Tigelle and borlenghi: discover the Modena Apennines through its specialities

If it is true that a territory can be explored also through the gastronomic experience it offers, it may be enough to taste the specialities of the Modenese Apennines to understand the history of the place and its inhabitants.

‘To eat is to incorporate a territory’ said the French geographer Jean Brunhes, and to get to know the Marano, Guiglia and Zocca areas better, it is necessary to approach those flavours that are interwoven with culture and tradition.

If you are a lover of good food, you cannot miss a gastronomic tour in the Terre di Castelli. The obligatory stops? Tigelle, borlenghi, ciacci and preparations based on chestnuts and chestnut flour.

THE CULTURE OF MODENESE TIGELLE (OR CRESCENTINE)

Considered the queen of Modenese rustic specialities, even the painter Gino Covili painted the work Le crescenti to celebrate their preparation and their subsequent enjoyment.

The correct name for the small focaccia would be crescentina, because tigella is the terracotta tool in which crescentine were baked in the rural tradition. Over the years, and by a process of metonymy, tigella has also become the name of the food.

While today's tigelle are baked at home using tigelliere, in the past the shapes were heated over a fireplace and kept separate from the ashes by the use of chestnut leaves. The terracotta plates often featured the flower of life, a geometric figure composed of multiple overlapping circles that left its mark on the tigella.

The origin of this image is an all-Modenese curiosity. Why is there a symbol of Middle Eastern derivation in our culinary tradition? You probably have to go back to the time of the early Christians to understand it. The two intersecting circles were in fact the symbol of the Vesica Piscis, the ogival shape that, like the Ichthys, referred to Christ. The icon, which was initially used as a means of identification, lost its original meaning over the centuries until someone started carving it into terracotta tiles.

With a diameter of about fifteen centimetres, crescentine are eaten cut in half and stuffed with cold meats, cheeses and other typical local specialities. Alternatively, you can try the original version, which is served with lard and parmesan cheese.

Within the Sassi di Rocca Malatina Regional Park, the ancient village of Samone hosts the Permanent Tigella Exhibition. Inside you can admire the refractory terracotta discs along with other tools that bear witness to the elaborate production technique. If, on the other hand, you want the complete convivial experience, the Crescentina and Mountain Foods Festival takes place in Zocca, filling the streets with aromas and flavours.

BORLENGHI: BETWEEN HISTORY AND CURIOSITIES

Visually similar to a crêpe or ‘pane carasau’ (Sardinian flatbread), the borlengo is a typical dish from a limited area of the Modena Apennines. With a simple but necessary recipe for an elaborate preparation, its name derives from burla (prank). Who played the prank that gave it its name? There are several legends, all of them creditable. There is the one that recalls its consumption mainly at carnival time and the one that sees the paradox between its voluminous shape and its being light and thin.

Perhaps the most curious story concerns a rezdora, a housewife who was the victim of a joke. Apparently, during the preparation of crescentine, she found herself with too much water in the dough. To avoid wasting the ingredients, she tried to invent something new, giving rise to the burlang.

Finally, there is no shortage of legends created in times of war. The protagonists were the noble families of Guiglia or Vignola who, thanks to food prepared with kneaded flour and water, survived the sieges of the castle.

But what are the characteristics of borlengo? First of all, it is prepared by cooking a liquid mixture called colla (glue). This is poured into the sole, a tin-plated copper pan about 50 centimetres in diameter. With the help of a scopino (broom), the cunza, a mixture of bacon, lard, garlic and rosemary, is added. The ready borlengo is then folded into four and eaten while still hot.

The original recipe requires the colla to be made from flour, water and salt, but more modern versions also include the possibility of adding eggs.

Zocca is home to the Borlengo Workshop Museum, founded to illustrate the peculiarities of this typical Apennine dish but also to teach how to prepare a borlengo according to tradition.

CIACCI ACCORDING TO TRADITION

Not only crescentine and borlenghi, chestnut-based ciacci are also part of the mountain culture.

