la panza piena x manu paper sommelier
virtual food & wine trips through italy
trip 20 | molise
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Molise is a small region in the South of Italy that sits snugly between Puglia in the South, Abruzzo in the North, Campania on the left and the Adriatic Sea on the right. Until 1963 Molise was combined with Abruzzo, the two were in fact known as the region of Abruzzo and Molise. At the start of Molise’s independence, the region consisted of only one province, Campobasso, and it wasn’t until 1970 that a second province, Isernia, was created. The region owes its name to one of the first important noble families that inhabited the area during the feudal period: the De Molisio family. Due to its very recent creation, Molise is the youngest - from an administrative point of view - region in Italy, as well as being subject to many modern tales which doubt the region’s existence.
The second smallest region after Valle d’Aosta, it is made up mostly by mountains and hills, with a thin stretch of land along the coast, just 35 kilometers. Many of the wooded areas along the mountain slopes and hills are protected as part of the Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise national park. Picturesque medieval castles are dotted all around the region and worth a stop when in the area. Molise has a vast variety of traditional regional products and specialities, from their extra virgin olive oil, recognised as a DOP since 2003 and known for its high quality since ancient times, to the region’s bread and pasta production. In many towns that are dotted around Molise, bread is still made with potatoes, an ancient practice. The region flaunts a selection of pastifici that have existed since the beginning of the 20th century, and perhaps the most renowned pasta shape produced in Molise are Cavatelli, small nuggets made with flour and water, no eggs, traditionally served with a tomato sauce, or more commonly with a minced meat sauce, especially on the 17th of January, the day of Campobassos’s Saint Patron. Similarly to its neighbouring regions, Molise has a significant fresh cheese production, from caciocavallo to mozzarella. Its most famous cured meat is ventricina, also widely popular in Abruzzo, with whom a constant battle of ownership takes place. Biferno wines are produced in the province of Campobasso and include reds, whites and roses. The white blends comprise mainly Trebbiano Toscano with smaller portions of Bombino, while the reds lean towards Montepulciano combined with a little Aglianico. Pentro di Isernia also produces all three, although its red blend consists of a Montepulciano and Tintilia mix. Biferno's wines differ slightly, displaying less acidity and more body because of its terroir, as the mountains give way to high plains that slope down towards the sea. Tintilia del Molise as per its title, is a DOC especially for the red variety required to be composed of 95 percent Tintilia. Tintilia del Molise was brought in, almost 30 years after Molise's first two DOCs, to cover varietal reds made from Tintilia, which is the closest Molise comes to having a 'signature' grape variety. It produces a relatively small volume of wine each year (neighboring Puglia makes more than 20 times as much), within which there is relatively little stylistic diversity. Click here to read the rest of Manu's wine notes! Although cavatelli are traditionally from Molise, the neighbouring region of Puglia has also adopted the pasta, making it its own and thus confusing most people on the pasta’s true origin. Today’s recipe sees them paired with a rich tomato-based sauce known as “sugo vedovo” (widow’s sauce) due to the lack of meat within it. Although that is slightly incorrect, as the recipe’s soffritto requires using lard. In any case, if you prefer making a vegetarian dish, skip the lard. cavatelli al sugo vedovo
1. Place the durum wheat flour in a bowl, add a pinch of salt and begin adding the water, little by little, and mixing with a fork. Once the flour begins to clump together, begin kneading with your hands, adding water little by little when necessary. Knead until you achieve a smooth and compact dough and the flour no longer sticks to your hands. If the ball does not hold together, add more water, and if it is too sticky, add more flour. Wrap the ball of dough in cling film and set to one side to rest.
2. In the meantime, slice the lard finely, then mince the garlic and add both to a non-stick pan with a few dollops of olive oil. Let the lard melt and the garlic brown slowly, then add the tomato passata and combine well. Add salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar to taste then let the sauce simmer and thicken slightly. If it becomes too dry, add some water. 3. Once the dough has rested for 30 minutes, cut off ¼ of it and begin rolling it out into a long, thin breadstick, roughly one finger wide. Cut off small nuggets, of the width of your index. Roll each nugget lightly between your hands, then place the tip of your index and middle fingers on top of the dough and drag it towards you, pressing down on the wooden surface as you do (check out videos on youtube to get the hang of the cavatelli shape). You should create small, concave gnocchi. If you wish, cut the nuggets slightly wider and use three fingers to drag them out. Repeat for all the dough. 4. Bring a pot of water to boil, add a handful of rock salt and throw in the cavatelli. Once the water boils again, cook them for a few minutes then taste one. Once you’re happy with the bite of the cooked cavatelli, drain them, using a slotted spoon, and throw them into the pan with the sauce. Mix everything together well, then serve with a generous serving of grated Pecorino. |
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trip 19 | trentino-alto adige
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Trentino Alto Adige is Italy’s most Northern region, bordering with Austria and Switzerland, and made up almost entirely by mountains (there is actually 0% of flatland). If you’ve ever heard or been to the Dolomites, then you’ve been to Trentino, whose jagged mountains are its main defining characteristic. The second peculiar element that makes this region stand out from the rest is language. As one can spot from the name, Trentino Alto Adige is actually formed by two very separate areas, not necessarily in geography but in language composition. Italian is the main language spoken in Trentino - with the exception of a few comuni - whereas German is the main language in Alto Adige - again, with the exception of a few towns which speak Ladin - a mix of Swiss Romansch and Friulan.
Does it sound confusing? Good - we’re just at the beginning! Due to these differences rooted deep within Trentino Alto Adige’s society, the region is split up into two autonomous provinces: the province of Trento and the province of Bolzano. The vast majority of people I’ve come across throughout the years who are from Trentino Alto Adige - especially from Alto Adige - don’t even identify as Italian and don’t feel a strong sense of belonging. The significant influence of German within the language is also extremely present within the region’s cuisine, culture and way of living. The region’s most famous dishes are canederli, strudel and sauerkraut - all traditional Austrian dishes. Speck, a type of smoked pork belly, is Trentino Alto Adige’s most popular product, staple ingredient of canederli, large stale bread polpette served in piping hot broth. The German name for the dish is Knödel, and besides being popular in Trentino Alto Adige and Austria they appear in Hungarian, Chekz, Slovanian and Polish cuisine. The rest of Trentino’s regional cuisine is heavily influenced by the region’s historical isolation from the rest of Italy due to the remote Alpine valleys that form most of the landscape. A traditional cuisine therefore heavily reliant upon ingredients which could be sourced locally, such as potatoes, cured meats and cheeses and carne salada - dried game meat. All these ingredients form the traditional cuisine to be a poor one, where reusing leftovers - especially stale bread - was vital, so the recipes which have survived till our days use a lot of “waste” ingredients. I’ll speak briefly about the region’s wines before passing the word on to Manu who’s much more of an expert in the matter than myself. The wine produced in the region is for the most part white wine - thanks to the high altitudes, with the rest of production being divided between red and rosé wines. Trentino Alto Adige counts 9 wine DOC’s and 4 wine IGT’s. Alto Adige is a region of topographical and climatic extremes, indeed their mountains can reach over 3050 metres above the sea level. The region's key vineyard zones trace the north-south path of the Adige river, and are planted on the valley floor and the slopes above, many of which are incredibly steep. They run from Merano in the north down to the provincial border with Trentino in the south. Also significant is the Isarco river valley (Eisacktaler), which runs north-east to south-west and feeds into the Adige at Bolzano. Alto Adige has both Alpine and Mediterranena climate zones, with vineyards concentrated into regions of the later. The Alps protect the area from cold masses from the north so that warm, moist air from Lake Garda and the Mediterranean Ocean can dominate the region. Ideal conditions for viticulture are created with mild days, plenty of sunshine hours and rainfall concentrated to the winter months. The Alto Adige DOC, which covers the majority of wines made here, was granted in 1975 and is subdivided to district and commune level, creating more than 30 possible provenance statements, each with Italian and German versions. The predominant grape varieties are Schiava and Lagrein and in my opinion the Schiava is one of the most fascinating wines from this area, that is the reason why I have decided to pair with the delicious Canaderli made by Carlotta, one of my recent best Schiava discoveries. Schiava is a red variety grown at the junction between the French, Italian and Germanic parts of Europe, so its vines have several synonyms, further complicating an already confusing name. Click here to read all about the wine Manu chose and why it pairs so well with my dish. canederli
1. Dice the stale bread then place it in a bowl and pour milk over it, making sure there is enough to soak all the bread. Set to the side for 30 minutes.
2. In a non-stick pan saute the onion and shallot you diced finely with a few lugs of olive oil. Dice the pancetta finely and add it to the pan, letting it become crispy. 3. Bring a pot of water to boil, then add the sausage and let it go white for 1 or 2 minutes. Remove it from the water, peel off the casing and break into small pieces. 4. Break down the bread with your hands, adding more milk if necessary, then add the onion and pancetta mix along with the crumbled sausage. Combine everything well then add the herbs, the egg and parmigiano. Add salt and pepper to taste then as much nutmeg as you please. The mix must be thick, coarse and compact. 5. Wet your hands slightly and form large meatballs, then roll them lightly in the flour and set to one side. 6. Bring a pot of water to boil, add a handful of salt and drop the canederli into it. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, then drain with a slotted spoon and place directly on a deep dish. Once you’ve portioned them out, pour one or two ladles of boiling hot broth over them and serve. |
image from google
image from google
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trip 18 | basilicata
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After having tackled the regions that sit next to it on both sides it was only natural to focus on the little region which sits between the heel and tip of Italy’s boot: Basilicata.
