Why Italians Love to Talk About Food (26 page)
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Authors: Elena Kostioukovitch
Spit-roasted eels are a renowned typical product for export. It is known that during the Congress of Vienna four barrels of smoked, roasted eels were brought from Comacchio for Metternich personally. In that way the inhabitants of Romagna dreamed of ingratiating themselves with Metternich: the historically radical, freedom-loving region hoped to obtain longed-for independence from papal power when the time came for the definitive partition of Europe. To be fair, Metternich was not to be bought: he took the eels, but did not stoop to compromises.
Eels are also roasted on the grill split in half, giving them the shape of a violin (
anguilla a violino
). Or they are roasted directly on live coals (
a braciolette
). Particularly prized are the larger specimens, called
capitoni
. On Christmas Eve, in many regions of Italy, people go wild searching for this rare treat, to display it on the holiday table. The most prized specimens are intended for the festive table: the females, which reach a length of nearly a meter and a weight of almost five kilograms. The smaller eels are called
buratelle
and are less sought after.
The sliced eels were exported, and the local inhabitants were left with the scraps: the heads. These became traditional ingredients for an important regional dish,
brodetto
(fish soup), which besides being eaten as is could also be used as a base for the typical risotto. According to William Black, author of
Al Dente
,
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even seagulls once
ended up in this broth. Experts claim that in Comacchio's cuisine you can even find a stew of eel entrails and a salami made with pieces of eel left over from processing, stuffed into eel skin and left to dry.
In Salsomaggiore Terme, another village with a completely different character, salsobromoidic waters gush right out of the ground. There, among therapeutic waters and rejuvenating muds, Gemma salt, billed throughout Italy as a valid alternative to sea salt, is extracted and packaged for sale. From these parts, between the provinces of Piacenza and Parma, the Via Francigena of the penitents crossed the Apennines, connecting Pavia to Lucca (see “Pilgrims”). Upon reaching the thermal springs of Salsomaggiore, the Rome-bound pilgrims would rest and linger a bit in the salt waters. They washed their horses in Bagnacavallo and knelt before the image of the Madonna of Careno in Pellegrino Parmense. It is in Pellegrino Parmense that the celebrated Fair of Parmigiano-Reggiano takes place each year, at the beginning of July. Evidently Parmesan, a hard, highly caloric, and vitamin-rich cheese that does not spoil even in the warmest months, was also considered a food for the pilgrims' journey. Toward the south lies the ancient town of Bobbio, celebrated for the abbey founded by St. Columbanus in 614. The town of Bobbio is also famous for its snails, including those that are smoked (their
sagra
is celebrated each year, in December), and its highly sought-after white truffles.
The city of Ferrara has always been a fashionable, aristocratic place. One of the most opulent courts of the Renaissance, Ferrara was the principal showcase for the creations of Italian designers and perfumers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The ceremonious, solemn ducal life called for sumptuous banquets, for which ceramic tableware was expressly produced in the fifteenth century in the city of Faenza, not too far from Ferrara. Arabic plates were used as models, having been brought to Romagna by pilgrims and monks returning from the Spanish sanctuary of Santiago de Compostela. The plates were called majolica, after the island of Majorca. Thus the splendid majolica of Faenza was born, today part and parcel of the history of European applied art. Faenza was also the birthplace of desserts that were as gaily colored as the ceramics: candied fruit and fruit cup medleys.
Following the disorderly binges of the Middle Ages, decorous behavior became a norm for diners in Ferrara, in accordance with the elegantly laid tables. The introduction of etiquette demanded persistence on the part of the host, presence of mind on the part of the guests, and swift service from the household staff. Those invited to the banquet were made to understand that meat could no longer be torn apart with one's
hands, but at the same time this held the hosts responsible for ensuring that it was sliced and served on time on individual plates. As a result, the success of the meal was determined by the swiftness of the steward, the servant assigned to carve and serve the meats. In Ferrara, this task was assigned to skilled virtuosos, who were intellectuals to boot. In 1533, Ferrarese majordomo Cristoforo da Messisbugo was so skillfully able to carve the meat on the plate of the most distinguished guest, Emperor Charles V, that the emperor bestowed on him the title of Count Palatine. At the time, Cristoforo was already the author of the first printed handbook on the art of serving at banquets,
8
a work that was later supplemented by a number of recipes and reprinted many times over with the title of
Libro novo nel qual s'insegna a far d'ogni sorte di vivanda secondo la diversità de i tempi così di carne come di pesce
(New book that teaches how to make every kind of dish depending on the different seasons for meat as well as fish).
