Large nets, crabs and chilled wine: dining in a fishing hut on the Po Delta

At some point someone will tell you: “I’m organising at the hut – are you coming?” and then comes the day and time of the meeting. You go as you would to a party at a friend’s house, bringing a bottle, a good salami, a ready-made side dish, maybe a tart, and the desire to enjoy yourself in good company. The rest is down to the padellone and to good fortune: they are also called bilancioni, the square nets of the fishing huts of Emilia-Romagna, found on the sea, in the lagoons or in the inland canals, in all the wetlands of the Po Delta and along the piers of the coastal towns.

Huts along Lamone river

They rest partly on the mainland, on the coast or the riverbank (municipal or state-owned), and partly on a stilt structure suspended over the water, although some are further out and reached by a long walkway. They are close relatives of the trabocchi in Abruzzo, and like them have a net that is lowered and lifted at regular intervals. You do not get wet – you fish from inside the hut, which also offers shelter and a bed for the fishermen; there is usually a grill, almost always a kitchen, a promise of convivial occasions.

Huts along the pier of Marina di Ravenna

When you arrive there is the focused industriousness of starting work and the thrill of the unknown, silence broken only by hunting birds. You begin to see how it’s done, and in the meantime you set the table. You prepare everything and more besides, uncork a bottle and once again hope for good luck; at worst, pasta will always do. There is the risk of hauling up so little that imagination is required to put a dish on the table, but that is part of the charm: “Us magna cun quel che us ciapa” – you eat what you catch.
But there is also the chance that the sea will be generous: much depends on the season and the position of the hut; an evening in late spring on the pier at Marina di Ravenna can yield even a hundred kilos of mantis shrimp, croakers, small squid, various fish along with the inevitable blue crabs – those are never missing, and you need to watch out.

Fishing with the padellata (net fishing)

Fishing is regulated, huts have licences, and checks are frequent. This is why not all huts are equal also from an economic point of view. Costs range from a few thousand euros to five-figure sums. They are highly sought after, and those who hold a posta – a share in the management company set up for each hut – cling to it tightly, enjoying their turn in a kind of timeshare with precise roles, rules and responsibilities, like a gentleman’s agreement from another era.

View of the Lamone River from the hut

From another era too is the scenery that surrounds you, the silence and the sensation of living a truly unique experience.