A region rich in biodiversity - something I hope you’ve discovered thanks to our article is an element which applies to all of Italy’s regions, however different each region may be. Biodiversity in landscape: from mountains which resemble the Dolomites to rugged coastlines with crystal clear water. Hills, canyons and white rock towns built within hills which feel like a movie set but are in reality so much better, more authentic. Biodiversity in culture as the region was home to many different folk throughout history. Before being known as Basilicata it was called Lucania and its surface area was much larger than modern day Basilicata, as it included part of Campania and Calabria. Prior to that, around the 5th century, the area of Lucania extended all the way to the straight of Messina! The ancient Greeks conquered the area followed by the Romans who founded the colony of Potentia (Potenza). With the fall of the Roman Empire it was inhabited by the Byzantines, from whom one of the theories on the region’s name - Basicilata - originates from. Biodiversity in gastronomic products such as Matera’s bread which is at the basis of the poor traditional cuisine, used both when fresh and when stale to create wonderful - often spicy - dishes. Fresh mozzarella and scamorza, prepared lovingly by hand in many caseifici in the province of Potenza, like Latteria Salvia Maria in Tito, that I had the pleasure of visiting and experiencing a 5am mozzarella making session (followed by a tasting of warm nodding which was incredible). Peperone Cruso, also known as Basilicata’s red gold: an air-dried pepper which is then fried and is incredibly crunchy and just a little sweet, often paired with mozzarella and salami as an antipasto or crumbled onto a pasta dish. Aglianico del Vulture, the region’s most popular wine - which Manu will tell you about later in a much more articulate way than I can. And olive oil, so much delicious, almost spicy, olive oil. The last product I’m going to mention - because otherwise the list would be endless - is Melanzana Rossa di Rotonda, an aubergine that looks exactly like a fat, ripe tomato but is in fact an aubergine. Don’t be fooled by its appearance (I’ve already been down that road) and bit it raw because well, it won’t be a pleasurable experience. Regions whose traditional cuisine is a poor one all have recipes that gravitate around the same concept: reducing food waste. Whether that be a Tuscan zuppa di Scottiglia that uses all the parts of game animals or a gigantic frittata in which leftover veggies, cheese, milk and herbs go in, a widespread practice throughout Italy, the goal is to never throw anything away. Especially bread. Bread, at the centre of most Italian regional cuisines is considered the most poor food but also the most important, as Massimo Bottura says: “bread is gold”. So naturally it is never thrown away, even after it becomes hard as a brick and could damage whatever it lands upon when thrown. Italians have become wonderfully resourceful in transforming stale bread into marvellous dishes, whether it is using the breadcrumbs to impanare a cotoletta or soaking it in milk and using it to make meatballs soft. I'll now let Manu tell you all about the wine: This region pops up only very rarely in wine circles but makes some of the most interesting reds from the toe of the boot of our Italian Peninsula. The Aglianico, a native grape variety which is also diffuse in the surrounding areas, is the most diffuse one and makes the Aglianico del Vulture appellation. It is home to just four DOCs, which collectively cover only two bottles in every hundred produced here. The remaining 98 percent is sold either under IGT titles or – more likely – Vino da Tavola. Compared to other Italian wine regions, total wine production here is very small at less than 50 million liters. Winemaking in Basilicata dates back over a thousand years. In central and northern Italy it was the Etruscans and Romans who pioneered local winemaking. However, in the south this task was largely undertaken by seafaring Greeks. Basilicata was also influenced by the Byzantines, who ruled the area during two distinct periods in both the 6th and 9th Centuries. They gave the region its current name (from the Greek basilikos, meaning prince and governor). The famous Monte Vulture is an extinct volcano at 1326m which influenced a lot of the geological aspects of the area. Infact, the main area for viticulture lies in the heart of the fertile Vulture Massif in the north. Vineyards are located around Mount Vulture on volcanic soils. Read all of Manu's wine notes and details on the grape variety and wine she selected here. This week’s recipe is focused on the resourceful nonne and nonni of Basilicata who transformed breadcrumbs into stand alone meatballs, although the best term to use would actually be polpette, as there is no meat whatsoever in them. They took a leftover ingredient, bread, and transformed it into this dish’s main character - isn’t that so inspiring? polpette di pane
1. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl with a fork then begin slowly adding the breadcrumbs, keep mixing vigorously with a fork to combine well. Keep adding breadcrumbs until the mix thickens and you can shape a ball with your hands.
2. Once you’ve achieved your desired thickness, add the pecorino and parsley and combine well. Taste to see if they require salt (I usually skip this step as Pecorino is always salty). 3. Cover the base of a medium-sized non-stick pan in olive oil and heat on a high flame. Once the olive oil has heated begin dropping in the polpette you’ve shaped with wet hands. 4. Fry each polpetta until golden on all sides, then place them on a plate topped with kitchen paper to remove the excess oil. In the meantime dice the onion finely and let it soften in a pan with some olive oil before adding the can of passata. Season with salt and pepper and let it cook until slightly thicker. 5. Once you’ve patted the polpette dry, drop them into the passata pan and cook them for 5 minutes, just enough time to let them absorb some tomato sauce. 6. Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a few basil leaves. |
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trip 17 | umbria
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Umbria is the only region in Italy that does not border with the sea or another country. You might be asking yourself why I chose this statement as the opening phrase. The reality is that Umbria’s geographical features, landscape and position influences the region greatly, especially, in our case, from a gastronomic point of view.
Beautiful rolling hills in parts of the region recall Tuscany, yet they are more wild and less inhabited than the ones belonging to its neighbouring region. The rest of the landscape is characterized by mountains, valleys and many historical cities and hamlets, the most notable being Perugia, Norcia, Città di Castello and Assisi, Unesco World Heritage site. The region’s name derives from the Umbri, a population that inhabited the area before the Ancient Romans swept into command. Unlike the neighbouring Etruscans, Umbri preferred to live in small settlements on hills and mountains - rather than developing urban settings - and this is still reflected in the spread out manner cities were built. Umbria’s traditional regional cuisine is based around “earth” ingredients (rather than sea) with a significant presence of cured meats, especially from the town of Norcia, which are known as “norcineria” products, produced from pork. Another famous gastronomic product from Norcia you might have heard about is its black truffle. Other typical regional products include various cheese, delicious olive oil and a selection of breads, from unsalted “pane sciapo” to various types of focaccia: la ciaccia di Città di Castello, crescia and torta di testo. And just because Italians love keeping things simple, “crescia” is usually used to refer to a type of focaccia/piadina from Umbria and The Marche, however, “crescia di Pasqua” (which literally translated is crescia from Easter) is a completely different food. Whereas one is flat the other is leavened and almost 10 centimeters tall. One is consumed by adding cured meats and cheeses in it, the other as a bread - with meats and cheeses (but not within). I hope you can keep up, although I won’t blame you if you’re struggling! If I had the chance of choosing which of the two products should keep the name “crescia”, I would choose the Easter one, simply because the name itself derives from crescere, the act of growing and leavening - which the piadina version doesn’t do as much! Normal crescia - which resembles a piadina - is simply made with water, flour, salt and sometimes olive oil. Easter crescia on the other hand is made with yeast, eggs and grated cheese, which together with flour, olive oil, salt and pepper form the dough. I’ve decided to share with you my recipe of the crescia di Pasqua for this week’s regional wine and food regional tour for a variety of reasons: firstly, it’s delicious, secondly, Easter is just around the corner so why not impress your guests with this unique dish and thirdly, pairs wonderfully with Manu’s chosen Umbrian wine, which I’ll let here speak about now. Umbria, like Marche and Lazio, is best known for its white wine production. Despite changes in style over time, the Orvieto DOC (based on the Trebbiano grape variety) remains the region's largest appellation. Although best-known for its white wines, Umbria's two top level DOCG designations are for red wines. The native red grape Sagrantino has gained prominence in the Montefalco area, creating wines of great depth and power. The best examples, from producers such as Paolo Bea or Arnaldo Caprai, rival anything from Italy. Therefore it was no surprise when Sagrantino di Montefalco received DOCG status in 1992. Raina is a small winery located in Montefalco, which was born from Francesco Mariano's desire to get involved. Francesco, who in addition to being a winemaker is also a cook, decided to embark on the wine route in 2002, taking over the winery owned by the “Raina”, a farmer who for decades had dedicated himself to vines in these areas. Between 2002 and 2008 we proceeded with the planting of the vineyards, thus trying to lay the foundations for quality production. Trebbiano Spoletino Raìna is a white that surprises for the vital energy, the gustatory tension, the richness and aromatic persistence of its sip... Read all of Manu's amazing insight into Umbrian wines here. crescia di pasqua
1. Start by mixing 10g brewer’s yeast with 25g flour and 50g warm water, then cover and let it rest for 30 minutes.
2. Separate 3 egg yolks from the whites, placing them in a large bowl. Whisk the whites until they form peaks, then combine the yolks and 100g of extra virgin olive oil. 3. Add to the mix 25g of grated Pecorino and 100g of Parmigiano, mix well and then add the mix you made at the beginning, which in the meantime should have leavened slightly, season with salt and pepper. 4. Crumble in another 35g of brewer’s yeast and 400g of flour, gradually, incorporating it well as you go. 5. once it becomes too thick to be mixed with a whisk, begin kneading it with your hands until you achieve a smooth, compact and elastic dough. 6. Butter a 22cm baking dish, then sprinkle some flour into it and shake so to distribute it evenly, place your dough in it and let it rest and leaven, covered, until its filled the whole tray. 7. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius for 30 mins, covering it halfway through. Before removing it from the oven poke it with a knife to see if it comes out clear. 8. Serve cut into slices accompanied by an array of cured meats. |
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trip 16 | Valle d'aosta
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Valle d’Aosta is a tiny region in the North West of Italy filled with mountains, lakes, beautiful rivers and lush forests, a place which holds a special place in my heart. Neighbouring with Piemonte, there are many hikes which take you across the regional border, and the views along the way are spectacular.
I actually worked for two summers in a rifugio which was technically within Piemonte but was faster to reach from Valle d’Aosta. During my experience with the lovely family who hosted me I met so many interesting people from all over Europe with so many different stories, and really learned to appreciate the “mountain lifestyle” which is all based around comfort, conviviality and well, zuccherini (sugar cubes drenched in alcohol to which herbs and spices are added for aroma). For the past 10 years I’ve spent a large portion of my summer holidays in Piemonte, and whenever friends would visit I would take them to one of my favorite walks: in Valle d’Aosta! We would drive up the valley of Gressoney, passing the beautiful terraced vineyards on the lower altitudes, then through lush pine forests as the car edged up the mountain to a large grass field from which one could admire the sweeping views, and where we parked our car. From there we moved higher up the mountain on our own two feet, passing lakes and streams, resting for some water and chocolate under the refreshing shade of trees, then marching on and singing some tunes or listening to the sounds of nature high up in the mountains: bees buzzing about, the whistles of marmots and the woosh of the wind high up in the peaks. And oh the scents! From fresh field flowers, which smell sweet like honey in mid-summer, to the perfume of fresh grass and also, at times, the less inviting scent of cow manure—nonetheless an intrinsic part of the landscape! My favorite moment of the hike is walking by two ancient brick and wood houses which are home to twenty cows during the summer months. You usually find them resting in the shade of the barn, but they sometimes wonder out and surprise you mid walk. It also happens to be my favorite part because it means you’ve almost arrived at the destination: Rifugio della Barma, a recently refurbished mountain hut which overlooks a beautiful (yet freezing—trust me) lake and is almost entirely surrounded by high mountain peaks. A warm and young group of people is always there to welcome you with a large tagliere of mixed local salumi and formaggi or a steaming plate of pappardelle with deer ragu—depending on the day’s climate. After lunch, a quick snooze on the smooth rocks just outside the rifugio is not only highly recommended but mandatory, before facing the effortless walk back down the mountain. On days where a four hour hike didn’t sound very inviting, we would park our car in the field, do a short loop around the area’s small houses and mountain huts and then head for lunch at the rifugio on the field, where the chef would always prepare not only the most beautiful but truly delicious taglieri too. All the while feasting your eyes on the landscape in front, which provides a sense of discovery every time you look at it, for you’ll always spot a little house or church you hadn’t seen before on the mountain opposite the field. I’ve shaped this week’s regional wine and food trip slightly differently from the rest, wanting to share with you an experience that’s very dear to me, in the hopes of reminding you of some great times you’ve spent in the mountains, or inviting you to create some new memories! I’ve also hinted at the dish I’m going to share today a few times throughout the piece…can you spot it? As I leave you to ponder on it for a few minutes, I'll let Manu tell you all about the delicious wine she chose to pair with my dish. Around three-quarters of Aosta Valley wine is produced by several cooperative wineries, which between them have around 450 grower-members. Less than a quarter of the region's annual production qualifies for DOC status and the majority is sold locally.
