The history of our country goes hand in hand with some traditional dishes; among these, the Gran Bollito deserves a mention: born as a dish of recovery and then became a rich dish and still very sought after by the estimators of tradition.
The origins and the “rule of seven”.
The Gran Bollito is a meat dish that can historically connect different regions of Italy, in a flow of flavors and aromas that has not yet stopped.
In the beginning it was the Piemontese mixed boiled meat, which appears in the sector literature as early as 1887: among its admirers King Vittorio Emanuele II, who could not stand the palace label and official lunches, preferring this dish by far, and Camillo Benso, the Count of Cavour.
The Italian Academy of Cuisine has reconstructed the recipe for the “Gran Bollito Risorgimentale Piemontese”, to be prepared following the so-called “rule of seven”:
- This dish consists of seven cuts of Piemontese veal: softmeat, scaramella, thigh muscle, shin, shoulder, bow of peak, hat of the priest.
- Apart from the so-called “seven ornaments”: veal head, tongue, paw, tail, hen, cotechino and rolata (rolled-up breast cover filled with lard, salami, eggs, carrots and aromatic herbs, cut into slices) ).
- The Gran Bollito meat is not complete if it is not accompanied by at least three of the traditional “seven baths”: rich green sauce, rustic green sauce, red sauce, horseradish sauce, cugnà sauce, honey sauce and mustard.
The quadrilateral of boiled meat.
There are four Italian regions most linked to the tradition of boiled meat: Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna.
- In Lombardy the boiled meat is prepared only with cuts of the adult bovine (rump, breast-tip, biancostato) to which head and tongue of veal, cotechino and hen or capon are added. It is usually served with a green or red sauce, and with side dishes such as boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, buttered spinach or Cremona mustard.
- In Veneto the boiled meat, typical dish of the domencia or important festivities, is traditionally accompanied with the pearà (pepata), a typical sauce of Verona, which is prepared with stale bread, beef marrow, meat broth, oil and black pepper.
- In Emilia, famous for Gran Bollito alla Bolognese, whose recipe was filed in 2006 with a notarial document to the Chamber of Commerce, this dish is prepared with beef, veal and pork, dosing to perfection the specific cuts. The boiled meat is not Bolognese without a cut of beef to choose between the cover, bankrupt, pulp or shoulder giraffe, a fibrous part like the doublet, the brisket or the breech, and parts of the calf as head, leg, tip, codon or tongue, besides the capon, the cotechino or the zampone.
What is the traditional Bolognese boiled meat? From the incredibly wide selection of sauces, mustards and side dishes (mashed potatoes, sweet and sour onions, stewed white beans, buttered spinach, carrots and boiled potatoes) and the inevitable cart of boiled meat, where the meat rest in their broth ready to be served still smoking in the dishes of the estimators …
Dal Bolognese: tradition, hospitality and cart of boiled meat.
Since the opening of our first restaurant in Rome over 50 years have passed: for three generations we have been pleased to serve our guests the traditional Bolognese cuisine, made of flavor, genuineness and respect for classic recipes.
Leafing through the Menu you will find the dishes symbol of the Emilian tradition, prepared with care and respect.
From the classic Bolognese cold cuts to timeless first courses such as tortellini in brodo, lasagna or tagliatelle with meat sauce, passing through the rare cart of boiled meat, which never lacks in the room and contributes to create that familiar, welcoming atmosphere made of ancient flavors, without which it would not make sense to be there.
The appointment is in Rome in Piazza del Popolo 1, and in Milan, in the exclusive setting of Palazzo Recalcati, in Via Amedei, 8.