Emilia Storytellers: Slow Tours in Modena, Emilia Romagna
Ready for a local wine tour or food tour experience in Emilia Romagna? Check out Emilia Storytellers for unique and immersive slow travel tours!
We love slow traveling Italy, and one of the hallmarks of this type of travel is making a lasting connection with a destination by experiencing the local food, history, and culture on a deeper level.
Slow travelers tend to travel independently, stay longer in one place, and plan their own flexible itineraries that allows for detours on a whim.
But sometimes, an immersive cultural experience can also be had on a private guided tour hosted by a trusted guide who truly knows the local culture. And it’s even better when that guide lives locally and specializes in small group, slow travel experiences.
What’s in this Post?
Who Are the Emilia Storytellers?
the Tours of Emilia Storytellers
How to Book these Slow Tours
Katia of Emilia Storytellers
Emilia Storytellers
Enter Emilia Storytellers, an Italian tour company that specializes in artisanal local tours of Emilia Romagna, Italy. Host and owner Katia Perdicaro is a native of Spilamberto, a charming small town located just a short drive from Bologna.
Her company has always shown visitors the interesting sites and the local food of Modena and Emilia Romagna through a variety of full- and half-day experiences curated to the interests of her guests.
Her tours introduce travelers to the authentic and local culture of this part of Italy.
We first met Katia in 2019 and have worked with Emilia Storytellers since then on several tours of Modena and the smaller towns nearby. We had been visiting Bologna for years but after venturing out into the surrounding cities and small towns outside the city, we’ve returned again and again, blissfully stuck in this amazing region of Italy.
Her tours offer a generally hyper-local glimpse into local life, and we know you’ll love them as much as we do.
the Tours of Emilia Storytellers
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to live in Italy? What is the average day like in small town Italy? Our friends at Emilia Storytellers run several tours so immersive, you’ll feel like you really are a local and your friends in Modena helped teach and share with you the cultural subtleties of Emilia Romagna and other interesting facts about food in Italy.
Their tours help merge the sense of Italian family and friendly hospitality with an authentic foodie experiences. It’s a simple concept, yet an intriguing and perfect tour for culturally-minded, slow travelers.
Frankly, it’s like visiting a good friend in Italy and hanging out with their family for the day.
About their Tours
What can you expect when you book a tour with Emilia Storytellers? Their full- and half-day tours reflects the unique regional foods and culture of Modena, and includes eating and cooking Italian food specialties, shopping in local markets, dining with locals, exploring local villages, tasting local wines, and more.
Most of the tours reflect the simple things that locals do and foods they eat every day, yet are likely new to visitors, such as a tasting of traditional balsamic vinegar or shopping in a local alimentary.
You might enjoy a full family-style meal with wine, dessert, and digestivo, learn how to make Modenese gnocco fritto, tortelloni or tortellini in brodo, pasta, a typical dessert, or taste the typical Nocino liquor produced in Spilamberto.
The Emilia Romagna region has long been known for its amazing food and excellent wines, and your journey through Modena with Emilia Storytellers will put those foods and wine on full display.
About Modena
Modena is one of Emilia Romagna’s most popular food cities. Nearby Bologna, of course, is Italy’s most famous gastonomic city largely due to its geographic location near the Po River Valley.
This entire region around Modena in fact is one of the richest agricultural regions in the country so it’s no surprise that foods like cured hams and aged cheeses are a hallmark, and why it’s a favorite destination among foodies.
Interestingly, this part of Emilia Romagna is also known as “Terre di Castelli” (Lands of Castles) and every little village within it has lots to see and explore for history-lovers like the remaining fairytale castles, medieval city walls, and clock towers.
The Terre di Castelli is an amazing area in Modena to visit, with so many charming towns to see:
Spilamberto is a small medieval town located smack dab between Bologna and Modena known for their balsamic vinegar consortium
Vignola is another nearby town that’s known for growing the sweetest cherries in Italy — a must visit.
If you’ve never been to this part of Italy before, or maybe you’ve seen Bologna and Modena but have yet ventured out into the smaller surrounding towns, it’s time for a visit!
Our Experiences With Emilia Storytellers
We’ve taken several tours in the past few years with Emilia Storytellers. Below are just some of the unique experiences we’ve had:
Breakfast at a Local Cafe
Breakfast in Italy is an interesting cultural experience, more sweet than the typical American or English breakfast.
You might stop at a local cafe, Lo Zucchero Filato in the village of Spilamberto, to savor a creamy cappuccino and homemade amaretti cookies that will start the day off right — with you wanting more (and the recipe to boot)!
Not to be confused with the Italian liqueur Amaretto made from hazelnuts, amaretti are cookies made from almond flour that are crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside — they’re especially delicious dunked in your cappuccino!
