Palio del Maccherone al Pettine delle Valli Mirandolesi

The Palio del Pettine, a challenge entirely from Mirandola

The Palio del Maccherone al Pettine delle Valli Mirandolesi is one of the most cherished gastronomic events in the Municipality of Mirandola, in the Province of Modena, in the heart of the Emilian plain. Every year, at the beginning of October, the hamlets of the territory challenge each other with rolling pins and combs to establish who prepares the best maccherone al pettine, the symbolic dish of the rural tradition of the Bassa Modenese.

A competition between hamlets

The heart of the event is the competition between the teams from the Mirandola hamlets: Cividale, Gavello, Mortizzuolo, Quarantoli, San Giacomo Roncole, and San Martino Spino. Each team prepares its own strictly handmade maccherone al pettine and accompanies it with a different ragù, guarding recipes passed down through generations. The visitors themselves act as the popular jury: they taste all the proposals and vote anonymously to determine the winning hamlet, which wins the coveted Palio.

Maccherone al pettine, a symbol of the territory

Maccherone al pettine is a fresh pasta typical of the Mirandola valleys: the dough of eggs and flour is worked by hand and rolled on a special wooden comb, which gives the pasta its characteristic ridges capable of holding the sauce. It is an ancient knowledge, linked to the rural culture of the Bassa, which the festival helps to preserve and introduce to new generations.

Four days of celebration at the Palamaccherone

The event takes place at the Palamaccherone, the covered space set up along Via Circonvallazione in Mirandola, which allows visitors to be accommodated even in case of autumn bad weather. Dinners are served from Thursday to Saturday evening, while Sunday is dedicated to the final lunch, the highlight with the award ceremony for the winning hamlet. The formula is all-you-can-eat: with a single fee, you can taste all the competing maccheroni without limits, as well as other dishes and drinks.