The complex historical events of this region justify on the one hand the French and Spanish influences in the preparation of the dishes eaten at the dining tables of the rich, dishes which were very showy, very striking in their appearance and often not very nourishing; on the other hand, they are also a justification of the cuisine of the poor, the one reserved for the population at large, with plenty of vegetables and dairy products, but where meat is almost non existent and fish is reserved for feasts.
This is a region in which the poor were truly poor and the rich led a pleasure-filled life in the palaces and castles of the noblemen as well as, of course, in the court of the Kingdom. Over the centuries, it has had a cuisine divided by wealth, without the possibility of reciprocal influences and entrusted to the fantasy of the poor people on the one hand, and to the great chefs on the other.
The only common element was the large number of dishes which were elaborated over the centuries, making the cuisine of the Campania Region particularly rich in dishes which are the fruit of invention as far as the poor are concerned, and of great abundance as far as regards the rich.
This latter finds space in the historical texts written in Italy above all in the 1400’s and in the Renaissance. Indeed, Cristoforo di Messisbugo was such a writer who, although probably born in Flanders in the first decades of the XVI century, was working as a steward at the court of the Estensi; his reputation was such to merit being created Conte Palatino by Carlo V (January 1533).
In the section of his Work dedicated to recipes, we find foods of various origins, amongst which also those of the Neapolitan cuisine, foremost being the macaroni. In fact, he writes: «To make ten plates of Neapolitan style macaroni». «Take eight pounds of the best flour, and the soft, internal bread of a large boffetto loaf, soaked in rose water, and four fresh eggs, and four ounces of sugar; and mix all well together, and make your pasta, kneading it for a little time. Then you will make sheets which should be quite thick rather than thin and you will cut them into narrow and long strips; and you will lay them so that they keep their shape. Then you will cook them in a fatty, boiling broth, and you will arrange them in plates or on top of capons or ducks or others, with sugar and cinnamon inside and on top. And for the days of fish, you will cook them in water without butter, or with fresh butter, if you wish».
Regarding the historical notes concerning the wines of this area, it is worth taking note of the letter from Sante Lancerio (who lived in the XVI century) to the cardinal Guido Ascanio Sforza, which speaks of the nature and the quality of the wines.
Amongst those mentioned, many come from the area around Naples. Such as the «Greco
di Somma», the «Greco di Posilico (= Posillipo)», the «Greco d'Ischia», the «Greco di Torre» etc. There is an interesting exert regarding the «Vino Sucano»: «It comes to Rome on the backs of mules and pack animals. Such wines are for the most part red, and it is a truly perfect wine both for the winter and for the summer. Sucano is a small castle two miles away from Orvieto, and, after the Monterano wine, no drink equals it as a red wine. These wines are fragrant, beautiful and of good substance, more than the Monterano, but they do not have much body. For their perfection, they must be fragrant, beautiful and not sour. There are some whites which are very adapt for the winter , with a vein of sweetness, but they should be biting, not full flavoured or matrosi. If a red is desired for the summer, the wine can be taken young, and from an old vine, as the old vine has the property that if it makes a sweet wine, this is maintained, and if it makes a dry one, it is maintained; wine from young vines does the opposite. S.S. (his holiness) enjoyed drinking of this wine, especially when he was in Orvieto. The captain Jeronimo Benincasa (= an unidentified historical character; probably an official of the Curia at the time of Paolo III) kept a good stock and had it brought to Rome and on his journeys».
After these, comes the «Il Mangiaguerra» (‘the War-eater’) so called because it was very strong, «The wine from Salerno», the «Vino Santo di San Severino» and the «Vino Aglianico». A plentiful production which witnesses to the fertility of this land and to the wine producing capability of its inhabitants.
Lancerio, in describing these wines, also supplies us with news concerning the reality of the Kingdom of Naples: talking of the Fistigno wine, he writes: «It is red and comes from the Kingdom of Naples, from a place above the Somma mountain. This wine known as Fistignano relative to the kind or the vine of the grape. In this place, there are grassy vines and very red and sweet grapes, and the wine made is mature and sweet and full of colour. There are also some dry kinds which are excellent wines. For their perfection, they must be full of colour and be strong, that is of good substance, neither weak or watery, or matroso, and above all they must have body. S.S. enjoyed drinking these wines and praised them. The best wine made is the possession of Mons. Domenico Terracina, but it rarely comes to Rome because the Viceroys want it for themselves, and it is certainly a good drink».
