, walking everywhere, avoiding bread. On my most recent trip, using this system, I ate myself senseless (including 16 dishes of pasta over five nights) but put on just 2lbs which I then lost in three days. Studies suggest that if you are on a cruise for a week – the most sedentary of holidays and my idea of hell – you can put on between 5lbs and 10lbs. I have a chunky frame already and can't afford that kind of gain. My binge preference is for those northern cities of Italy – all within an easy train ride of each other. I like the cucina povera of the south, and I am partial to horse ragu and even donkey, but the north is about more familiar comfort food. Lasagne is a rarity in Sicily where seafood rules, but it is everywhere in the Emilia-Romagna region, while Tuscany has the best tortellini. As for the art and history of each of these places, I have visited enough times to see plenty, but every plate of pasta I order in Florence makes me feel like a Medici who has just commissioned a new portrait. I also love the timewarp feel of the restaurants, with their dark wood, yellowing posters and overly bright lights. When I binge eat in Italy, I don't go fancy. It is a country that does basics best, while the Michelin-starred establishments torture their ing){kind=link}
Dedicated gourmand Mark C O’Flaherty sees trips to Bologna, Florence and Parma as a chance to indulge – but he has to get in shape for it
I have always gone to Italy for one main reason: to eat. And eat a lot. Like a self-aware dipsomaniac diving into a lost weekend, I regularly visit the trifecta of Bologna, Florence and Parma with a view to carb loading, but as a temporary excess. Such is my delight in eating bronze-cut durum wheat shapes, I once had hypnotherapy to stop myself eating pasta every day. That worked. For about a year. And while I have a recording from the therapist that I can use to refresh my willpower, I still have no off switch. As a result, pasta at home has to be seen as a treat. So, I binge on holiday.
To prepare, I avoid all carbs for a week before flying, and operate to strict guidelines while away: no breakfasts (just black coffee), walking everywhere, avoiding bread. On my most recent trip, using this system, I ate myself senseless (including 16 dishes of pasta over five nights) but put on just 2lbs which I then lost in three days. Studies suggest that if you are on a cruise for a week – the most sedentary of holidays and my idea of hell – you can put on between 5lbs and 10lbs. I have a chunky frame already and can’t afford that kind of gain.
My binge preference is for those northern cities of Italy – all within an easy train ride of each other. I like the cucina povera of the south, and I am partial to horse ragu and even donkey, but the north is about more familiar comfort food. Lasagne is a rarity in Sicily where seafood rules, but it is everywhere in the Emilia-Romagna region, while Tuscany has the best tortellini. As for the art and history of each of these places, I have visited enough times to see plenty, but every plate of pasta I order in Florence makes me feel like a Medici who has just commissioned a new portrait. I also love the timewarp feel of the restaurants, with their dark wood, yellowing posters and overly bright lights.
When I binge eat in Italy, I don’t go fancy. It is a country that does basics best, while the Michelin-starred establishments torture their ingredients and your wallet. Almost everything I ate on my recent break cost about £11 per plate, with house wines at £13 a litre, and many recipes haven’t changed since the start of the 20th century. The most elevated establishment I visited was Trattoria Da Me in Bologna, which has become a tough table to score after it was hailed as the best in the city on the Italian Sky TV show 4 Ristoranti. Starters included a trio of cheese ice creams (brilliant and delicious) and an agnolotti of braised veal in gravy that the waiter correctly advised “doesn’t need parmesan as it’s so delicious already”. Despite a few modish twists, Da Me has been around since 1937 and feels like it. It’s a shame that it serves lasagne only on Sundays.