The scholarly Cristoforo da Messisbugo was not the only one of his kind. Besides Cristoforo, Ferrara was home to the noted author of
Il trinciante
(The carver), Giovan Battista Rossetti. Working in a similar capacity in Parma was Vincenzo Cervio, author of a cookbook with the same title. Bartolomeo Stefani worked as a carver in Bologna, not in the sixteenth but in the seventeenth century.
Tradition is always combined with innovation in Emilia and Romagna. Intellectual activity is prized here, and ideas deified. Socialism was so well received here in the twentieth century that it generated Mussolini's
fasci
, or political groups, which were formed for the first time in Romagna. In the fifteenth century, Prince Alberto III of the Pio family, a refined humanist and man of letters, imagined an ideal city and sketched its plan on paper. The architect Baldassarre Peruzzi transformed the dream into reality, and the city of Carpi was born: intelligently laid out, with a circular plan, the city is industrious and still today opulent (Carpi is also the capital of a textile district). From the time of its origins, Carpi has vaunted its own culinary rarity. The recipe of the famous Carpi
mostarda
, unlike that of Cremona
mostarda
, does not call for sugar: the fruit, boiled in must with the mustard, is sweetened with orange syrup.
Among the gastronomic specialties of Ferrara, however, one has survived unchanged for six centuries and is still prepared according to an ancient, rigid ritual. It is the
salama da sugo
, which is not at all a salami. Before ending up at the table, this product requires lengthy boiling in water (either in a bain-marie or steamer), wrapped tightly in a cloth so that it does not split open (today there are excellent little plastic bags that can endure cooking) and hung in such a way that it does not
touch the pot. To eat it, you uncover it and scoop out the soft, juicy mixture with a spoon: cutting it with a knife is forbidden. It is usually accompanied by mashed potatoes, though much more typical of Ferrara, with its customary sweet-savory contrast, is mashed pumpkin: potatoes, as we know, came later, from America. An entire epic was dedicated to it, the
Salameide
by Antonio Frizzi (1772), from which, in particular, it is clear that the
salama
is composed mainly of liver, and not of meat:
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From pig liver mixed with a little meat,
ground and chopped in a grinder,
a succulent
salama
my Ferrara
makes, which is not found elsewhere . . .
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According to the recipe that Riccardo Bacchelli (1891â1985) describes in his popular novel
Il mulino del Po
(
The Mill on the Po
), 1938â40, for the
salama
to age it must be kept in a cold place for five years (one year, according to Pellegrino Artusi). It must then be boiled for a long time, for eight to ten hours in keeping with one theory, ten to twelve hours according to another. Giuseppe Longhiâin his book
Le donne, i cavalier, l'armi, gli amori
(Of loves and ladies, knights and arms, I sing)
9
âsays that the
salamina
was considered irreplaceable at wedding banquets in the lavish court of Ferrara for its hematopoietic virtues and because it gave a man who has tasted it virile potency and tender ardor. Domenico Vincenzo Chendi, parish priest of the Romagna village of Tresigallo (in the province of Ferrara), who lived in the eighteenth century, compiled a treatise on the upright agrarian life: when he reached the subject of cured meats and, in particular, the
salama da sugo
, he wrote that, among the divine punishments hurled down upon the Jews, the heaviest punishment was the “deprivation of this excellent and most beneficial food.”
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TYPICAL DISHES OF EMILIA ROMAGNA
First Courses
Variations on the theme of ravioli. The traditional filling is made of roasted meat and Parmesan, or soft bread and egg, or greens (spinach, chard) with Parmesan. The pasta dough, unlike the dry kind, kneaded with water, is a blend of flour and eggs in which there should not be a single drop of water (see “Pasta”). Emilian stuffed pastas, such as tortellini (Bologna and Modena),
agnolini
(Piacenza and Parma),
cappelletti
(Reggio Emilia and Ferrara), and pumpkin-filled
tortelli
(Ferrara), are famous. Well-known in Romagna are
agnolotti
,
garganelli
,
passatelli
,
strozzapreti
, and
ravioli
with chestnut filling (Faenza). Fried gnocchi in Emilia. In addition to the filled pastas, the
panzerotti
, a specialty of Piacenza, deserve separate mention: these are a type of
crespella
(crepe or pancake) filled with ricotta and spinach (
panzerotti alla piacentina
, Piacenza-style). Lasagna, widespread throughout the region, should also be mentioned: composed, as everyone knows, of layers of pasta noodles alternating with
ragù
and drizzled with béchamel. Tagliatelle, fresh egg noodles in the shape of long, flat ribbons, are served and eaten with many sauces, but traditionally with meat
ragù
. A sauce of cubed prosciutto fried in butter is also used. Spinach is found in the dough of green tagliatelle.