Although the Aosta Valley has no DOCG titles, this is not necessarily an indication that there is no high-quality wine of interest produced here. The curious mix of grapes, terroir and culture provides intrigue in this region’s wines. Various techniques are employed by vignerons to temper the worst effects of this diurnal temperature variation. The most visible of these is the training of the vines into pergolas, which helps to evenly distribute ground heat to the vines in the cold nights. Most of the fragmented vineyards in the Aosta Valley are cut into terraces for a range of reasons. The most important reason is for ease of accessibility during harvest, but the terraces also help to slow erosion. Le Vieux Joseph is a small artisan winery set among these rocky mountains, which includes a total of about 2 hectares of vineyards, spread over various micro-plots located around the Chetoz hamlet, included in the municipality of Quart. Determined to enhance the winemaking tradition of her region, Ilaria decides to make wine from her grapes by drawing heavily on the artisan tradition, respectful of the surrounding environment. The varieties that she raises with dedication are mainly native Valle d'Aosta grapes such as Cornalin, Vien de Nus, Petit Rouge and Fumin, some preserved by old centenary vines that do not produce many clusters, but contain in them a great sensorial richness. Click here to read the rest of Manu's article and the wine tasting notes. And the dish I chose is... a tagliere of mixed local cured meats and cheeses! I looked back through all the pictures I took on those hikes and drew inspiration from the bountiful taglieri I had the pleasure of eating. Below the recipe is also a list of where I sourced the ingredients from and a few addresses to pay a visit to when in Valle d’Aosta!
tagliere valdostano
1. Heat the pre-cooked chestnuts in a stick of butter then remove from the heat. 2. Begin assembling your tagliere: place a small bowl in the middle and fill it with warm chestnuts, then begin laying out the salumi on one side, followed by the cheese cut into squares or triangular slices and then place the soft roasted peperoni in the remaining space. If you need some plating inspiration, look at the reel on my instagram profile “Assembling a Tagliere”. Where to buy the ingredients Terroir Milano Eataly Peck Rifugi worth a visit in Valle d'Aosta Rifugio della Barma, Località Barme, 11020 Fontainemore AO Rifugio Coda, Colle, Via Carisey, 13814 Pollone BI Pian del Coumarial, Località Coumarial, 10, 11020 Fontainemore AO |
courmayeurmontblanc.it
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trip 15 | puglia
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Last week we virtually traveled to the tip of Italy’s boot, in Calabria, with peperonata and a fresh Matonico Bianco. This week we’re jumping over to the other side: Italy’s heel, Puglia.
The region is almost entirely surrounded by water, for 865km, it is a peninsula within a peninsula, Itay. Bari, Puglia’s capital, was and still is a very important port, thanks to the city’s proximity to Montenegro, Greece and by extension Turkey. Humans have inhabited Puglia for the past 250,000 years as the archeological findings in Altamura demonstrate. A form of archaic humans, Neanderthals, inhabited the area surrounding Altamura for a long time. As many other regions in Italy, Puglia faced a long period of suffering following the fall of the Roman empire, as its neighbouring regions, Basilicata and Calabria, Puglia went through the hands of many different reigns throughout history, eventually becoming part of Italy in its unification in 1861. One of my favorite regions in Italy for a multitude of reasons, from its crystal-clear beaches to its beautiful Baroque whitewashed towns and, obviously, its food. Orecchiette with cime di rapa, fave e cicoria, cavatelli, octopus, Altamura bread and so on, the list could really go on forever! The region is rich with countless gastronomic products, some which have been awarded DOP appellations by the E.U. such as extra virgin olive oil from Terra di Bari and Collina di Brindisi and many citrus fruits: arancia del Gargano, limone femminello del Gargano and clementine from the Gulf of Taranto. Multiple are the enogastronomic products in Puglia that are Slow Food Presidiums, from Polignano’s multi colored carrots to Sospiri from Bisceglie, delicious traditional desserts made from sponge cake covered with icing. Street food is almost synonymous with Puglia as much of its cuisine can be consumed “on the go”, think about Bombette Pugliesi, crunchy cheese filled meat involtini or the infamous panzerotti, fried pizza dough filled with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Focaccia is another street food widespread throughout the whole region, which you can find with different toppings and shapes. My personal favorite - and, you guess it - the recipe I’m going to be sharing today is Focaccia Barese, a focaccia made with riced potatoes and topped with cherry tomatoes and olives which is delicious. As always, I'll leave Manu to tell you all about Puglia's fabulous wines. The one factor which unites northern and southern Puglia is the choice of crops grown: olives and grapes, in that order. The region is responsible for almost half of Italy's total olive-oil production and has a long-held reputation as a prolific source of (mostly red) wine. Salento IGT encompasses Puglia's three southernmost provinces, Taranto (also covered by the Tarantino IGT title), Brindisi and Lecce. Thus, the viticultural area covered by the Salento IGT title stretches 180 kilometers (100 miles) north to south. It runs from the white beaches of Leuca, past the port town of Taranto, past the Gravina di Laterza canyon and right up to the border with the Basilicata region. One point in common with Calabria region (and most southern Italian regions) it’s an unfortunate recent wine reputation. Indeed both Puglia and Calabria were sources for most red grapes to blend other famous Italian wines and vermouth. That especially because the production in those times was based mostly on high yields that were enough to support local and external productions. As the world began to demand higher-quality wines, the mass-produced blending wines in which Puglia specialized lost their value. Now the area has begun to shake off its reputation for flat, highly alcoholic blending wines, Puglia has an opportunity to seduce the wine world with concentrated, inky reds to rival the best from Australia and South America. The name Murgia, from the Latin murex, meaning 'rock', denotes the extensive karstic (limestone) plateau that dominates the area's geology and topography. It was the Oscan peoples, who occupied this area in ancient (pre-Roman) times, who chose this name. To read all about the winery who's wine Manu chose for this week's Puglia trip click here. focaccia barese
1. Melt the yeast in 60g of warm water with a pinch of sugar. Once melted, add 30g of plain flour “00”, leave it to activate for 15 minutes. In the meantime boil the potato.
2. Peel the potato, squeeze it through a ricer into a large bowl. Add the rest of the plain flour (220g) to the bowl and 200g of durum wheat flour. Make a well in the middle of the bowl and add the active yeast mix. Begin kneading and gradually add 250g of water in which you’ve previously melted a tablespoon of coarse salt. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and knead until smooth and compact. Leave the dough to leaven for 2 hours, until doubled in size. 3. Slice the tomatoes in half and season them with salt and extra virgin olive oil, leave them to make a little sauce. Once the dough has leavened, cover it with the rest of the durum wheat flour and flip it over into a baking dish coated in extra virgin olive oil. Let it rest for 2 minutes before stretching it out with greasy fingers to make sure it covers the whole tray. 4. Place the tomatoes onto the focaccia, then drizzle it with the tomato juice, add the olives and bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 230°C. |
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trip 14 | calabria
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Situated right at the tip of Italy’s boot, this wonderful region, surrounded by crystal clear seas by three quarters and mountains in the rest, is one of our country’s hidden gems. National tourism has started picking up momentum in the last ten years but it remains still quite unknown to the rest of the world. Although, ironically enough, one of Calabria’s cured meat products is well-known all over the world: ‘nduja.
Calabria actually used to be the name of the area now known as Salento, in the southern tip of Italy’s hill. During that period the region we now call Calabria used to be known as Brutium, as it was part of the Kingdom of Lucania and the Bruttii. Let’s get down to business now: the food! The traditional calabrian cuisine is poor, mainly based upon rural ingredients and recipes. Most dishes are linked to religious events, for example, during Christmas and the Epiphany it was custom to place thirteen different dishes on the table. Carnival is celebrated by eating maccheroni, meatballs and pork, whereas lamb roast and spiritual breads are consumed at Easter. Similarly to most parts of Italy, every single important family event, from a wedding to a birth is celebrated with a large meal, in which a lot of care and dedication in preparing it is placed. It is very interesting to note that Calabria does not have an homogeneous traditional cuisine throughout the whole region. The region has an ancient invisible line that divides it in two: Calabria Citeriore and Calabria Ulteriore. The two sides have different dialects and with them slightly different customs and gastronomic traditions. There are just a handful of traditional dishes that cross over the borders: pasta ca muddica and parmigiana di melanzane are two examples. Due to Calabria’s history, dotted by long periods of drought or years ruled by oppressive empired, the region’s most well-known gastronomic products are based around preserved foods. From ‘Nduja, an extremely spicy pork sausage, commonly spread on toasted bread, to anchovies preserved in olive oil with spicy chili pepper. Sun dried tomatoes, vegetables preserved in olive oil and cheese that can withstand aging. Calabria’s warm and Mediterranean climate is perfect for the growth of many fruits and vegetables, which are then consumed throughout the rest of Italy. Viticulture is also a growing practice in the region, but I’ll let Manu tell you all about that. Calabria and its wines have been subject to many influences over the centuries. Most notably the ancient Greeks cultivated the first wine-bearing vines here. For many centuries Calabrian wines were famous not just in Italy, but also in other European countries. Their glory began to dissipate, however, as competition arose from French regions such as Bordeaux. These were closer both geographically and culturally to key markets such as London and Amsterdam. This slow decline accelerated in the late 19th Century, as the phylloxera epidemic ravaged Calabria's vineyards and effectively disabled its wine industry. This was compounded in the late 20th Century as New World wine regions began to produce large volumes of affordable quality wines. The region has never quite recovered. Mantonico Bianco is grown in diminishing amounts in the region, mainly by the largest producer of the region, Librandi, which has taken on the mantle of protecting the endangered vinous species of the area. The variety is used to produce both dry and passito dessert wines, in which grapes have been semi-dried before fermentation to concentrate the sugars. As a dry wine, Mantonico Bianco is suitable for barrel maturation. Click here for the rest of the pairing. The dish I chose to share with you belongs to the category of my favorite veggie dishes of all time: peperonata. Every region, town and nonna has its own peperonata recipe. Some people use peppers and nothing else, whereas others add tons of other veggies too, as is the case for today’s dish. peperonata calabrese
1. Cook the aubergine till soft, with lots of olive oil.
Remove and place to one side. 2. In the same pan, cook the diced potatoes until tender, roughly 10 minutes, then place in a bowl to one side. 3. Cook the peppers in the same pan, adding half a glass of water after sauteeing them for 5 minutes, then cover with a lid and cook until soft. Place to one side. 4. Place the chopped tomatoes in the pan, saute and after 2 minutes add the potatoes, then the soft aubergine and the peppers. Cook everything together for another 30 minutes on low heat. Once cooked, turn off the heat and let the peperonata sit, so that all the juices mix together beautifully. 5. Plate, season with salt and pepper, a lug of olive oil and a few basil leaves. |
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trip 13 | lazio
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Lazio’s regional cuisine, more specifically Rome’s cuisine, is one of my favorite ones in Italy. I’ve had the pleasure and fortune of visiting Italy’s capital a handful of times and each time I look forward to tasting its cuisine, from the more “mainstream” dishes like carbonara and cacio e pepe to lesser-known ones like saltimbocca alla romana… although I feel like all Roman dishes are well-known!
