Pillows of leavened dough fried in strutto until they balloon hollow and golden, eaten hot with cold Parma salumi draped over so the fat softens against the crust.

Torta fritta is Parma's name for the fried dough eaten across Emilia, gnocco fritto in Modena and chisolino toward Piacenza. Frying in strutto, rendered pork fat, ties it to the pig economy of the plain; the contrast of scalding pillow and cool prosciutto or culatello is the whole idea. Trattorias serve it by the basket as the opening move of any serious Parma meal, and the city stages contests over whose puffs highest.

4 editor picks for Torta fritta in Parma, ranked by editorial score. All Parma signature dishes · Torta fritta across every city.