In the same years, lived Bartolomeo Scappi who also refers to Neapolitan cuisine in his Work when, for example, he gives the recipe «For making royal pigeon pie, called by the Neapolitans pizza di bocca di dama (‘lady’s mouth pizza’)» or «For making pie with different substances, called by the Neapolitans pizza» which, however, has nothing to do with the famous pizza which, in the twentieth century, has had so much success all over the world. In fact, he wrote: «Take six ounces of trimmed ambrosine almonds and four ounces of trimmed, soaked pine nuts and three ounces of fresh, stoned dates and three ounces of fresh figs, three ounces of seeded muscat grapes and crush all in the mortar, wetting at times with rosewater so that a paste is obtained; add to these substances eight raw egg yolks, six ounces of sugar, one ounce of crushed cinnamon, one ounce and a half of powdered Neapolitan mostaccioli muschiati cakes, four ounces of rosewater; and all these must be mixed together, line the pie tin with a layer of royal pastry of the correct thickness, and put the mixture into the pie tin, mixed with four ounces of butter, making sure that it is not higher than one finger’s width, and without covering it, cook it in the oven and serve hot and cold as preferred. In this pizza one can put every type of dressing».
Towards the end of the Sixteen hundreds, ‘Lo scalco alla moderna’ (‘The modern steward’) by Antonio Latini, from the Marche region, would appear to signal the end of the hegemony exercised by Italian gastronomic literature, and to represent, due to a mysterious awareness of the Author, the «sum» of all the previous literature, from the introduction of humanistic gastronomy to Messisburgo’s, Panunto’s, Scappi’s, Cervio’s and Stefani’s treatises, to mention just the most important, of the Renaissance age. It is recounted by the sheer bulk of the treatise and is better borne witness to in the summary of the topics which lists «the art of arranging a banquet well», «the most important rules of stewardism», «the easiest and most dignified method of carving», of roasting, of making boiled meats, stews, soups, morselletti cakes, broth, fried foods, pies, tarts, pizzas, sauces, flavourings, vinegars, preserves, «how to make a centre-piece», «to lay well a banquet table», «to know the quality levels» of the single foods together with the name of their «inventors», as well as a catalogue of fruits and wines which leads, in the second part, to a treatise regarding the preparation of dishes for meatless days.
This author also refers to Neapolitan cuisine, proposing, for example, the «di foglia soup Neapolitan style» upon which he dwells with a number of specifications. «Although I have made no mention of this in the composite dishes, I believe it better to put it into the section of soups, since it is exquisite and very much in use. Take a hen and boil together with the cow, when this is more than half cooked, so that the hen will not come apart; and put in salted pork tongues, but which have been boiled, salted meat, which has been previously soaked, a soppressata (= a type of salami which has been pressed between two wooden boards), a piece of fillet, a piece of pork ‘ventresca’, large bones, annoglio (= or anduglia, from the French andouille, a type of sausage stuffed with small pieces of meat and finely chopped intestines), a piece of beaten lard with its salt, in proportion; and when the afore-mentioned things are cooked, you will put the broth which has been collected into a pan, cutting the afore-mentioned things into slices and the hen or capon; keeping everything to one side, you will put one third of the afore-mentioned sliced things into the broth, and then you will add pumpkins and onions stuffed to the top with minced veal with egg yolks, a little crustless bread soaked in the broth, raisins, pine nuts, at the correct time, verjuice grapes and the mixture that you have made will be used for stuffing the afore-mentioned things, with the usual spices and aromatic herbs. You may also add lettuce of stuffed escarole; the other meat which remains, you will arrange tidily in the saucepan or in another receptacle, interspersed with slices of stuffed fianchetto beef, with previously boiled udder, sausage broken in half and skinned, thin slices of Parmesan cheese, mushrooms from Genova, first desalted and boiled with large bones, making sure that the broth is good, that it will be a good tasting soup and that can be made in any convivial meeting and will always result as being tasty if the afore-mentioned rules are observed; and many times I have brought this soup to the table with the whole saucepan which gives a good show and betters the flavour and it can be divided between the plates».
And he continues to instruct us as follows «To make half a barrel of acqua di passi (raisin water), so-called in Naples». «You will take sixteen pounds of duracina raisin grapes, you will crush them diligently; after you have crushed them, you will put them into a half-barrel, keeping a prepared cauldron of water on the fire and when it boils well, you will pour it into the half-barrel, closing it up well and rolling it a number of times over and over in order that the raisins mix together; then you will leave it to stand beside the fire for a day and a night; then, you will place it facing towards the north, in a place out of the sun and after eight or ten days, depending on how cold it is, it can be ready to drink since it will have taken on a spicy flavour. This water is good for chest affections and is cordial; it can be drunk freely, without fear of injury; it should be made in the winter against the cold.».
