I’m in the cacophonous kitchen of Trattoria da Noemi, a restaurant established in 1958 in the northern Italian city of Ferrara. Maria Cristina Borgazzi, daughter of the titular owner, is demonstrating how she prepares her pièce de résistance.

A thick layer of sweet pastry sits on a wide plate. As I watch, perplexed, Borgazzi deftly piles on cooked maccheroni pasta, bechamel sauce, meat sauce and truffle shavings, modelling it all into a hefty dome. She then takes another chunky sheet of sweet pasty and covers the bulging filling, sealing the sides.