Bologna, the capital of Italy’s northern Emilia Romagna region, has three curious nicknames: the red, the fat, and the learned. Contributor Dina Caruso explores the story behind each one.
Bologna, the capital city of Italy’s northern Emilia Romagna, often doesn’t make it onto tourist itineraries, but after a year studying here, I can’t imagine living in any other city.
I didn’t know much about it before moving – it was the very fact that I had no idea what it would be like that appealed to me. But one of the first things I learned was that Bologna is nicknamed by locals as ‘la dotta, la grassa, la rossa’ (the learned, the fat, the red), and that these names come from three characteristics which define the city: Bologna’s historical university, its mouthwatering cuisine, and the long-standing connection to Italy’s anti-fascist movement and left-wing politics.
La dotta | The learned
Bologna’s university – whose Latin name, Alma Mater Studiorum, means ‘nourishing mother of studies’ is the oldest continuously operating university in the western world. It boasts an illustrious list of alumni, from writers like Dante and Petrarch to four former popes, to Erasmus of Rotterdam, the namesake of the student exchange programme which today draws thousands of students to the city
The university is particularly noted for its medical school, and the anatomical theatre can still be visited today. It’s located in the Archiginnasio of Bologna, which once acted as the main campus of the university and still houses one of the libraries, which is open to the public as well.
As an Erasmus student of the university, I have been able to experience first hand the Italian university system – and the first few months came as a shock. One of the main differences, compared to the UK university system, is the absence of university-provided accommodation. In Italy, it’s common for students to rent rooms privately, which eliminates some of the social element of university life but provides you with a greater sense of independence.
Another difference is that Italian students are able to select their exam dates out of a range of different ‘appelli’ (exam periods) throughout the academic year. If you are not prepared to sit that exam yet, you can chose to sit it in the following exam season. Whilst this provides Italian students with flexibility, it means that degree courses to not have a set amount of years in which they must be completed in – and can last for a very long time – because Italian students can continue sitting their exams until they are happy with their grade.
La grassa | The fat
Pizza and pasta may be considered emblematic of Italy, but actually every single region, city, small town, has its own piatti tipici; typical dishes. Bologna is often touted as the country’s culinary capital, and with good reason.
Some of the traditional recipes include the famous tagliatelle al ragù (the ancestor of the westernized ‘spaghetti bolognese’) and tortellini in brodo. Tagliatelle al ragù is made of long and flat pasta strips with the ragù sauce usually made out of minced beef, onions, celery, carrots and tomato.
Tortellini in brodo consists of small, rounded shaped pasta – with a filling usually made out of pork and Parmigiano Reggiano – in a broth.
Not to mention tigelle, a kind of Italian bread which is sort of similar to an English muffin and is usually eaten with a typical salumi misti board (a selection of cured meats, often including mortadella – a large pork sausage with cubes of fat, which is another typical product of the city).
But something which surprised me about Bologna is the ever-growing number of organic, vegan, and vegetarian-only food outlets, which challenge the traditional cuisine. Equally, traditional ‘Italian’ cuisine is not the only kind of food that can be enjoyed in the city.
Bologna boasts a variety of different global cuisine; from Japanese, to Greek, to Mexican, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my preconceived view of Italy offering a limited choice of global cuisine was incorrect. All in all, it’s no wonder that they call it ‘la grassa’ – with such a wide variety of food on offer, it’s hard not to put on weight while living here.
The red
Refers to the city’s rosy red rooftops and to the colour of its brick towers and buildings. This nickname is also connected to the political situation in the city, (socialism and communism).
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