The local cuisine is based upon poor and “simple” ingredients, it is much less refined compared to, let’s say, Piedmontese cuisine. And that’s the beauty of it. The slightly greasy artichokes, wonderfully tomato-y pasta dishes and fatty pancetta make you want to eat more and more and more. There are many local traditional products too, from Pecorino Romano - sprinkled on basically every pasta dish - to cavolo romanesco, the wonderfully intricate bright green cabbage. And then the meat! Oh, the meat… a further nod to the cuisine’s poor origins is the types of meat which are used within the traditional recipes, all known as the “quinto quarto”. Quinto quarto is all the parts of an animal, especially bovines and ovines, that are left once all the more refined meat cuts are removed. It groups together tripe, liver, the heart, animelle, brain and tongue. And the Romans love them, expertly known how to prepare each animal part in a way that enriches its flavours and makes for an interesting dish. Today’s recipe is actually on the lighter side of the spectrum of Roman cuisine, although I was extremely tempted to share a pasta recipe. A dish which can be found on almost every Roman table between December and March, as a side dish to accompany a large (and slightly intense meal) as a way of offering the palate a fresh, momentary “relief”: Puntarelle alla Romana. Puntarelle are a bitter vegetable which usually comes enveloped in a thick layer of large leaves. That’s because they’re not really a vegetable on their own, but rather the heart of Catalogna, a leafy green. Similarly to artichokes, one peels back all the larger stems and leaves and is left with the vegetable’s heart: tender, fresh and wonderfully bitter. A traditional vegetable grown in Lazio, the region awarded it an official recognition as a P.A.T (Prodotto Agroalimentare Tradizionale). The exterior Catalogna cannot be eaten raw, it must be cooked in order to remove some of the bitterness. Puntarelle on the other hand are eaten raw, and the slight bitterness is countered by the addition of preserved anchovy fillets and garlic. I'll leave Manu tell you all about the wine she chose... Like many Italian wine regions, Lazio's vine heritage is ancient. Its first inhabitants were the Etruscans, though it was the Latins who gave the area its original name Latium. The Romans brought the region into another era by improving trade and agriculture, although after the collapse of the Roman Empire the land was neglected. Only in the 1870s, when Rome became the capital of Italy, did this wine region flourish once again. The volcanic hills provide an excellent base for viticulture thanks to the fertile and porous (well-drained) land. Nourishment for the grapes is provided by lava and tufa soils, rich in potassium. This type of soil is particularly suited to white grapes as it ensures a good balance of acidity. The proximity of the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west is also important; cool sea breezes temper the drier, warmer temperatures on the coast, while the mountainous area is subject to various microclimates despite being protected by the Apennines from the cold winds coming from the northeast. As every week our mission in this series of regional, traditional food and wine pairing is to talk about small, interesting, careful and respectful realities of each region that we think match with what me and Carlotta like the most in wines: genuinity. As ambassadors of Lazio I choose Ribelà winery with their wine Saittole Bianco, blend of local white grape varieties. Ribelà winery is a young reality that stands in the centuries-old winemaking tradition area called Frascati, within the Castelli Romani. Founded in 2014, it is run by Chiara Bianchi and Daniele Presutti. The name of the winery derives from the dialect word "ribelare", which means to cover: the gesture of tucking the earth around the vine with a hoe or spade symbolizes a new beginning and at the same time a continuous renewal of tradition. To read more about Manu's pairing click here. Puntarelle alla Romana are a wonderfully crunchy, salty dish with just the right amount of garlic. They’re my favorite winter salad and I really recommend trying this recipe, which I perfected after a lot of trial and error. Serves 4 as a side 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (aceto di mele) 1 garlic clove Anchovy paste 1. Create an emulsion with the olive oil and vinegar by whisking them together with a fork (or whisk). 2. Add the anchovy paste to taste and combine it well. Puree or dice the garlic, leave it in bigger pieces for an accentuated garlic flavour, and combine. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste. 3. Mix in the puntarelle which you’ve cut into small strips, sort of like a thick julienne and serve. |
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trip 12 | marche
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Situated in the centre of Italy, between Emilia Romagna and Abruzzo, Le Marche is a region made of coastline, bordering with the Adriatic sea, and hills inland, towards the border with Umbria. As most Italian regions, it has a rich and significant history, inhabited first by the Picens, then by Ancient Romans all the way through to the Goths and Byzantines.
During the Renaissance parts of the region were fought over by various rival aristocratic families, and the town of Urbino - now one of the region’s major cities - was the birthplace of Raffaello as well as a major centre in the history of the rinascimento. Due to Le Marche’s geography, from hills and mountains to sea, most of the traditional cuisine is either based on mountain and meat based food or sea and fish based dishes. Cheese and salumi are also produced inland, some of the most famous ones being salame di Fabriano (another beautiful town, which was awarded the UNESCO World Heritage recognition as a Creative City) and formaggio di Fossa, a sheep milk cheese aged for three months in deep holes underground, which are covered with hay then sealed with mud. Moving towards the coast, dried cod is one of the most popular regional specialties, which is prepared in a vast variety of manners. Brodetto di pesce, a fish and crustacean soup, is one the most traditional ways of eating fish, similarly to Abruzzo. Perhaps the most famous dish Le Marche has to offer, which everyone in Italy and further away can recognize are Olive all’Ascolana. The antipasto consists of Olive Ascolane, an olive variety from Ascoli Piceno, pitted, filled with a mixed meat filling similar to polpette, coated in flour and breadcrumbs and then fried. The recipe I chose to share with you today is based on fresh crustaceans, mussels, which pair wonderfully with the Verdicchio chosen by Manu, a crisp white wine perfect when combined with delicate fish, as it leaves a fresh finish without being too fruity or overpowering over the mussels. But enough from me about wine, here are Manu's expert words on the matter! Marche has a number of terroirs very well suited to the cultivation of vines. The rolling coastal hills such as those around Ancona are a notable example. Due to the influences of the Apennines, the Adriatic and the region's rivers, there are various climates at work in Marche. Therefore wine producers in the region work in both warm and cool viticultural zones. Calcareous, clay and limestone-rich soils contribute to the distinctive terroir, and vary according to the region's distinctive topography. The vineyards cover around 25,000 hectares (60,000 acres), and produce almost two million hectoliters of wine annually. The majority of this is sold as Vino di Tavola or under the Indicazione Geografica Tipica title IGT Marche. Marche is best known as a white wine region, although it is also home to some reds of very high quality. In terms of volume, the leading white varieties here are the ubiquitous Trebbiano (in various forms) and Verdicchio. The finest expressions of Verdicchio are found in the DOCGs Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and Verdicchio di Matelica. These green-hued, refreshingly crisp, green-tinged white wines are characterized by lively acidity and subtle herbaceous undertones, and are an excellent food match for our today’s Carlotta recipe. Verdicchio is a versatile variety, used both for light, easy-drinking table wines, and for more complex, ageworthy examples. It is commonly lauded by critics as being one of Italy's best white wine grape varieties, and is found in vineyards across the country. High acidity is one of Verdicchio's most useful viticultural characteristics. As well as making fresh, well-structured still wines with citrus flavors like lemon and grapefruit, Verdicchio is often used as the base for sparkling wines. Some producers have experimented with sweet wines, but as the variety is not particularly aromatic, these are usually overlooked. Click here for the rest of Manu's wine pairing. Cozze alla Marinara is one of the “basic” staple dishes of Italian cuisine, they are light, easy to make and very, very delicious—as long as the fish is fresh! The alla marinara is a type of condiment used all over Italy for many different dishes, for example Pizza alla Marinara, the simplest (and in my opinion most delicious) pizza, with a bit of tomato sauce, olive oil and garlic. Due to the little condiment used, this dish is also extremely healthy! Serves 4 people. cozze alla marinara1kg fresh mussels (choose Sardinian ones for the best taste)
One handful of fresh parsley 1 lemon Extra virgin olive oil 1 garlic clove 2 tablespoons white wine Black pepper 1. Wash and clean the mussels in cold water. 2. Slice the parsley very finely, cut the lemon in half and squeeze one half, add some olive oil and use a fork to whisk the mix until you create an opaque emulsion. 3. Squash the garlic clove, place it in a deep pot with a few lugs of olive oil and turn on the heat. Once the oil is hot and the garlic browns slightly, add the mussels, the white wine and cover with a lid. |
3. Squash the garlic clove, place it in a deep pot with a few lugs of olive oil and turn on the heat. Once the oil is hot and the garlic browns slightly, add the mussels, the white wine and cover with a lid.
4. After 4 to 5 minutes uncover the mussels and begin removing the open ones, placing them in a bowl. Once they have all opened (if some of them don’t open naturally don’t force them, just throw them away), separate the two shells, leaving the mussel on one side, and place in a large dish. 5. Pour the olive oil and lemon emulsion over the mussels, sprinkle the parsley and a couple of pepper grinds. Serve with the other lemon half on the side. NOTE: filter the wine sauce from when you cooked the mussels and add it to a tomato sauce when making a nice pasta dish. You can also freeze it up to one month. |
trip 11 | liguria
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I’ve been waiting patiently for Liguria’s turn in our regional food and wine trips and I’m so happy that its moment has finally arrived.
The best way of defining Liguria to someone who has never visited it is by describing it as one of our country’s most beautiful hidden gems. Besides the world-famous towns of Cinque Terre, the region is home to a marvelous, rugged landscape which ranges from mountains to wonderful coastlines dotted with cliffs and forests which creep down to the shore. There is just one geographic feature you won’t find in Liguria: flatlands. Part of Liguria’s charm is in fact its towns which climb up the steep hills and coastlines, meaning there is a beautiful viewpoint basically everywhere! But let’s move onto the important part, the food. Every town has its own local product, whether it be a native wine, fish species, basil or artichoke variety. But one of the most marvelous aspects of Ligurian cuisine is what the locals have always and continue to make with the products they are gifted with. Focaccia Genovese, focaccia di Recco, pesto genovese, torta pasqualina, friceu (tiny fish fritters), pansoti, pesto di noci… I could literally fill up the article just by listing wonderful ligurian dishes. Today’s recipe is made up of just four ingredients: chickpea flour, salt, water and extra virgin olive oil, all of which are vital in the dishes’ creation, especially the chickpeas. Chickpeas were already consumed throughout Italy in the Middle Ages, introduced during the Arab reign, in fact many sources state that it was through the port of Genoa and thanks to its merchants that the legume diffused throughout the boot. Evidence of a dish similar to farinata - pureed legumes transformed into cake breads in an oven - was found in ancient Latin and Greek recipes. A dish with simple and ancient origins that demonstrates, once again, how the best things are really the simplest ones. Until recently, you could enjoy a slice of farinata accompanied by a good glass of wine in little “savoury cake” shops and bars known as Sciamadde, which also happened to be frequented a lot by artists, Fabrizio de Andre, born in Genova, was often sighted in them. Nowadays most people buy a slice of farinata as they take a stroll through town or to take home and eat as a variety of bread or focaccia. As the traditional recipe requires it to be made in a wood fired oven, most people who live in Liguria and can find it in most shops tend to not make it at home. I'll pass the word onto Manu who's going to tell you all about the wine she recommends sipping as you enjoy your farinata. Liguria's steep elevations make vine growing a challenge, resulting in what is worldwide known as “heroic viticulture” with a very limited production. In some areas the slopes are so steep that the land has to be cultivated by hand.
