BOLOGNA - cookware, cutlery stores

Old Apr 12th, 2014, 12:01 PM
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BOLOGNA - cookware, cutlery stores

Hi!

I will be in Bologna later this month.

I am looking for recommendations on cookware stores.

Thanks
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Old Apr 12th, 2014, 12:39 PM
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The most prized dishes of Bologna are made by hand and don't depend on unique cooking implements. A good rolling pin and a good knife are essential, plus pots and pans, but not a ceramic pot or special mortar and pestle, or the kinds of cutters you find in other parts of Italy to create specific pasta shapes or gnocchi. Bologna is not a center for the manufacture of quality stainless steel pots and such. For that you need to go north of Milan.

The peculiar heart shaped knife used to cut hard cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the few items I might look for in Bologna thinking I might not be able to find it on Amazon. It is called a "coltello da formaggio a cuore." I would simply ask in a cheese shop where to buy one. They might even have one to sell you.

If you are looking for cookware in Bologna because that is the only major Italian city you will be traveling through in Italy and you want to pick up standard Italian items like a Moka express or a mezzaluna, then you can either go to a conventional department store (there is a Coin store near the Due Torri) or just check out the shops in the historic market quarter and the hodgepodge open air stalls around town. You'll spot knife stores and hardware stores that sell cookery items. If you care more about bargains than medieval atmosphere, head on over to the via Marconi.

Almost all shops of this sort in Bologna close up tight between 1pm and 4pm. A great many of the houseware shops have only a very limited number of items on display in windows. If you go inside, they have a ton of stuff for sale, but it is all in drawers, so you need to know the Italian name of what to ask for. Shopping is not about browsing unless you go to a department store.

Otherwise, if you will be in Rome or Milan, you will probably find shops with better selections and cheaper prices.
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Old Apr 12th, 2014, 12:41 PM
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Meant to add that almost all shops in Bologna close Thursday afternoons.
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Old Apr 12th, 2014, 12:44 PM
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For knives, this historic shop in Bologna might interest you

http://www.bolognawelcome.com/en/sho...0del%20Cavallo
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Old Apr 13th, 2014, 09:53 AM
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hi sandralist

thanks.

any specific shop where you would recommend me buying a good rolling pin?

thanks again.
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Old Apr 13th, 2014, 11:19 AM
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My first reaction is that everybody inherits a rolling pin in Bologna and nobody buys one so nobody sells one -- but that can't be true.

This place is a 15 minute walk north of the train station. It looks like it sells everything under the sun (including professional knives) and if you like cookware stores, you could probably spend hours here. You could spend hours just looking around their website.

http://www.arrotinononsolo.com/dove_siamo.htm

A rolling pin is called a "mattarello" in Italian so I did a google search for "mattarello Bologna" and one of the things that came up was this web page for La Vecchia Scuola, which is a cooking school in Bologna. I don't think they have an actual store, just this online shop, but I'm giving you the link so you can see some typical Bolognese cooking utensils (they do have some fancy ones) and their Italian names. Also, you can see a picture of a typical rolling pin, which isn't like the American kind. (I have to wonder if they will let you through airport security with it if you try to put it in carryon.)

http://shop.lavecchiascuola.com/linee/utensili

If you print that out and take it with you to Bologna, you can ask in the pasta shops where there is a good store to buy a mattarello or anything else you want, or take it to the Rigotti shop north of the train station to show them what you are interested in buying.
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Old Apr 13th, 2014, 12:47 PM
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a very strange exchange going on here
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