Another basic item of the local cuisine is the
piadina
.
In Emilia focaccias called
chizze
are made, stuffed with slivers of Parmesan and then fried in lard, along with the so-called
crescente
(riser), the focaccia from Bologna (the raised part of Piazza Maggiore in Bologna bears the same name: Crescentone). Bits of lard are added to its dough, which is composed of flour and ice water.
Soups
These are typically very thick, with ten varieties of fish at the same time (ironically they are called
brodetto
, light broth), sometimes made with eel. In the eel-based
brodetto
no oil is added: its own fat is sufficient. Also famous are marinated eels (factories for their production have existed in the Po Delta for more or less three hundred years). These eels are first roasted alive over oak wood coals, then immersed in the marinade.
Second Courses
To be truthful, there are no particularly interesting second-course dishes in Emilia and in Romagna: for the most part they are traditional meat dishes that differ from city to city. Although the pig, with everything that can possibly be derived from its butchering, is foremost at the top of the gastronomical pyramid in Emilia, there is one place in the region (Piacenza) where horsemeat (
picula d'caval
, ground up like meatballs) and goat (cubed and cooked in white wine) are more prized than pork. Parma's specialty is pigeon roasted on a spit; Modena's is hare. In Sarsina, the town where Plautus lived and wrote his works, the typical dish is mutton from young sheep (the
castrato
), stuffed with juniper berries. In Reggio Emilia, it is turkey (turkey pie). In Guastalla, near Reggio Emilia, it's guinea hen. Throughout Romagna, it's lamb (
romagnola-
style), with peas and tomato sauce.
In Reggio Emilia boiled greens seasoned simply with oil and salt are often eaten. In Casola Valsenio, in the province of Ravenna, you can visit an incredible botanical garden, the Giardino delle Erbe (Herb Garden): four hundred species of edible herbs, grown on four hectares of land, a genuine living encyclopedia. In Reggio herbs are used to stuff the
piadine
and to make a savory pie aptly called the
erbazzone
.
The most famous of the herbs of Romagna is called
stridoli
or
strigoli
(
Silene vulgaris angustifolia
); it is used in a soup made with meat broth and homemade egg noodles called
maltagliati
(literally, “badly cut”). A
sagra
for
strigoli
(a kind of bladder campion) is also celebrated in the Romagna village of Galeata di Forlì.
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TYPICAL PRODUCTS OF EMILIA ROMAGNA
Parmigiano-Reggiano. Naturally, it is produced in Parma and Reggio Emilia. As one of the wonders of the world, it relegates the other cheeses of the region to the shadows. Among them, however, the cheese known as
Fossa (for the underground pit in which it matures) deserves mention for its exoticism. Fossa cheese is a typical product of Sogliano al Rubicone and matures in deep pits, buried in tufa and eaten by worms. The history of this rarity goes back to 1486, when the army of Alfonso of Aragon, son of the king of Naples, was defeated by the French; at that time Alfonso requested “hospitality” from Gerolamo Riario, ruler of the city of Forlì. Asylum was offered to him, but there was the problem of feeding his army: formerly an enemy and now a friend, it was in any case ravenous. Therefore, as soon as the soldiers turned to pillaging, the peasants hid the food supplies, only to discover, months later, the prodigious taste of the cheeses that had been left to age underground in the stone pits. The buried cheeses did not dry out like those left in storehouses and cellars, but preserved their fluids, became imbued with aroma, and acquired an amber color. It is thought that a good pit must have been used for no less than ten years: only then do enough microorganisms accumulate to assure the quality of the cheese's ripening.
At the beginning of August, straw is burned in the empty pits to disinfect them, and then the walls are covered with fresh straw. The cheese is wrapped in a cloth and lowered to the bottom of the pit on Assumption Day (August 15), to be taken out about three months later, on St. Catherine's Day (November 25).
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Emilian salamis are part of the repertory of the nation's glories. The classic Bolognese mortadella made of pork and beef is more noble than the common mortadella of Modena, composed only of pork. Wine, pepper, mace (the dried, ground layer between a nutmeg shell and its outer husk), coriander, and garlic are found in both. The filling of this salami is stuffed into a pig's bladder (a synthetic gut is prohibited). The sausages undergo a lengthy heat treatment at a temperature between 75 and 77 degrees C. Cristoforo da Messisbugo gives the earliest recipe for the preparation of
mortadella. First he describes in detail the process of cleaning and emptying the pig bladder; then he lists the ingredients of the filling mixture, after which he explains how the casing is to be stuffed: stamp the mixture with your fist in a certain way and add a glass of red wine. Chopped meat is then added to the mixture, along with muscles of the sacrum, singed ears, prepared tongues, and toasted feet.
