The Culinary Heritage of Romagna
The Piadina is the quintessential bread of Romagna, a humble yet beloved staple that has brought together generations of Romagnoli and Romagnole around the dining table for centuries. Originating in antiquity, it serves as a poignant symbol of the region’s rustic heritage, evolving into a globally recognized delicacy cherished for its versatility in accommodating a myriad of fillings within its tender embrace.
Flour
Salt
Water
The secret of Piadina Romagnola PGI lies in its simplicity, in the few, essential ingredients that form its foundation.
Lard
Oil
Il segreto della Piadina Romagnola IGP è nella sua semplicità, nei pochi ingredienti che la compongono.
Farina
Sale
Acqua
Strutto
Olio
It’s a humble treasure, its recipe passed down from generation to generation, kept alive by the skilled hands of Romagna’s cooks, both men and women.
History ✻ History ✻ History ✻
The earliest traces of Piadina Romagnola date back to ancient times, from the era of the Etruscans. In the very regions of present-day Romagna, evidence has been unearthed of the use of a bread substitute made from coarse flour, cereals, and shaped into a circular form.
For hundreds of years, piadina remained a bread substitute used between one weekly baking of bread and the next. Its prevalence in Romagna households inspired the poet Giovanni Pascoli, who referred to it as ‘The bread, indeed the national food of the Romagnoli’.
In the post-war period, Romagna Piadina began to spread everywhere, no longer as an alternative to bread but as a full-fledged dish. Starting from the seventies, with the arrival of tourists, homemade piadinas were accompanied by the first artisanal productions in kiosks that began to open along the seafront, forever marking the taste of summer in the Romagna Riviera.
Over time, Piadina also embraces the industrial challenge. Small workshops, buoyed by the success of this unique product, begin to produce for a broader market on a national and international scale, supplying both large and small businesses with their products. In order to preserve the tradition of Piadina, a series of components including institutions and companies strictly located in the designated areas of Romagna come together in the Promotion and Protection Consortium. After years of battles, on October 24, 2014, they succeed in having the symbol of Romagna recognized as a product with a protected geographical indication by the European Union.
The earliest traces of Piadina Romagnola date back to ancient times, from the era of the Etruscans. In the very regions of present-day Romagna, evidence has been unearthed of the use of a bread substitute made from coarse flour, cereals, and shaped into a circular form.
For hundreds of years, piadina remained a bread substitute used between one weekly baking of bread and the next. Its prevalence in Romagna households inspired the poet Giovanni Pascoli, who referred to it as ‘The bread, indeed the national food of the Romagnoli’.
In the post-war period, Romagna Piadina began to spread everywhere, no longer as an alternative to bread but as a full-fledged dish. Starting from the seventies, with the arrival of tourists, homemade piadinas were accompanied by the first artisanal productions in kiosks that began to open along the seafront, forever marking the taste of summer in the Romagna Riviera.
Over time, Piadina also embraces the industrial challenge. Small workshops, buoyed by the success of this unique product, begin to produce for a broader market on a national and international scale, supplying both large and small businesses with their products. In order to preserve the tradition of Piadina, a series of components including institutions and companies strictly located in the designated areas of Romagna come together in the Promotion and Protection Consortium. After years of battles, on October 24, 2014, they succeed in having the symbol of Romagna recognized as a product with a protected geographical indication by the European Union.
