San Marino’s Secret Weapon: Food
Does San Marino (and Romagna) have the best food in Italy?
When you ask an Italian, “Which part of Italy has the best food?”, they’ll almost always reply either “my city” or “the region I’m from” -depending on how insular (or territorial) they are.
In that regard, San Marino is no different. We genuinely believe we have the best food on the Italian peninsula.
(Or should I dare say... the world?)
Still, I’ll try to be as objective as I can in proving my point.
The Republic of San Marino is obviously an independent state, but it shares a lot of culture and history with the surrounding Romagna region of Italy, especially when it comes to food.
Romagna itself is fascinating for many reasons -like the fact that it was once a border region of the Roman Empire (remember Ariminum? That’s present-day Rimini).
But today’s not a history lesson... it’s 11am and I’m starting to get hungry.
So let’s talk about food, shall we?
Why do San Marino and Romagna have the best food? (Rationally)
Let’s start with the data, the facts, the reliable sources.
The Financial Times called Romagna “second to none” for earthy recipes and seafood, and even dubbed the area “the cradle of Italian cuisine.”
The Guardian wrote that Emilia-Romagna is “one of the world’s top foodie regions.”
But you might argue that the Financial Times and the Guardian -although they’re probably some of the best and most objective newspapers in the world- aren’t exactly food specialists.
Fair. So let’s go a step further.
Gourmet Traveller called it “Italy’s gastronomic epicentre.”
Or maybe you’re more of a magazine person.
Forbes called Emilia-Romagna “Italy's greatest gastronomic treasure.”
And for the sceptics and conspiracy theorists out there who think "specialist press is fake news", fine: let’s go democratic.
Even NRN readers ranked Emilia-Romagna first in Italy. (Okay, technically it tied with Sicily -transparency matters!)
So hopefully, that was enough to convince you rationally.
Now let me switch to something even more persuasive...
Why does Romagna have the best food? (Emotionally!)
Because all the ones I call the “heavyweights of Italian cuisine” come from this region:
Lasagne comes from Romagna
Ravioli comes from Romagna
Tagliatelle comes from Romagna
What more do I even need to say?
And if that weren’t enough, Romagna also has (in my opinion) the best seafood cuisine in Italy.
And even the best fast food:
Piadina! (Which was, of course, born here.)
That’s enough for this article.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