There are only around 6,000 hectares of vineyard in the wider Ligurian area, of which just over 500 hectares are classified as DOC/DOPs. Nonethless, Liguria remains the region with the second-lowest output of wine in Italy. Most wine is the work of small, artisanal producers who have to grow their vines on terraces carved from the rocky slopes. The steep elevations are a blessing too, as they protect the grapes near the sea from the coldest winter winds blowing down from the Alps. Although there are dozens of varieties grown in this region, Liguria is generally known for its white wines made from Vermentino and Pigato which takes its name for the spots (pighe) that appear on the mature grapes. The Vermentino from this region produces wines with a fragrant nose reminiscent of the Ligurian landscape's pine-wood and sea-salt aromas, as well as an underlying minerality. The Rocche del Gatto winery is one of the leading wineries in Liguria for natural wines, and in particular in the Savona area, which focuses on a traditional interpretation of its wines, working carefully to ensure the most authentic expression of the aromas and tastes of the area. Founded by Fausto De Andreis in 1982, the winery officially made its debut in the world of wine with the 2002 harvest. To real Manu's complete wine notes click here. For those of us who are not lucky enough to live by the seaside and have delicious savoury cakes at a stone’s throw, here is the recipe. farinata di ceci (makes 1)150g chickpea flour
Extra virgin olive oil Salt 450g water 1. Place the flour in a bowl and add the water little by little, mixing constantly with a whisk to make sure no lumps form. Once you’ve added all the water, add ½ a teaspoon of salt and 15g of extra virgin olive oil. Mix them in and cover the bowl with cling film. Leave it to one side to rest for a couple of hours (at least two hours). Mix every once in a while with a spoon. 2. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees celsius and pour a few lugs of olive oil in a 28cm diameter round baking dish. The size of the dish is VITAL in the farinata’s outcome. 3. Once the oven is hot, pour in the farinata mix and pop it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. 4. Remove from the oven, let it cool down slightly and then remove from the baking dish and serve, cut into slices like a pizza. |
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trip 10 | abruzzo
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A region which ranges from mountains to a vast, largely untouched coastline dotted with picturesque fishing trabucchi: wooden constructions a few meters above sea level, upheld by stilts, on which fishermen used to station themselves and catch their fresh bounty.
There are many more wonderful sights to see in Abruzzo, and I can’t wait to visit them all for myself as soon as virtual trips can transform into real trips. A few other must-see places are the towns of L’Aquila, Chieti, and the ancient settlements of Civitella and other 22 medieval towns which belong to the prestigious list of Most Beautiful Villages in Italy. Similarly to all other Italian regional cuisines, Abruzzo has a rich and varied cuisine, thanks to its varied landscape. Lamb and Mutton from the region's high pastures on the Apennine mountains form the majority of Abruzzo’s staple dishes, including arrosticini, the delicious and juicy grilled skewers. Fish and seafood are an equally important part of the region’s cuisine, from seafood soups like brodetto di pesce to fish ragu’s as condiments to pasta. Pasta lies at the heart of the regional cuisine, with a few dishes enjoying world fame, such as spaghetti all’Amatriciana, from the small town of Amatrice, and spaghetti alla chitarra, the focus of today’s recipe and food pairing. Pasta dishes which are named something other than the ingredients used to make them (e.g. cacio e pepe) usually derive their names from the area where they were first cooked or became renowned, such as gnocchi alla sorrentina, from Sorrento, casunziei ampezzani, from Cortina d’Ampezzo, and so on. A popular alternative is to name pasta shapes with the name of the instrument used to produce them, the case of today’s recipe: spaghetti alla chitarra. Fresh egg pasta made by mixing durum wheat and plain flour, which is kneaded to form a smooth dough then rolled out and placed over a wooden tool with steel strings which resembles the chords of a guitar. When pressing down on the dough with a rolling pin, the strings cut the pasta into long, rectangular spaghetti, which have an excellent bite, thanks to the thickness, and are perfect for picking up and absorbing the rich tomato sauce they’re traditionally served in due to the porousness of the dough. Rather than giving you the recipe for the traditional widespread mixed meat sauce, I thought of sharing the recipe of a slightly more niche dish: spaghetti alla chitarra con pallottine, teeny tiny veal meatballs from the city of Teramo, in the north of Abruzzo. It is in fact the original sauce meant to accompany spaghetti alla chitarra, which also originates from Teramo, a fact unknown to most people! Pallottine, as most polpette, were not eaten in restaurants but in private homes, as they were ways of recycling leftovers and random meat scraps. A rich, rustic dish which originates in the homes of locals demands to be paired a wine that can match its rustic-ness. But I'll leave that part to Manu, she's the expert after all! Like in most Italian regions also in Abruzzo almost each family used to make its own wine for the house. Winemaking traditions in Abruzzo date back to the sixth century BC thanks to the Etruscans, who played a major role in introducing viniculture to the area. At that time Abruzzo's vineyards were generally focused around the province of L'Aquila. With the revival in viniculture came bulk wine, which dominated the region for a considerable period. However the region has now revamped its image, gradually moving towards producing more quality-driven wines, with an increase in boutique wineries. Masciarelli, Valentini, Emidio Pepe, just to name a few of the most important and well known producers of this region. The geographical makeup of Abruzzo is quite remarkable. A rugged, mountainous region with a lengthy coastline, its lush, green landscape is scattered with national parks and forests. Abruzzo is ideally situated between the Adriatic sea to the east, and the Apennine mountain range and the Maiella massif to the west. The region is home to Gran Sasso, one of Italy's highest peaks at 2912m (9554ft). It is not surprising that Abruzzo provides a perfect haven for grape growing. Vines flourish thanks to the terroir, the abundance of sunshine, the generous rainfall and a variable climate. On the coast it is warm and dry on the coast; inland it is more continental (hot in summer and cold in winter). Click here to read all of Manu's tasting notes and to discover more about the wonderful wine she chose to pair with my dish. spaghetti alla chitarra con pallottine
1. Dice the onion finely and place it in a skillet along with the crushed garlic clove and a few tablespoons of olive oil. Sautè gently until the onion has softened, then pour in the passata, season to taste and add a tablespoon of sugar. Let it simmer for 30 minutes, covered.
2. For the meatballs, place the minced veal into a bowl and add the grated cheese. Let the bread soak in a few lugs of milk for ten minutes, then squeeze well to remove the excess milk and place in the bowl with the minced meat. Add salt and pepper to taste, a sprinkle of nutmeg and combine everything with your hands until you have a homogeneous mound of meat. 3. Begin shaping the meatballs, which must not be bigger than an olive, and set to one side. 4. Heat a few lugs of olive oil in a skillet and add a handful of meatballs, moving the pan often so they cook through properly. Once the batch is nice and crispy, place them in a bowl and cook another handful of meatballs. Once you’ve cooked them all, place half the sauce you made previously into the skillet and then dunk in all the meatballs, mixing well. 5. Bring a pot of water to boil, add the spaghetti and cook until al dente. Drain, keeping some cooking water on the side, then mix the pasta into the tomato sauce (the one without meatballs). Place in a large serving dish and top with the pallotte and their tomato sauce. Serve and top with as much parmigiano and pepper as you desire. |
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trip 9 | sicilia
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Oh, my dear Sicily, I left a piece of my heart in your rugged islands and your bustling paved streets.
Sicily is one of those places which you visit and suddenly realize you never want to leave, there is something magic about its people, history and food. A region with a history that extends back to 20.000 B.C. that across the years was inhabited by a multitude of peoples, which all left part of their culture and traditions behind, shaping Sicilians in becoming multifaceted people. First the Phoenicians, then the Ancient Greeks until it was eventually absorbed into the Roman Empire until its fall, when it fell in the hands of the Byzantines and subsequently the Arabs, who left a very significant imprint on the island, especially from a gastronomic point of view. Sicily eventually became part of Italy in 1860 and became an autonomous region in 1946. Its vast and mixed-culture history means that many extremely significant and almost intact archeological sites can be found, from the Valley of the Temples to Erice, Selinunte and the Necropolis of Pantalica. Pasta is synonymous with Sicily, you might have heard of pasta alla Norma, pasta con le Sarde and spaghetti with sea urchins, the three most well-known pasta dishes from the island. What you might have not known is that Sicily is the oldest Italian and Western-world location where pasta, worked by hand with the help of tools such as sticks and rods, was part of the local cuisine. This dates back to the 12th century, which means that pasta was already being made years and years before that, in order to have already found its place as a staple local dish. The recipe I want to share with you is - you guessed it - a pasta recipe. Not one of the most popular ones however, but a pasta I discovered during my Sicilian gastronomic deep dive, when I ate in one of the most rustic and most delicious restaurants in Palermo, Trattoria Ferro di Cavallo. Pasta c’anciove e ca muddica, pasta with anchovies and breadcrumbs, is a wonderfully simple yet extremely tasty pasta dish, made with easily-preservable ingredients that can be sourced almost anywhere. Anchovies in olive oil, stale bread and tomato concentrate are the dish’s main ingredients (though I must admit that garlic and Pecorino play a very important role too). Records state that this dish was created as an alternative to pasta con le sarde, by Sicilians who left their island for the North of Italy in search of more opportunities, who would buy the preserved anchovies and tomato concentrate during their trips back home in order to replicate the dish, who’s flavours reminded them of their home, throughout the year. Manu chose a wine from a great producer just outside of Marsala, Marco De Bartoli, which I had the pleasure of visiting during my trip through Sicily, I'll pass the word onto her. Marsala wine is very well known and rinomated all around the world, since centuries people from many places and especially the English people always had a thing for those wines. One of its most important producers, considered one of the fathers of Marsala wines how they are today, Marco de Bartoli was a very controversial personality. This reminds me of many important wine personalities but especially one that I have been talking about in our Piedmont episode, Beppe Rinaldi. Both with an harsh and edgy personality, but a great interpreter of this territory and creator of some of the greatest personality and quality wines from here. He is considered the father of a certain quality Grillo wines from Marsala and I couldn’t find a better way to present you Sicily region through a wine, especially if paired with the dish of this week: Pasta c’ancovia e ca muddica (Pasta with anchovies and crumb). The name Integer in latin means integrity and purity and so you can easily imagine which is the message from this wine. It is a 100% Grillo grape, from 20 years old vines in Marsala, where the soil is sandy and limestone-sands. No fertilisers and no herbicides are used and the wine is accompanied to its journey without any human interfering. The fermentation is spontaneous with wild yeasts and the must is left in contact with the skins for 10 days. The major part of the wine is aged in big oak barrels while a small portion is aged in amphora jars. To read Manu's full pairing notes, click here. pasta c'ancovia e ca muddica
1. Place a few lugs of olive oil in a pan over high heat, add the breadcrumbs and toast them until brown and slightly crispy. Place in a bowl and set to one side.
