My digital diary about Modena

by Stefania Fregni

Welcome to my blog about my beautiful city :) Follow the diary, I'll bring you ti discover Modena.

Posts for Collaborations Category

When Nocino becomes a cocktail thanks to the Nocino Cocktail Experience of Toschi

Collaborations, Food & Drink - Stefania Fregni - December 15, 2022

Nocino Cocktail Experience Toschi

What if I told you that Nocino can become a special ingredient for creating excellent cocktails ready to be poured and enjoyed in company?
If you think that our beloved Nocino is just “after dinner” stuff, this article will turn your ideas upside down.

Ready to change your way of seeing this traditional liqueur?

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Toschi Vignola: not only cherries

Collaborations, Stories of Modena - Stefania Fregni - December 15, 2022

toschi vignola specchio vintage

If I say “Toschi” what comes to your mind?
If you are from Modena like me it is very probable that the first image you associate with the name “Toschi” is a red and tasty cherry, isn’t t?
Right but not too much!

In the last period I had the opportunity to to know this reality thanks to a visit to their factories and I discovered that in addition to the excellent cherries there is more, much more.

I’ll tell you everything immediately 😊

Before starting, however, let me give you a little introduction.

I have always heard of the Toschi company but it was only when I started writing my guide about Modena that I deepened my research by documenting myself in detail.

And it was precisely then that I discovered that behind this brand with a long tradition there is literally a “world of taste”.

Yes, because cherries in alcohol were just the beginning of this long story!

Toschi Vignola: where the tradition of fruit preserved in alcohol and in syrup was born

We are in Vignola, in the heart of the land of cherries, about 25 km from Modena. Important historical characters were born here, such as Jacopo Barozzi, known as Vignola, and Ludovico Antonio Muratori, and the beautiful medieval fortress is always on display in this beautiful town.

If you come to these parts in spring it is impossible not to be enchanted by the spectacle of the cherry blossoms.

In these lands, infact, cherries, fruits of the Italian tradition, are born from the work of several hundred producers united in the Consortium of Typical Vignola Cherries.

ciliegie spiritose toschiThus in 1945, the year the company was founded, the famous Ciliegia di Vignola became “Spiritosa” thanks to the idea of ​​Giancarlo and Lanfranco Toschi to preserve and package this fruit to be enjoyed all year round.

In the presence of a particularly abundant year, the two brothers had a brilliant intuition: to start producing industrially what until then had always been a family tradition.

Thus Toschi was born with the first product of a long series known today everywhere with the name of fruit in alcohol.

A beautiful story isn’t it?
And the company is still pervaded by it!

This can be perceived by the fascinating vintage prints hanging on the walls, by the old machinery scattered throughout the factory and by the unique examples of gift boxes, miniature Ferraris of the past, jealously guarded in the offices of the founders.

toschi vignola imbottigliatrice vintage

But it was around the 1960s that some of today’s other leading products began to be produced, such as: syrups and black cherry fruit, Cherry brandy (morette liqueur) and Nocino.

I’m quite sure you can know these… right? 👇🏻

toschi frut

Black cherries are sweet fruits with a slightly sour aftertaste, which tickle the palate with their unmistakable and fresh flavour.

Among the most representative products of the Toschi company, today as in the past only the best cherries are carefully selected, pitted and candied to garnish desserts, cakes and frozen desserts or to enrich ice cream!

I guarantee you that watching part of this production process was exciting!
What a desire to eat them all…

toschi amarene processo lavorazione

The Nocino of Modena Toschi

Product of the Modenese tradition, Nocino of Modena Toschi is born from the infusion of Italian walnut hull rigorously harvested on June 24, as tradition dictates, when the fruit is not fully ripe and the husk is still green and tender.

The original recipe for Nocino of Modena is made up of just 5 simple ingredients: husk, alcohol, sugar, cinnamon and cloves.

After a 9-month infusion together with the spices, the husks are pressed to extract their essence. A portion of sugar and water is then added to this infusion to obtain the alcohol content and the characteristic roundness of taste.

Produced without dyes and aged for at least 2 years, Toschi Nocino di Modena follows and complies with the production regulations of the “Tradizione e Sapori di Modena” brand, which I had already told you about in the article I dedicated to Modena’s excellence.

During my visit to the plant they were actually bottling this product and seeing the production of such an excellence always has a certain charm!

