Crescentine, also known as tigelle, are small round griddled flatbreads from the Apennine foothills south of Bologna, split hot and stuffed with cunza (lard-and-rosemary paste), mortadella or squacquerone cheese.
Where to eat it: 10 restaurants across 2 cities.
Crescentine take their name from the terracotta tigella discs, traditionally heated in the fire and used to cook the dough between two layers. The hill villages of the Modenese and Bolognese Apennines (Zocca, Vergato, Castel d'Aiano) have made them for at least 600 years; the recipe is a simple lard-flour-milk dough cooked in cast-iron pans now. The classic filling is cunza, a paste of pounded lard, garlic, rosemary and Parmigiano, plus a slice of mortadella or prosciutto. Trattoria Anna Maria, Sfoglia Rina and the agriturismi south of Bologna serve them by the basket; the bread arrives hot, the salumi board cold.
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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Eat within 10 minutes of cooking; tigelle go leather-tough as they cool. The cunza is the killer detail; lard, rosemary, garlic, Parmigiano.
Trattoria Anna Maria in Bologna near Via Zamboni is the city's most-photographed sfoglia trattoria, run by Anna Maria Monari since 1985 with hand-rolled.
OrderTagliatelle al ragu, tortellini in brodo, lasagne verdi, gnocco fritto.
TipBook a week ahead for dinner. Lunch is calmer and the sfogline still hand-roll pasta in the window between services.
Sfoglia Rina is sfoglina counter with hand-rolled pasta sold by weight; the dine-in carte takes walk-ins for the same pasta the restaurant kitchens cook.
Why locals goSfoglina counter with hand-rolled pasta sold by weight; the dine-in carte takes walk-ins for the same pasta the restaurant kitchens cook.
TipWalk-in for the dine-in until 14:00; take-away pasta runs from 5 euros per 250g and the queue thins after 11:30.
All'Osteria Bottega is saragozza's 28-seat osteria from daniele minarelli and valeria tonelli; the canonical emilian carte at full editorial precision.
Why locals goSaragozza's 28-seat osteria from Daniele Minarelli and Valeria Tonelli; the canonical Emilian carte at full editorial precision.
TipBook three weeks ahead by phone; the room seats 28 and the lunch service has the easiest tables.
Trattoria Meloncello (Italian) in Bologna: Book a week ahead for Sunday lunch; the portico walk from Porta Saragozza is the traditional pre-lunch passeggiata.
Why locals goAt the foot of the 666-arch portico up to San Luca; the post-Sunday-walk lunch destination that requires a 25-minute portico stroll first.
TipBook a week ahead for Sunday lunch; the portico walk from Porta Saragozza is the traditional pre-lunch passeggiata.
Osteria Broccaindosso is a italian room in Bologna. Book by phone two days ahead; the 25-euro set carte runs at lunch only and is the value play.
Why locals goMazzini's no-website neighbourhood osteria with the fixed-price set carte; locals fill the dining room and the tourist guides miss it.
TipBook by phone two days ahead; the 25-euro set carte runs at lunch only and is the value play.
La Chersenta sells Pavullo style crescentina and gnocco fritto from a counter on Modena's Via Albinelli, cheap eating by the covered market.
TryCrescentina montanara with lardo and Parmigiano
TipClosed Sundays; the larger tigella grande, rare in the city centre, is worth trying here.
L'Or-Ma Crescenteria fills tigelle and crescentine on Via dei Gallucci in central Modena, a budget counter open for lunch and dinner every evening.
OrderCrescentine filled with squacquerone and cured meats.
TipA handful of stools line the counter, so many diners take their crescentine to go.
Sosta Emiliana serves tigelle with sweet and savoury fillings near Piazza Grande in central Modena, a fixed-menu tigelleria that closes on Wednesdays.
OrderThe tigelle tasting plate with cured meats, squacquerone and jams.
TipThe all you can eat tigelle format is best shared between two or more people.
Dispensa Emilia sells cheap tigelle and gnocco fritto on Modena's Via Emilia Est, a chain outpost offering combinations of five different fillings.
TryTigelle with a choice of five fillings
TipOutdoor seating suits families; open every day of the week with no midweek closing.
Trattoria La Stalla serves gnocco fritto and tigelle on Via del Mercato in northern Modena, its kitchen open past midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
OrderGnocco fritto with tigelle and a plate of homemade pasta.
TipSkip Tuesday, the one night the kitchen stays closed all week here.
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