2. Add a few lugs of olive oil to the same pan you used to toast the breadcrumbs, and the peeled garlic cloves and let them brown slowly. Add the anchovies and let them melt almost entirely, then add a squeeze of tomato paste (about 1 tablespoon), mix well and pour in the can of pelati, mix well, turn the heat to medium-low and let the sauce simmer and reduce slightly. 3. Bring a pot of water to boil, add a handful of rock salt and the bucatini, cook according to packet instructions. Once it is al dente, drain it and keep a mug of pasta water to one side. 4. Place the pasta in a large serving dish, pour the sauce over it and mix together vigorously. Add the grated Pecorino and a handful of toasted breadcrumbs. If the pasta is too dry, add some olive oil and cooking water. 5. Serve each person and top the dish off with some more breadcrumbs. |
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trip 8 | emilia romagna
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Emilia Romagna is one of Italy’s most gastronomically rich regions, with an ancient history in cured meats and fresh pasta preparation. Stretching almost the entire width of the Italian peninsula it has an extremely diverse landscape which spans from mountains surrounding Piacenza, vast plains in Modena and Parma, iconic rolling hills around Bologna to the sea on the Adriatic coast near Rimini.
Part of its peculiarity also derives from the fact that it was formed by merging two regions: Emilia and Romagna. The inhabitants of either end of the region are extremely proud of the distinction, and the same food is often called in two different ways depending on where you find yourself. When Manu proposed we tackled Emilia Romagna as the next region I accepted without any hesitation as I knew I would have an extensive selection of recipes to choose from. Wanting to respect the difference between the two distinct parts of the region I chose a dish from Romagna, the same area where Manu’s wine is produced. I chose to share with you the recipe for Crescione Romagnolo, also nicknamed the “Piadina’s cousin”. A flat bread made with water and olive oil, filled with almost any combination of delicious ingredients you can think of, sealed by pressing the edges with a fork and cooked on a cast iron pan until golden on both sides. It can be considered a street food and enjoyed at basically any time of the day, sitting on the endless stretches of beach along the Romanian coast with a glass of chilled Lambrusco or as you wander through the picturesque squares of Ravenna. Crescione Verde (Garden cress) is the filling traditionally prepared, from which the dish takes its name too, which is cooked with other wild herbs, softened onions, salt and pepper. Other great fillings are prosciutto cotto and stracchino cheese, smashed potatoes and sausage, tomato sauce and mozzarella...etc. Manu, as always, found the perfect wine from a small producer near Rimini, so I'll leave her to introduce her discovery. "Despite its wide portfolio of well-known Italian and international varieties, Emilia-Romagna’s uniqueness comes from its rare local DOC wines, like the one I have chosen to talk about today: Colli di Rimini Rebola. Emilia-Romagna's wine production is divided evenly between whites and reds, the dominant varieties being Malvasia and Lambrusco, Trebbiano, Barbera and Bonarda and of course the famous Sangiovese di Romagna. A large percentage of these grapes are used to produce sparkling wines, either frizzante or spumante, of which the most notable are from the five Lambrusco DOCs (Salamino di Santa Croce, di Sorbara, Grasparossa di Castelvetra, Modena and Reggiano). Some of the most well known and traditional pairings are made with Tortellini in Brodo and Lambrusco wine, as well as Tigelle filled with Mortadella or Prosciutto di Parma, or the Tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce paired with Sangiovese di Romagna. For our today’s pairing we decided to go (as always) for a less known hidden gem, presenting you a small organic winery, Valle delle Lepri and their white wine: Pignoletto. They were one of the first organic wineries in Romagna (always remember that Emilia and Romagna are considered as two different regions wine wise) since 1992. Family owned, with a total of 11 hectares (10 of vineyards and 1 of Olive trees) their focus is to produce more and more natural wines, with a huge respect and attention to the health of their consumers. Biodiversity and low intervention in the vineyards (no chemicals but some biodynamic preparations) and in the cellar (only native yeasts selected) are the key figures of their philosophy." Read her tasting notes & introduction here. crescione romagnolo
1. Place the flour in a bowl, add the water and olive oil and begin kneading with your hands for 5 minutes, until you achieve a smooth and compact dough. Set to one side and cover with a tea towel.
2. Place a few lugs of olive oil in a pan with a crushed garlic clove and let it brown slowly. Add the spinach and cook until soft. Add a few tablespoons of grated cheese and mix well. 3. Separate the dough into three equal sized balls and begin rolling them out one at the time. Roll circles, thin as a crêpe. Add half the spinach on one side of the circle, making sure to leave a border of at least 1cm. Fold the other side over the filling (forming a semi-circle) and press the corners well, pressing down with the ribs of a fork to seal the Crescione. Place it on a cast iron pan (or any other pan if you don’t have one) until bubbles form and it looks nice and crisp. Flip over and do the same. 4. Crescione needs to be eaten hot so pop them in the oven at 100 degrees as you prepare the rest so that they don’t cool down. 5. Make another spinach filled crescione then move onto the prosciutto one. Place the three slices of scamorza on half of the circle, top with the slices of prosciutto. Cover, seal and cook. 6. Before eating them, cut them in half with a serrated knife and serve. |
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trip 7 | friuli venezia giulia
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Both Manu and I are slightly obsessed by Friuli Venezia Giulia, a region which produces some of the best Italian natural wines—especially macerated wines, which we’re both big fans of.
Like many of Italy’s northern regions that sit on the border with another country, Friuli has a very unique history, entwined with the culture of its neighbouring countries: Slovenia on the right and Austria above. The mix of history and culture with its neighbours translates into the languages and dialects spoken in Friuli, which besides Italian are: Friulian, Venetian (in the towns close to Veneto’s border) and in the southeastern part of the region a dialect called Bisiaco, which has origins in Venetian dialect, Friulian and Slovenian. German-related dialects are also spoken in a few ancient areas of the region. A wonderful, historic book on Italian regional cuisines, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane by Anna Gosetti della Salda introduces Friuli Venezia Giulia by stating that in order to understand why its regional cuisine is so austere and without frills, one must first paint a picture of the region’s inhabitants. Compared to its neighbour, Veneto, which has a rich cuisine full of delicate elegance and colour, Friuli only absorbed its mountain food culture and recipes, traditions which had to do with living in pastures, among cattle, in solitude. This perfectly explains the presence of so much polenta, paired with high pasture cheese, such as Montasio, one of the key ingredients of this week’s recipe. It is interesting to note that most Friulian dishes are rudimental, robust and very flavoured, elegance and refinement do not interest the keepers of regional culinary traditions, the traditional dishes in fact point to the concept that it is a male cuisine, rather than a female one. I could talk for hours about customs of Italian traditional cuisine and what the plates which survived generations symbolize, but let’s not get too carried away, it’s time I introduce you to today’s dish: Frico, or fricò in Friulian. The dish consists of three main ingredients: high pasture cheese, onion and potatoes, all slowly cooked together to form a thin, crunchy crust on the outside, quite similar to a Swiss/Alpine rösti, if you’re familiar with the dish. A dish which used to be originally prepared as a way of using leftover cheese rinds, it then developed into a slightly richer dish which used the main part of the cheese. All the melted cheese, slow cooked onions and fried potatoes make the dish quite heavy, so it must be paired with a wine which cleans your palate and removes part of the greasiness associated to Frico, and I know Manu found a perfect wine for the job - which happens to be one of my favorite wines from Friuli too! "Today Orange wines are gaining more and more the respect and the high scores they deserve from critics and consumers also if there is still a consistent part of the wine lovers which still has not fallen in love with them.
The Karsus area, an impervious, windy and rocky area, on the border between Italy and Slovenia, is one of the renowned areas for orange wines. Here is where you can find another great personality for orange wines and the producer of the wine I chose for today's region: Sandi Skerk. He is a reference for natural wines since when he started in 2000, he wanted to go back to the old tradition of making wines in a very genuine way. The cellar itself is very impressive, a cave dug into the limestone rock which, by ensuring the right balance between humidity and temperature, allows the wines to mature perfectly in oak barrels. The six hectares of vineyards, located in inaccessible and inaccessible areas, enjoy a mild and temperate climate, due to the proximity of the sea and their red, barren and stony soil is rich in limestone and iron, essential elements for the production of quality grapes. He grows Vitovksa and Malvasia, two native grapes of that area plus Sauvignon blanc and Pinot Gris which are cultivated in the area since ages." Read Manu's full wine and pairing description here. frico |
Polenta being cut with a string in Friuli's mountains
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250g potatoes
250g Montasio cheese 1 red or white onion |
Olive oil
Salt and pepper Parsley (optional topping) |
1. Wash and peel the potatoes, then grate them using the largest holes on a cheese grater.
2. Peel the onion and slice it finely. Remove the cheese’s crust and grate it in the same large holes as the potatoes.
3. Place a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and slowly cook the onions, making sure they don’t brown and remain soft.
4. Once the onions are golden, add the grated cheese and potatoes, mix well and cook for 15 minutes on medium-low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. In a separate, non-stick pan, add a few lugs of olive oil on high heat, then pour in the mix, level it out with a spatula and cook over a high flame for a couple of minutes on each side, until you achieve a thin, crispy crust.
6. Serve hot!
2. Peel the onion and slice it finely. Remove the cheese’s crust and grate it in the same large holes as the potatoes.
3. Place a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and slowly cook the onions, making sure they don’t brown and remain soft.
4. Once the onions are golden, add the grated cheese and potatoes, mix well and cook for 15 minutes on medium-low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. In a separate, non-stick pan, add a few lugs of olive oil on high heat, then pour in the mix, level it out with a spatula and cook over a high flame for a couple of minutes on each side, until you achieve a thin, crispy crust.
6. Serve hot!
trip 6 | langhe, piemonte
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I was extremely excited when Manu proposed we tackle Piemonte as the next region not just because it is one of Italy’s most important wine and food regions but because part of my family is from Biella, and I had the fortune of living in the Langhe - the area where this week’s wine and dish are from - in 2018 and 2019. During my time in the area I had the chance to explore all things food and wine, thanks to my internship at the Alba White Truffle Fair and my Master’s Degree at UNISG, during which I drove up and down all the Langhe’s rolling hills in search of the best trattorie and plin.
The dish I chose to combine with Manu’s wine is a collection of the most Piemontese ingredients that exist. The main character of the dish is rice, Arborio rice to be exact, which grows extraordinarily well in the region's vast plains surrounding the cities of Novara and Vercelli, which provide the perfect ecosystem for this crop, which needs great amounts of water, to grow. Rice cultivation in Piemonte dates back to 1400, when a congregation of monks from Burgundy, France moved just outside Vercelli and founded an Abbey, who reclaimed the land and transformed it suitable for agriculture. Rice was however only cultivated for medicinal purposes, it was used to cure indigestion and other digestive system related illnesses. One century later, Leonardo Da Vinci worked on agricultural hydraulic engineering projects which allowed farmers to control the irrigation of their land, and studied and executed the first mechanisms for uplifting water. Half of the rice consumed by the entire European population is consumed in the area known as basso Piemonte, between Vercelli and Novara—that’s a lot of rice! The second most important ingredient of this week’s dish is hazelnuts. Alba is known all over the world for its excellent production of hazelnuts, it doesn’t come by surprise that Ferrero was born at the heart of hazelnut paradise! Driving around the hills surrounding Alba all one sees are vineyards, hazelnut trees and castles atop basically every hill. The variety found in the Langhe is called Tonda Gentile delle Langhe, and is especially unique due to its thin shell, which allows for a very small loss in weight of the product, its wonderful aroma and delicate flavour and reduced quantity of fat content, making the nut prone to maintaining its features in conservation, without risking it becoming rancid. I decided to combine these two gems of Piedmontese cuisine in a cream risotto al bianco, on top of which I drizzled toasted hazelnuts and a handful of diced apples, to give the dish a fresh note and contrasting texture. I then passed the baton onto Manu, who made a wonderful selection: Choosing this week's wine has been one of the hardest decision, compared to all other regions. First of all because Piemonte offers a wide variety of some of the greatest Italian wines (and most of my personal favourites), so I had to choose among the most famous Italian denominations and wines, such as Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara and co.