Another more typical choice to go along with your coffee would be gnocco fritto, and another must-dunk. These crisp pastry pillows are made with flour and lard, then deep fried. For breakfast they’re usually larger and sometimes served with a marmalade. But they go great with a cappuccino.
LOCAL TIP: Breakfast is the only time of day that you should order a coffee drink with milk. Other than maybe a macchiato, Italians don’t use milk after about 10 or 11am.
Tasting of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
Emilia Romagna is known for producing one of the most iconic foods in Italy — traditional Balsamico di Modena. As the name tells you, it’s crafted right here in Modena!
Technically this liquid gold is vinegar, but if you’ve never tasted this local food product after it has been aged for 12-25 years, you’re in for a real treat! It is silky, sweet, and smooth.
The experience of tasting balsamic vinegar is much more than just a tasting. It’s an important peek into the culture of Emilia Romagna.
You’ll learn about how balsamico is produced, bottled, and how the flavor is affected by the wood of the barrels in which the liquid is aged.
You’ll sample the less expensive Condimento, the 12-year old IGP balsamico and finally the thick, dark, intensely delicious 25-year old DOP Tradicionale Balsamico di Modena. And we promise, just a few drops of the 25-year old will give you a new appreciation for what goes into the crafting of this beloved Italian food.
Shopping for Food at the Local Markets
Speaking of food, most Italians continue to adhere to the philosophy of seasonality. They know that fresh food made with seasonal ingredients just tastes better.
This is why visiting local markets in Italy is a must for foodies. They’re some of the liveliest hubs of activity in any town, and a slice of local culture all in one place.
And unlike the United States, Italians generally don’t have cavernous refrigerators in their homes especially in urban areas where space is at a premium.
In Italy, it’s common to go to the local market almost daily to get the freshest produce available for each season. This is what meals are based on, and a large part of what slow travel/slow food is all about.
We’ve shopped at several local markets in Modena for the freshest fruits and veggies. Most of these places have been in existence for generations and vendors are on a first name basis with Katia and the Emilia Storytellers guides.
The local alimentary, or butcher shop, in Spilamberto is worth a visit as is the Mercato Albinelli in the city of Modena. You can shop and sample local meats and cheeses, like mortadella, prosciutto ham, and parmigiano reggiano, known as The King of Cheese.
Grab a few loaves of bread for dinner, and look for the sfogline in the back of the store as she expertly wraps small tortellini around her fingers.
Cooking Classes
Cooking classes are some of the most popular tours with Emilia Storytellers, which is understandable. It’s great to learn about the food of Modena and taste some on a food tour, but it’s so exciting to be able to learn how to make it so you can eat it continuously at home!
To get your appetite going, let me share a few things you might learn to cook: rolling, frying, powdering, and tasting Gnocco Fritto, one of the the classics! The Gnocco Fritto might be served with local cheese like parmigiano reggiano, traditional sauces for dipping, and some balsamico for a drizzle if you prefer. And of course a glass of wine :-)
The main course of any Italian meal is pasta, and depending on the season you might make tortelloni or tortellini en brodo (broth) as your first course. From start to finish, you’ll learn how to make this ubiquitous Modenese egg pasta.
Now we come to our favorite part of the meal — homemade desserts. It’s not only fun to make but even more fun to eat.
Dessert is another part of the meal that’s based on seasonality. In winter it’s traditional to have tortelli fritti, a traditional Emilian sweet treat made of folded dough that’s stuffed with a creamy custard, deep fried, and sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar.
The area around Vignola is also known for growing delicious cherries, so it should come as no surprise that you’ll enjoy a cherry dessert or two during cherry season. A local favorite is a sour cherry tart called Crostata di Amarene.
And who doesn’t like gelato? How about vanilla gelato with a drizzle of balsamico di Modena? Sound wierd? Trust us, it is delicious!
Traditional balsamic is also a perfect accompaniment drizzled over fresh cherries in June and fresh strawberries in April and May. Italians in Emilia Romagna love these fresh desserts especially with that sweet drizzle on top.
Finally, to finish the meal is a generous splash of the local nocino liqueur as a digestivo. This sweet dark liqueur is made from green, as in unripened, walnuts. While the flavor may be a bit spicy or even bitter to some, I love it.
It may be a bit of an acquired taste but it’s locally-made and unique to this area, which is very cool. Don’t pass it up.
The best part about their tours may just be sitting down with new friends who begin to feel like family! There’s nothing better than getting to chat with the cook, the wine expert, and the tour guide herself — everyone together at the table sharing a delicious meal.
Want to Take A Tour?
Would you like to experience these one-of-a-kind tours for yourself? Email Emilia Storytellers, and please tell them we sent you!
This is not a sponsored post, nor do we earn a commission. It’s just our way of helping you discover new and exciting tours. We know you’ll enjoy Emilia Storytellers as much as we do.