With the XVII century, French cuisine exerts its predominance over the Italian cuisine, something which may also be deduced from the gastronomic dictionary of the great chefs like the Neapolitan Vincenzo Corrado (1734-1836); although revealing great loyalty to the traditional practise of Italian cuisine, in his work ‘Il cuoco galante’ (‘the gallant chef’), he does not disdain the use of French terms, at times Italianising them at the cost of compromising their comprehension.
In this work we find a great number of Neapolitan recipes such as those for the timbales, the vegetables, fish and game with various proposals such as, for example, how to cook thrush: «The meat of these birds has an excellent flavour; in fact, it is considered to be the best amongst bird meat. The season for them begins in the month of October and lasts right up to January.
Roast thrush. The most tasty food which can be made with thrushes is to roast them in various ways; that is, wrapped in pig’s caul fat or covered with slices of lard or with prosciutto and bay leaves or, lastly, adorned with oil and lemon juice and then served with caper sauce. They can also be roasted alla parmigiana, greased well with butter and served with a crust of Parmesan cheese.
Imboracciati (= dipped in breadcrumbs and fried). Blanche the thrushes in broth, cut off the wings and the feet, then flour them, dip in egg and roll in breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan cheese, fry them and serve with fried sage placed around them.
Alla villana. The thrushes are stewed with a good meat sauce, a hint of garlic, bay leaves, sage and thyme; served with prosciutto sauce and finely chopped shallots
Alla fiorentina. The thrushes are cooked in beef broth with garlic and bay leaves, they are served with a coulis of white beans in which there is spinach sautéed in butter.
Per entremets. The thrushes are cooked in wine with bay leaves, cinnamon and whole cloves and afterwards are served cold with a sauce of raisins and malvasia».
But we should certainly not forget the precious preparations offered to us by Francesco Leonardi in his ‘L'Apicio moderno’, a true gastronomic encyclopaedia, tidily divided between six volumes and preceded by an introduction in which, for the first time, a history of Italian cuisine is outlined; it is reconstructed from the Roman epoch up to the times of the Author, crossing through the moments of its greater fortune – during the Renaissance age – and through the successive regression until its definition through the hegemony exercised by French gastronomy. The author, «chef to Her Imperial Highness Catherine II Empress of all the Russias», displays considerable experience of foreign cuisines, not only Russian, but also Polish, Turkish, German, English and French. These are widely documented in his recipe book and in the large catalogue of foreign wines; but, at the same time, he makes a point of showing his interest in recording the gastronomic customs of the various Italian regions and cities, thus supplying us with a rich repertory on the subject.
From Neapolitan cuisine, he mentions the «Zuppa di ogni sorte d'erbe alla napolitana» (‘Soup of every kind of herb Neapolitan style’), and also the rissole (= fritters) and many other dishes well known to him.
It is only with the work titled ‘La nuova cucina economica’ (‘New economic cuisine’) by Vincenzo Agnoletti that we begin to take into consideration the poorer cuisine of all the Italian regions, and a version of the Neapolitan pizza which is reminiscent of the one which we all know: «When you have made a pastry like the Easter one (= a kind of short pastry), but with one pound of lard and one pound of sugar, you will mix slices of prosciutto ham, caciocavallo cheese, ventresca and provature (= fresh cheeses made with buffalo milk); and so you will make the pizza and you will cook it like all the others».
Whereas, for the rural pizza, he suggests: «When you have put the yeast with two pounds of flour, after ten hours you will add another two pounds, four eggs, four ounces of sugar, a little salt, ten ounces of lard, warm water as necessary and slices of provatura cheese, prosciutto or ‘ventresca’. And so you will make the pizza and when it has risen, cook it and serve it as usual. This pastry may also be made without eggs».
Another recipe which appears in this work is that of the «zeppole (= crostoli) di semolella (= of semolina dough) Neapolitan style», a type of fritters fried in lard and sprinkled with sugar.
Today, the differentiation between opulent cuisine and popular cuisine is almost non-existent; many dishes have disappeared with the evolution of taste and the shortening of the distances of different tastes and the economic possibilities between the various classes of the population, although it is often not particularly difficult to reconstruct the derivation of certain preparations.