Secondly, the risotto that Carlotta would have prepared required a wine that should contribute to enhance the characteristics of the dish. I did not want to seem trivial in my choice, so after dwelling on many wines for days I finally made my choice: an incredibly good quality v.s. price wine, from a well know but artisanal producer - but not his Barolo, a wine that most people never taste when trying some Langhe wines - his Dolcetto instead. So today’s wine is Dolcetto d’Alba 2017 by Giuseppe Rinaldi. Giuseppe Rinaldi represents staunchly traditionalist views on winemaking that have brought the estate into conflict with the Barolo Consortium. Most significantly, the estate has always maintained that the best wines from Barolo have always been blends from several sites, rather than the currently fashionable single-vineyard expression. Rinaldi's most prominent wines were blends from Brunate and Le Coste, and the Cannubi and Ravera vineyards respectively, and were labeled as such. However, Italian law passed in 2009 restricted labels to a single designated vineyard or none at all, requiring at least 85 percent of fruit to come from the named vineyard. Giuseppe Rinaldi vocally opposed the changes. Click here to read the rest of Rinaldi's super interesting story, Manu's wine notes and a novelty: Manu's own recipe for Gin Tonic with White Vermouth! risotto in bianco con nocciole300g arborio
1 litre vegetable or meat stock 1 cup dry white wine 2 handfuls hazelnuts Salt and pepper |
1 apple Parmigiano Butter Soft cheese (like robiola d’alba) |
1. Place a deep, non stick pot over medium heat and add the rice, stir frequently to let it toast. Once it’s too hot to hold in your hand it has toasted enough.
Pour in the wine and let it sfumare.
2. Once the wine has been absorbed begin pouring in the boiling hot broth ladle by ladle, stirring in between so it is absorbed well.
3. Repeat this process until the rice is al dente. In the meantime, dice the apple finely and place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for a few minutes on high temperature and grill setting in the oven. Once cooled down, break them into smaller bits.
4. Add another ladle of broth, mix well and turn off the flame. Add a few handfuls of parmigiano, butter to your pleasing and a few tablespoons of soft cheese. Mix vigorously, also known as the mantecatura phase in Italian, then add salt and pepper to taste and leave it to sit for a few minutes.
5. Place the risotto on individual plates and top with a sprinkle of hazelnuts and a dozen apple dices.
Pour in the wine and let it sfumare.
2. Once the wine has been absorbed begin pouring in the boiling hot broth ladle by ladle, stirring in between so it is absorbed well.
3. Repeat this process until the rice is al dente. In the meantime, dice the apple finely and place the hazelnuts on a baking tray and toast for a few minutes on high temperature and grill setting in the oven. Once cooled down, break them into smaller bits.
4. Add another ladle of broth, mix well and turn off the flame. Add a few handfuls of parmigiano, butter to your pleasing and a few tablespoons of soft cheese. Mix vigorously, also known as the mantecatura phase in Italian, then add salt and pepper to taste and leave it to sit for a few minutes.
5. Place the risotto on individual plates and top with a sprinkle of hazelnuts and a dozen apple dices.
trip 5 | venice, veneto
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This week we decided to focus on a specific city and the vineyard within it - if you even can consider it ‘within’ the city…
Are you feeling confused? Let us shed some light. There’s an island in the middle of Venice’s lagoon which has vineyards on it, now known as the ORTO di Venezia. It might come as a surprise to many of you to discover that in the middle of a lagoon lies a wine producer, but viticulture is extraordinarily tied to Venice’s history. Until 1100 there was a vineyard planted smack bang in the middle of Venice, in Piazza San Marco no less, so it is clear that the city historically has a great terroir, where local and international varieties grow and thrive. Unfortunately, in 1966 the tides were greater and more powerful than usual, destroying everything they came upon, including the vast majority of vineyards. The tradition and culture of winemaking fortunately survived within the people, and is what inspired Michel Thoulouze to start producing wine. These vines are even more magical because over the course of the years they’ve adapted perfectly to Venice’s tides rising daily - they’re used to the water’s salinity and are able to survive it, something which is wonderfully reflected in the wine’s palpable minerality. Mr Thoulouze decided to age a selection of his 2011 ORTO vintage at the bottom of Venice’s lagoon - aboard a sunken ship - which he believes to be the best cellar possible: without light, with no temperature variation, allowing the wine to age gracefully. "So he decided to plant some local and Italian varieties with a very precise concept and philosophy: small intervention in the vineyards and in the cellar. That’s how ORTO di Venezia was born. Only manual work in the fields, the vines are all ungrafted due to the particular location of the vineyards, the soil is a mix of clay limestone and dolomite rock. No weeding, no fertilizer, no irrigation, only hard manual work. The wine is made with Malvasia Istriana (inidgenous grapes from north east Italy), Vermentino and Fiano, which are respectively grapes from the Tirreno side of the country. The wine is pretty aromatic in the nose and extremely balanced in the mouth. The most vibrant and present sensation is the minerality and the salinity of this wine. Each sip will take your mind to the beautiful lagoon of Venice." Head over to Manu's blog for her full description of the wine and her top tips on where to eat and drink in Venice! To pay further homage to the city of Venice, I simply had to choose one of the most well known foods and moments of consumption throughout the day. Aperitivo is one of the most important moments of the day in Venice. Locals and tourists gather at the hundreds of bars, small restaurants and bacari to enjoy a glass of wine and an assortment of finger foods, known as cicchetti. These can vary from a tiny sandwich filled with cured meats and cheese to baccalà mantecato on crunchy bread and sarde in saor: anchovies preserved in agrodolce (a mix of vinegar, olive oil and salt). The criteria is bite-size food and local products, and it’s important to note that they are not traditionally prepared at home. Cicchetti are something Venetians eat when they go out and socialize, they represent community and the wonderfully Italian custom of gathering at 6:30pm for a glass of wine and snack. Polpettine di vitello and baccalà mantecato are the two cicchetti I chose to pair with this week’s wine, as a way of demonstrating that both meat and fish work perfectly with macerated wine. What’s great about both recipes is that you can make them in advance and in large quantities with little fuss, making them perfect as appetizers for a dinner party or when hosting your own aperitivo. polpettine di vitello
1. Place the minced meat in a bowl, add a whole egg, the mashed potato, garlic and chopped parsley.
2. Place the slices of mortadella in a blender and turn on high speed, blending until the mortadella is minced, then add it to the bowl. 3. Squeeze the bread, removing the excess milk and place in the bowl. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Add a handful of parmigiano. 4. Mix everything with your hands they divide into sections and place in the blender one by one, until you achieve a compact, slightly stick mix. 5. Take a tablespoon of meat and roll it into a small ball with your hands, then roll it through a plate with breadcrumbs, coating each meatball well. 6. Melt a stick of butter in a non-stick pan, once it begins to bubble add the meatballs (making sure they don’t overlap) and cook them for a few minutes, tossing often so they maintain their round shape. Once they look nice and golden, remove them and place them on a plate. |
picture by @postcardsbyhannah
baccalà mantecato
1. Place the baccalà in a bowl with cold water and leave it to rest for 12 hours, changing the water twice.
2. After the hours have passed, place the fish in a pot and cover it with cold water, then bring to boil. As soon as it boils, remove the layer of foam that has formed, turn off the heat and leave it to rest for 20 minutes. If it is still hard, boil it for a further 10 minutes. 3. Remove the fish’s skin and scales, then place it in a blender along with the parsley, garlic and mashed potato. As you begin to blend, pour in as much olive oil as it absorbs. 4. If it results too salty, place it in a pot and over the low flame add milk gradually, mixing well so that it is all absorbed, until you can no longer taste as much salt. 5. Place a tablespoon of baccalà mantecato on a slice of warm, toasted bread and top everything off with a drizzle of olive oil. |
trip 4 | irpinia, campania
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You’re probably familiar with Naples, and its region, Campania. Mozzarella, Pizza, Capri, Pompeii and so on are what people immediately associate to the sunny region in the south of Italy. A place you might be slightly less familiar with is the area of Irpinia, which sits on the border with Puglia and Basilicata.
An area with mountains that reach over 1000 meters above sea level—it’s also a skiing destination! In the middle of this unexpected and undiscovered territory, especially outside of Italy are picturesque towns dotted all around and vineyards - a lot of vineyards. The area is in fact famous for the production of some very prominent Italian wine denominations: Greco di Tufo DOCG, Taurasi DOCG and Fiano di Avellino DOCG. A beautiful land which unfortunately, exactly 40 years ago today, was hit by a devastating earthquake, 6.9 on the richter scale, which destroyed whole towns and many, many lives. To this day the pain and loss of Irpinia’s inhabitants is still visible. Right on the border with Basilicata sits Calitri, a town that climbs up a hill with brightly coloured houses, bringing joy to everyone that looks upon it. A town with a rich gastronomic and enologic heritage and the reason why Manu and I decided to focus on this little parcel of land. To pay homage to Campania’s historic tradition of pasta, especially machine-made, dried pasta, I decided to share the recipe of one of Calitri’s local dishes, Cannazze di Calitri. The name has origins that date back to the ‘700s, when this long, tube shaped pasta used to be left to dry on canes, and was therefore called cannazza. It is the dish that represents and was cooked for young married couples, so it obviously had to be made with ziti, which in neapolitan dialect means 'bride'. In more recent times it has become the pasta dish that every family makes for a Sunday lunch - you’re not considered a local if you don’t eat it on Sundays, apparently. The ziti are coated in a rich, flavourful tomato sauce and topped with vraciole (braciole in Italian) - thinly sliced veal wrapped up with pine nuts, parsley, garlic and Pecorino - another symbol of nuptials, as the wrapping of the two elements symbolises the union between two people. Manu found a wonderful Fiano from the exact same town, produced just a few hundred meters from where you can taste a delicious dish of cannazze if you’re ever lucky enough to be in the area, you can find her complete wine pairing discovery over here. When talking about Campania, we immediately think about Positano, Capri, the Amalfi Coast and Naples, with its food culture. Naples is indeed the city of street food par excellence, I remember when I went there last time, being overwhelmed with the smell coming from the food trucks and shops all around the historical centre. Tempting me all day long with their frittata di pasta (made with pasta leftovers), pizza fritta (yes, fried!) and cuoppo fritto (a cone shaped paper full of fries goodies, usually squids or meatballs).