Of ancient origins, the ciaccio is reminiscent of a borlengo but is thicker and can be either sweet or savoury. It is prepared by mixing flour, oil and salt, only if wheat flour and water are used, and pouring the preparation into a cottola, a characteristic flat pan with a particularly long handle. It is baked using two cottolas, both heated, one used as a vessel and the other to mash and flatten the dough as it cooks.

The ciaccio, which has a very fast cooking time, can be enjoyed savoury with mountain pesto, ham or cheese or sweet with ricotta and honey.

PREPARATIONS BASED ON CHESTNUTS AND CHESTNUT FLOUR

In addition to ciacci, there are several traditional Modenese dishes linked to chestnuts and the numerous chestnut groves in the Apennines.

Chestnut cake is one of these, with an ancient recipe that requires chestnut flour and cocoa. As is often the case, there is no single procedure, but each family hands down its own from generation to generation. An important occasion to taste the cake is undoubtedly the Chestnut Festival in Zocca, in October.

Migliaccio and Castagnaccio also require chestnut flour, but while the former only adds salt, water and olive oil, the latter is enriched with sultanas and pine nuts.

THE RECIPE FOR TIGELLE

If, after learning more about the specialities of the Apennines, you feel like trying them, here is the recipe for tigelle (or crescentine) to get you started right away.

Ingredients for 4 persons, about 18 tigelle:

• Flour 0 – 250 gr.
• Flour 00 – 500 gr.
• Whole milk – 300 gr.
• Water – 200 gr.
• Lard – 60 gr.
• Extra virgin olive oil – 50 gr.
• Dry brewer's yeast – 3 gr.
• Fine salt - to taste

Mix the flours, milk, yeast and lard together. Add oil, water and salt to taste. Continue to mix until you have a firm dough. Now you can start kneading it with your hands until it is smooth and homogenous. Place it in a bowl, cover and leave it to rest for at least 2 hours, then place it in the fridge for another 8 hours.

Once you have the dough, start kneading it on a floured pastry board. Roll it out with a rolling pin until you get a layer of about 5 millimetres from which you cut out the discs. Let the tigelle rest for another 20 minutes, then proceed with the baking in the tigelliera.

HOW TO MAKE BORLENGHI

As anticipated, the recipe requires few ingredients but great care in preparation.

Ingredients for 2/3 persons, about 7/8 borlenghi:

For the colla (dough base)

• Flour 0 – 250 gr.
• Cold water – 1 l
• Fine salt - to taste

For the cunza (filling)

• Pork lard – 80 gr.
• Garlic – 1 spicchio
• Rosemary – 1 rametto
• Grated Parmesan cheese – 50 gr.

Mix flour and water together to make colla, then add salt.

Prepare the cunza by finely beating the ingredients.

Take a non-stick pan (at least 30 cm in diameter) and grease it with olive oil or a piece of lard. When it has reached the right temperature, pour a ladleful of colla into the centre, shaping it evenly. If the mixture starts to boil, it means the pan is too hot. It only takes 20 seconds per side over low heat before adding the cunza and closing the borlengo in four parts. It is best accompanied by a glass of good red wine.

3 SMALL NOTES:

CHESTNUT AND BORLENGO MUSEUM

It is located inside the Ancient Hospital of San Giacomo in Zocca, a structure that was run by monks from the 12th century and offered accommodation to pilgrims. The Chestnut Museum traces the history through working tools, information panels and interactive corners. Opposite, the Borlengo Workshop Museum exhibits objects linked to local rural tradition with the possibility of learning how to make borlengo.

GUIGLIA CASTLE

Destroyed and rebuilt several times after wars, fires and earthquakes, it was turned into a noble residence by Marquis Francesco Montecuccoli. Following the decline of the family, the fortress was purchased by the Swiss engineer Giovanni Beush, who turned it into a spa hotel. Worthy of note are the square-plan Public Tower and the Oratory of the Blessed Virgin, a miniature reproduction of the Sanctuary of San Luca in Bologna.

BORLENGO FESTIVAL

A typical dish with ancient origins deserves to be celebrated with two weekends of shows, music and attractions. The Borlengo Festival has been held in Guiglia since 1967 and aims to enhance, protect and keep alive interest in a food whose characteristics have remained intact and been handed down from generation to generation.