Toschi produces 2 versions of Nocino: the Classico and the Riserva, aged over 5 years.

Finding yourself face to face with these wooden giants who guard this precious nectar must be immortalized because it is not an every day experience! 😉

nocino riserva toschi

Toschi Balsamic Vinegar

And if we talk about excellence and traditions, the Balsamic Vinegar of Modena IGP and Traditional DOP certainly cannot be missing!

aceto balsamico IGP Toschi

Gino Toschi IGP Balsamic Vinegars of Modena are the result of skilfull processing in compliance with the production regulations with the know-how of a historic vinegar factory made up of small secrets and ancient gestures.

A slight variation in the percentage of cooked must or in the length of aging creates more or less dense vinegars with different nuances of taste.

 

Every time I find myself strolling through the rooms of the Balsamic Vinegar aging barrels I am inebriated by the scents and fascinated by the batteries, especially those of the DOP, witnesses of a unique tradition in the world and of an incredible workmanship that tastes home.

Each reality that produces Balsamic Vinegar offers its own show because it preserves its own stories and memories, handed down from generation to generation.

Do you know that tradition has it that when a new born arrives in the family, a battery of barrels is started in his honor with his name?

And it is only after 12 years of unconditional love and dedication that Traditional Balsamic Vinegar is obtained, while you have to wait 25 to extract the Extra Vecchio.


So after this pleasant visit to Toschi, I was able to see first-hand how long and rich the road traveled by this company since 1945 has been.

The products offered today are varied: ranging from the classic ones, which include fruit in alcohol, fruit liqueurs and syrups, to those designed for ice cream, sour cherries and various garnishes, up to Nocino and Balsamic Vinegar .

A world of taste as I told you, rightly so, at the beginning of this story 😊
A world to discover and savor specialty after specialty.

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A dive into the gastronomic tradition of our territory with Bottega Portici, the new Emilian casual food format

Collaborations, My Travels in Emilia - Stefania Fregni - July 30, 2018

Fresh pasta is a precious good, a tradition deeply rooted in our territory. It represents an art, the one of know-how but above all the one of the good life that characterizes our Emilia.
So, when projects that celebrate and export this way of being born, I am sincerely happy to support them. Recently I was guest at Bottega Portici, a new format of casual food that originates in Emilia-Romagna, that proposes quality and traditional food at the right price. Here, I tell you better what it is and I how was my experience.

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Discovering Modena: a day around Castelvetro, Levizzano and Puianello

Collaborations, Outdoor trips in Modena, Stories of Modena, Video - Stefania Fregni - February 8, 2018

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
[Marcel Proust]

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5 shades of Modena: a tour of Modena to discover 5 different experiences

Collaborations, My personal lists, Suggested Tours - Stefania Fregni - January 23, 2018

Have you ever wondered what character has your city?  Do you think it is possible to identify its different distinctive features? I think it is.
I’ve always thought that cities, like humans, had a different character that could be captured in certain places and doing certain experiences.
So, in order to organize a tour of Modena made of 5 stops, I’ve tried to think about my city as a real person, whose character is composed of different personalities. Then, I tell you of 5 shades of Modena, 5 experiences that I had having a tour on my territory accompanied by the new T-Roc, in collaboration with Volkswagen MPS Car Modena. 

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MYMENU: a certainty for the home meal delivery service in Modena

Collaborations, Modena just a click away - Stefania Fregni - December 5, 2017

MyMenu_MyModenaDiary_cover_OK

As I told before several times, I go crazy for digital services, Apps or websites, that can improve our daily life and make us experience new things. So, when I find a new one in the city, I try it immediately and, if I like, it I write about it!
I even also dedicated to this theme a category of the blog, “Modena just a click away”, because I hope that services that can help us to live our cities in a better way can become more and more numerous. After all, how it is practical to pay for parking from our smartphone or wait comfortably at home for our favorite food or shopping ?! 😉
Some time ago I discovered MYMENU, the home meal delivery service that gives us the opportunity to taste comfortably some of our favorite dishes directly at home (or in our office), as if you were at the restaurant. I tell you now my experience.

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Scopri Modena insieme a me!

Si chiama Modena Like Me ed è la guida cartacea edita da Do It Human Editore in cui ho raccolto i miei consigli, i miei suggerimenti, le mie dritte, alcune foto e molto altro ancora per farti vivere la città da un punto di vista privilegiato, quello di chi la conosce e la vive!