I know that most of you were expecting a food and wine pairing from the coast side, but this time, also if both me and Carlotta love those places, we decided to go and explore a lesser known area. That’s mostly because of the purpose of our regional food and wine pairing series, to let you discover lesser known gems out of the most touristy paths, that can really transport you to the true essence of Italy. The wine I chose for this week is a very special treat. A wine that comes from Alta Irpinia, Calitri village, contrada Tufiello, made with 100% Fiano, a very diffuse local white grape variety, but grown in a mountainous area where vines survive at 800 meters a.s.l. in volcanic soils. So, without further ado, here is the recipe to make the wonderful, rich, comforting, Irpinian dish:
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200g ziti pasta ½ a litre of passata 1 onion 2 garlic cloves Handful of pine nuts 4 slices of thinly cut veal Handful of parsley Handful of Parmigiano or Pecorino Olive oil Salt and pepper |
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trip 3 | toscana
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After having covered Manuela’s home, Sardinia, and mine, Lombardia, it was only natural that we moved onto Tuscany, the region where we both live and where we met!
When deciding what wine to introduce you to, from this huge and extremely diverse region we both came to the conclusion that we should set aside the big classics that are Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico and make space for a lesser known wine, which just so happens to belong to our favorite category of wines ever: orange wine. It just so happens that orange wines pair perfectly with foods rich in umami flavour, which usually derives from meat, cheese, broth and - pertinent to the dish I chose - tomato paste. Pappa al Pomodoro is one of Tuscany’s most celebrated dishes, which has rural and waste-free origins. It is in fact supposed to be made with overripe tomatoes and stale bread. Bread is at the basis of Tuscan cuisine, it is eaten with every salume, formaggio, used to do scarpetta on a tasty sauce - although, alas, it is always sciapo, without salt - so it is a natural consequence that most traditional dishes have as a main ingredient stale bread. There is almost a ritual aspect of cooking the pappa, traditions state that you must only mix the soup as it cooks once a thin veil has formed on the top, and then wait for the veil to form again before mixing it - one must repeat this process seven times. Pappa, as it is known by Tuscans, can be found throughout the whole region, although every town and city has its own slightly different variation, some add onions instead of garlic, others add wine to soften the bread, and so on. Siena is the town we're focusing on for this gastronomic trip, and they like to add a few leaves of fresh basil and freshly grated flakes of Parmigiano cheese on top. But I'll let Manu now describe all the reasons why the wine she chose pairs perfectly with my pappa. Pappa al pomodoro looks indeed like a simple food but it is not, especially in terms of pairing. We usually eat it as entree, before the first course, or as a first course, but you can also have it as a main course. The bread and the tomato sauce give the dish structure, while the spices brings a lot of aromatic flavours. The sensations you will find in the palate are mainly the acidity from the tomato sauce and a bit of oiliness. So the wine should have a good structure but too much, as it would cover the dish, and a complex and aromatic nose, but gentle. In the mouth it should have a good acidity but not too high and some smoothness to balance the acidity of the tomato, better if with a savoury and mineral finish and a little tannic to clean up the oily sensation after each bite. Sounds pretty complicated to find a wine with all these characteristics. Well not if you are familiar with orange wines, which luckily I am. I love orange wines because they are very flexible in terms of food pairing. For this recipe I choose one of my most recent discoveries, Santa Tre, an orange wine, from Cantina Santa10. To read about the tasting notes and our tips for Siena visit my blog, here. And for the Pappa al Pomodoro recipe, click here. |
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trip 2 | lombardia
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This week we’re jumping from Sardinia to mainland Italy, Lombardy precisely - my home! As I always like to give myself a culinary challenge, this week was no different. Lombardy is a region well known by a lot of people, especially when it comes to Milan and all the other large cities, or Lake Como. Consequently, I wanted to research and share with you a dish from an area of the region which isn’t as notorious: Valtellina, which begins at the tip of Lake Como and runs parallel to the border with Switzerland.
Buckwheat has been cultivated in Valtellina for more than four centuries, making this ingredient entwined with local flavours and recipes, from pizzoccheri - dark tagliatelle-like pasta which is the valley’s most famous food - to sciatt, the subject of today’s recipe. The area of Valtellina is a mountain area, with meters of snow in winter and beautiful, bright green pastures in summer, so its traditional food is reflected in the low temperatures reached year round. In other words - they eat a lot of highly caloric, rich food, which often can be fried, as is the case for sciatt. Crunchy fried balls with a molten cheese interior, made with a pastella made from buckwheat flour, beer, fizzy water and a drop of grappa - an ingredient you won’t find added to pastella anywhere else - giving the dough an enticing aroma. If you’re not really a fan of cheese then you can try the sweet alternative: with molten chocolate instead of cheese. Why did I mention the eating rituals of the mountain communities in Valtellina? As it happens, until a few hundred years ago, sciatt would be eaten for breakfast, accompanied by a tall glass of milk. Yes - the cheese versions, not the sweet one. The combination of fried cheese and milk was the best way to face the cold day ahead. An additional bonus of buckwheat flour is that it is gluten free, so if sciatt or pizzoccheri are made without the addition of other flours they can be enjoyed by everyone. If you happen to visit Valtellina, you can easily spot the numerous buckwheat cultivations, which surround all the towns, and have flowers all year round. When Carlotta said, “I am going to bring a fried dish from Lombardy for our weekly regional virtual tour”, I immediately thought: “wow that’s perfect”! Why? For two main reasons: one is because Lombardy is very well known for its lovely sparkling wines which are perfectly paired with fried dishes as the bubbles can clean up your palate from the oily sensation fried foods often leave. An amazing marriage, as indeed every bite calls for a sip and every sip prepares your mouth for the next bite. The second main reason is that in Valtellina there is one of my absolute favourite red wines ever. To discover which wines ManuPaper choose to pair with sciatt check her part of the article at the link here: www.thepaperplanejourneyblog.com |
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Sciatt Recipe
Serves 4 (as an appetizer) 100g of buckwheat flour 50g of plain “00” flour Salt 5g of grappa 20ml of beer 125g of cheese: Casera is the traditional one used, but other non-aged, hard cheeses work too. Extra virgin olive oil to fry Fizzy water (roughly 200ml) |
1. Place the flours in a bowl with half a tablespoon of salt and add the grappa and beer. Begin mixing and gradually add the fizzy water, until you have a thick but liquid dough. Cover it and leave to rest for one hour.
2. Cut the cheese into 2 cm squares and fold them into the dough. 3. Pour two fingers of olive oil into a non-stick pot or pan and heat it. When it has reached the right heat it will begin to smoke, at that point, drop in a tablespoon of dough with a piece of cheese and flip a couple of times until golden. 4. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place on a plate covered with kitchen paper to remove the excess oil. Eat whilst hot. |
trip 1 | Sardegna
As anticipated on Instagram, Manuela and I will take you on a virtual enogastronomic trip of an Italian region every week. The first region we’re taking you to see is Sardinia, Manu’s home and one of my favorite places in Italy!
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The first thing that comes to everyone's mind when talking about Sardinian wines is Cannonau, with no doubt. This grape has always been considered the king and the emblem of Sardinian red wines and wines in general, while it is often associated with some wine characteristics which do not really match the new trends for wine lovers and sommeliers.
Mamoiada is a very small village in the heart of Barbagia, the Sardinian inland. The history of Mamoiada and its Cannonau is a different story that gets lost back in time, a family history, a tradition which is profoundly radicated in the culture of this land. In this area, famous for the Mamuthones (ancestral masks, linked to a very old carnival tradition, but not only) each family produces its own wine and every inhabitant of the village has its vineyard to make wine, while the proper wineries are less than 20. Here the king is absolutely Cannonau grape, but a very special one. The concept of Cannonau here has always been a very “modern” one, because this is how it was born since the beginning in this highly vocate area. The wine Mamuthone, from Giuseppe Sedilesu winery, expresses this concept and the perfect marriage between the tradition and a more approachable kind of wine. Cannonau wine is generally considered very rich, a wine with a big structure, full bodied and pretty round, but here, in Mamoiada this is not always true. The philosophy of this winery is making a sustainable wine, from the vineyards to the cellar, simplify the winemaking approach in the cellar, using big oak barrels of 40ht and concrete to decant the wine before the bottling. Spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts and non filtered wines. The result is a great base wine, with a more modern concept, more into the taste of contemporary consumers and sommeliers, with a finesse and freshness which sometimes has been lost in the past in these wines, but that in Mamoiada is a key feature. For this reason Mamuthone is a wine that can be paired not only with traditional Sardinian dishes (which is still a great marriage) but also with a more contemporary and lighter cooking. It’s a must have wine in your private cellar as it is very versatile and you don't need to pull out your grill to open a bottle. A wine that will go very well with many pasta dishes, with both meat or seafood sauce (tomato sauce) and also with vegetarian ones. We decided to choose a very traditional pairing in this case, the one with Malloreddus pasta with sausage ragù from which Carlotta will be sharing the history and the recipe. Malloreddus are small durum wheat flour ‘gnocchi’ with external ridges and a concave interior. They hold the first place prize for being the most cooked traditional dish during sagre, festivities and weddings. All around the world, food preparation was historically the role of very specific people, it wasn’t something done by everyone like it is nowadays. In rural Italy it was massaie who traditionally prepared meals, as well as taking care of all other household affairs - they have been carefully shaping malloreddus for centuries. A strong indication of the dishes’ rural origins lies within the name itself: malloreddu is a diminutive of the word malloru, which in sardo campidanese, the local dialect of the area where the pasta originates from, means bull. Although some of Italy’s best fish and seafood is found in Sardinia’s waters, it is historically a land of farmers and mountain communities surrounded by cattle and livestock, and malloreddus pay homage to the region’s agricultural heritage. Their ridged exterior which is nowadays achieved by a rigagnocchi: a wooden paddle scored by vertical lines - used to be achieved by rolling the rectangular bits of pasta dough on a basket made from hay woven together. The lined texture paired with the concave shape are ideal for scooping up sauce, which is traditionally a ragù made with sausages and dry fennel seeds. Orgosolo and Mamoiada are small villages also known for their street art. During your stay, be sure to visit some of the very interesting wineries like Giuseppe Sedilesu and Giovanni Montisci. If you're feeling peckish in Orgosolo go to Il Portico Ristorante for a filling lunch or to the Alimentari Mercurio & C for a loaf of cocones, the town's traditional bread. |
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Sausage ragù recipe:
For 4 people 1 onion, finely diced 1 carrot, finely diced 1 stick of celery, finely diced 2 tablespoons of dry fennel seeds Olive oil 2 cans of pelati or passata 4 pork sausages Pecorino sardo (optional) |
1. Place a few lugs of olive oil in a deep, non-stick pot and turn the heat onto medium high.
2. Once the oil is hot, throw in the diced onion, carrot and celery as well as the fennel seeds, turn heat on medium-low and let the veggies brown nicely and soften. 3. Squeeze the sausage out of its case and place it in the pot once the soffritto has softened, in large chunks. 4. Once the sausage chunks have browned nicely on each side pour in the first can of passata or pelati, then rinse the can with a bit of water and pour that into the pot as well. Add the second can if the meat is not almost entirely submerged in tomatoes. 5. Once the ragù begins to bubble, turn the heat onto low and cover the pot with a lid and leave it to simmer for a few hours.The more you cook it slowly for the softer the meat will become. 6. When you’re satisfied with the taste and consistency of your ragù, add as much as you want onto pasta, and top everything off with a fresh shaving of Pecorino Sardo. |