
To complete the experience, a mention of the wines from the Colli Piacentini is essential, to pair with what you choose to eat in Piacenza and Val Trebbia.
Among the reds, Gutturnio stands out, perfect with cured meats, meat dishes and pìcula d’caval, while among the whites, Ortrugo and Trebbianino Val Trebbia pair well with starters, freshwater fish dishes and more delicate preparations.
