History

The salumi tradition of Emilia-Romagna is centuries old and DOP-protected: prosciutto di Parma since 1996, mortadella di Bologna since 1998, culatello di Zibello since 1996, salame felino since 2013. The tagliere as an aperitivo format took its modern shape in the postwar Bologna salumeria boom, when shops like Tamburini and Salumeria Simoni began offering counter seating with sliced-to-order boards.

Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 20 minTotal 25 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 80g mortadella di Bologna IGP, sliced 1mm thin
  • 80g prosciutto di Parma DOP, aged at least 24 months, sliced paper-thin
  • 80g culatello di Zibello DOP, sliced paper-thin
  • 80g coppa di Parma IGP, sliced thin
  • 80g salame felino IGP, sliced 2mm thick
  • 200g squacquerone di Romagna DOP
  • 200g fresh stracciatella (or burrata)
  • 8 fresh crescentine (or warmed piadina, torn into wedges)
  • Fresh figs or fig jam, when in season
  • A small dish of Saba (cooked must) or aged balsamic, to drizzle
  • Picked black olives, cornichons
  • Crusty bread or grissini
  • A bottle of Lambrusco di Sorbara, well chilled

Method

  1. Take the salumi out of the fridge 20 minutes before serving; cured meats are at their best at 16 to 18C, not cold.
  2. Lay the slices loosely on a large wooden board in five quadrants, one salumi per zone, with the mortadella in the centre folded into soft ribbons.
  3. Spoon the squacquerone and stracciatella into small bowls and place at opposite corners.
  4. Warm the crescentine briefly in a low oven or on a hot dry pan, 90 seconds a side. Pile in a basket lined with a clean cloth.
  5. Add the figs (or fig jam), olives, cornichons, and a small jug of saba or aged balsamic.
  6. Serve with bread, grissini and chilled Lambrusco. Diners assemble each bite themselves: split a crescentina, smear with squacquerone, lay over a slice of culatello.
  7. Replace the salumi as the board empties; the meal should run for an hour, not five minutes.

Tip from the editors. Pre-slice the salumi to order and serve within 20 minutes; salumi sliced an hour ago and refrigerated loses its perfume. Most Italian salumerie will slice and wrap the meats minutes before you collect them.

Where to eat tagliere di salumi misti

Tagliere di salumi misti in Bologna

Tamburini ★ 4.4

Salumeria, Bolognese Counter€€quadrilatero

Tamburini in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1932-founded salumeria-and-self-service operating from Via Caprarie, with cured-meat counters, a daily-changing.

Signature: Mortadella tagliere, Tortellini in brodo, Cotechino

Order: The mortadella tagliere, the daily pasta plate, a tigella with squacquerone.

Tip: The self-service runs 11:00-22:00 daily; the salumi counter closes at 19:30 and the aperitivo crowd takes over after 18:00.

Via Caprarie 1, 40124 Bologna BO

Salumeria Simoni ★ 4.5

Salumeria, Bolognese Counter€€quadrilatero

Salumeria Simoni on Via Drapperie in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1960s-founded family salumeria with a dine-in tasting room behind the counter.

Signature: Mortadella platter, Tigelle, Tortellini in brodo

Order: The mortadella platter, the tigelle with squacquerone, the prosciutto di Parma 24-month.

Tip: The dine-in tasting room behind the counter takes walk-ins for the tagliere; the salumi counter is busiest at 11:00.

Via Drapperie 5/2, 40124 Bologna BO Book →

Paolo Atti & Figli ★ 4.7

Bakery€Mon-Sat 07:00-19:30, closed SundayWalk-in onlySfoglia pasta, pasticceria

Paolo Atti & Figli in Bologna's Quadrilatero is the 1880-founded sfoglina-and-pasticceria with hand-rolled tortellini sold by weight, plus the certosino di.

Tip: The pasta counter runs from 07:00; tortellini sell out by 12:30 on Saturdays. The Christmas certosino orders open in November.

Worth the queue: Tortellini and tagliatelle

Via Drapperie 6, 40124 Bologna BO

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