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Besides mortadella, another worldwide celebrity is the prosciutto of Parma, which is obtained only from young pigs raised freely on the slopes of the mountain. It represents a harmony of savory and sweet that is unique among the prosciuttos. Establishments for smoking and salting these prosciuttos are found in Langhirano, a town near Parma. Langhirano is called the “university of prosciuttos”: for some time salamis and prosciuttos, both cured (
crudo
) and cooked (
cotto
), have been transported here from other Emilian provinces, so as to make them
rinsavire
(come to their senses): they are hung in dry air for five months in long rows of huts and then complete their aging in Langhirano's natural caves, each for the period of time required by its processing method.
The king of Parma prosciuttos is the
culatello
of Zibello. It is obtained from the center part of the prosciutto, and only from pigs fourteen months old, fed with whey, bran, corncobs, and orzo. It takes a leg of fifteen kilograms for a
culatello
of four kilograms (weight is lost with the trimming, dripping, and drying).
Culatello
must be aged for fourteen months. The Consortium of the Culatello of Zibello, which safeguards and certifies the quality of the product, has established that processing must occur solely and exclusively in the period between October and February, when the Bassa Padana (Po lowland) is enveloped in fog and cold. It is in that period that the meat obtained from the leg of the adult pigs, raised according to traditional methods, is skinned, trimmed of fat, deboned, separated from the
fiocchetto
(the leaner, interior part of the leg) and carved by hand, so as
to give it the characteristic pear shape. These operations will then be followed, after approximately ten days, by the salting and so-called investiture, that is, stuffing the pig bladder with the sausage mixture and tying it with the string, which after maturation will form a wide, irregular mesh. Aging in cellars takes the
culatello
from winter fogs to summer heat, to arrive on our tables the following winter at the peak of its most original flavor qualities.
Each year no less than seven thousand authentic
culatelli
, home-produced and bearing the brand of the Consortium of the Culatello of Zibello, reach the market. An additional thirteen thousand are produced with the aid of machines. These sausages are labeled DOP (Denomination of Protected Origin). With the scraps of the
culatello
, that is, the parts removed from the prosciutto during the trimming, another typical regional salami is made: the
mariola
, to be eaten cooked or cured after a long aging process.
A specialty of Piacenza is the
coppa piacentina
. The Piacenza
coppa
(pork sausage) is obtained from the muscle located under the collar of the heavy pigs of the Po Valley. The processing begins with dry-salting and continues with a period in the refrigerator of at least seven days, after which the
coppa
is “massaged” and covered with a pig's parietal diaphragm. Finally the
coppa
is tied up with string and the covering is perforated. The final weight must not be less than 1.5 kilograms.
Zampone IGP (Protected Geographic Indication) is from Modena. Legend has it that this salami was invented in 1511 at Rocca della Mirandola, a village in the province of Modena. In that year, the city was besieged by the troops of Pope Julius II and the inhabitants of the city were forced to eat parts of the pig that earlier no one had considered edible. Out of necessity, they began processing the skin, the tendons, the offal, and the thymus. They very soon discovered that the products that resulted were in demand even in times of peace. After lengthy boiling with salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, a glutinous, viscous, but
not repellentâindeed, even invitingâmass is obtained from the pig's thymus, offal, sinew, throat, snout, and skin. A pig's trotter is stuffed with this mixture, which is then recooked with tendons and can be canned: before eating, it is cooked again for not less than four hours.
In other regions, an analogous stuffing is used to fill not the pig's trotter, but the bladder: the result is
cotechino
sausage, similar as to its filling, but completely different in terms of how it looks. Being “difficult” dishes, and historically significant,
zampone
and
cotechino
are a symbolic part of the New Year's Day menu and are eaten with lentils: the sausages represent abundance and the lentils money (the shape of each lentil being similar to a coin).
Also part of the repertory of typical regional products are
ciavarro
, a
salciccia matta
(crazy sausage) made with garlic wine, cracklings, and pig's head, which is mostly eaten in Romagna. And not to forget cooked shoulder, a specialty of San Secondo.
Gifts of the fruit orchards and vegetable gardens: white asparagus of exceptional flavor (their
sagra
takes place in Malalbergo, near Bologna, the third Sunday of May). The green asparagus of Altedo, the cherries of Vignola, the onions of Medicina, the potatoes of Budrio, scallionsâexcellent in all of Romagna. The white garlic of Piacenza, chestnuts from Castel del Rio.