Neapolitan cuisine, so bright, imaginative and spectacular, did not shirk from the rule of being included in literature: writers such as Matilde Serao, Giuseppe Marotta, Eduardo De Filippo, poets such as Salvatore Di Giacomo have immortalised dishes and inventions, as protagonists and characters. Thus, to speak of Neapolitan cuisine (which sums up that of the whole region) without citing these illustrious names is almost impossible; what more to say of «ragù» (meat sauce) after Marotta dedicated one of the most memorable chapters of the ‘Oro di Napoli’ to it? A traditional preparation, for Sundays or, however, for feast days, this sauce which, together with the pizza, is at the apex of Parthenopean gastronomy, requires, in the first place, an interminable cooking time. «Right from the first hours of the morning, a tender steam takes leave of the terracotta pots in which onion is turning golden and the small stalk of basil, just picked, exhales its noble essences on the window sill». Thus begins the small poem in prose which Don Peppino dedicates to the incomparable sauce which will dress what in Naples is the real heart of any meal: the pasta. In order that the result be what it should be, and not just common meat with tomato, the ragù meat sauce should never be left on its own at any stage of its cooking, because «a neglected ragù ceases to be a ragù and, indeed, loses any possibility of becoming one». The meat, which is at the base of the recipe, is chosen with care – neither too lean nor too fat –, it is put into the saucepan, being controlled as it browns on the outside and the first layer of tomato sauce is spread over it. Others follow «at scientific intervals», and so the heat and the spoon come into play: the first, very low, the second with expertise, sensitive to understanding the moment in which to intervene. And finally, here is the steaming pot, ready for the table, and the red and aromatic ragù which «throbs in the macaroni like blood in the».
At the base of this, as we have seen, there is an ingredient which merits a mention in its own right, and this is the tomato. Bright, full of vitamins, easily united with a thousand other flavours, the obvious question which comes to mind is how it was possible to do without it for so many centuries. The use of the tomato is, in fact, a relatively recent development: it arrived in Europe, and hence in Italy, from Peru or Mexico after the discovery of America and, for two centuries, it was ignored from the alimentary point of view. It can be found mentioned for the first time in 1743 in a song for Carnival, but it is only between the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries that it became a common ingredient to many recipes and its cultivation spread to become one of the most important in Campania.
In Naples – it has been said – the tomato is "half a religion"; the quality is certainly excellent and its use very widespread. In Naples, the food preservation industry has developed which has brought the famous "pelati" and the tomato "concentrate" throughout the world. There are many ways of preserving tomatoes at home, from bottling them, cut into pieces or puréed so that they can always be ready for the most various uses, to the famous "conserva" in which the tomato is cooked at length until it becomes a dark red and velvety cream.
Fresh and juicy tomatoes are perfect on a pizza because their flavour unites in a wonderful harmony with that of the mozzarella and the anchovies. The pizza, the most famous creation of Neapolitan cuisine, is an invention which is even more remote than the epoch of the tomato, in fact, it is one of the most ancient. A first type of pizza was made in Roman times and it was a kind of flat bread made from wheat. But the pizza par excellence, that is, shrill with tomato, sizzling and cheerful as is no other type of food, is only just over two hundred years old. It soon became extremely popular amongst the masses, but also with barons and princes: it was the protagonist at the receptions of the Bourbons, who were very fond of it, and Ferdinand IV even went as far as to having it baked in the ovens of Capodimonte, the same ovens which gave forth the precious artistic ceramics.
The Piedmontese king and queen were also won over by this humble southern food: it was
for Margherita of Savoia in 1889 that the pizza-maker Raffaele Esposito created the patriotic “tri-colour” pizza. The three colours, white, red and green consisted of mozzarella, tomato and basil and, since then, this pizza is called, in fact, "pizza Margherita". There are numerous varieties of pizza: from the quattro formaggi (four cheeses), the frutti di mare (seafood), with olives, alla marinara (tomato and garlic), but the presence of tomato, at least in Naples, is practically garanteed.
Today, pizza and pizzeria are both magical words wherever you go: often, abroad, it is the signs on the restaurants which try to reconstruct the pictorial or oleographic idea or illusion of the faraway Italy.
Since everybody likes pizza, it does not cost very much to make, it fills the stomach and can be the “solution” of many occasions, it is often also easily made at home. It is certainly tasty and cheerful, but it will never be the same as the one made in the big, wood-burning oven, created by the pizza-maker who, with and expert hand, flattens the disc of dough, thinner in the centre than around the edges and, who quickly spreads over it the previously prepared ingredients and sprinkles over a little oil. Then, with a swift and decisive gesture, he slaps it onto the baker’s shovel and slides it into the oven heated to the right temperature. He turns it around so that it cooks evenly all over until, with another decisive gesture, he pulls it out with the shovel and finally places it on the plate of the lucky person who, before eating it, will be able to consume all its hot, exuberant beauty with his eyes. A Neapolitan, if he is a true expert, folds it in four "a libretto" (like a book) and eats it with his hands.
Other glories of Neapolitan cuisine, which is half a cuisine from the land (pasta, vegetables, dairy products) and half a cuisine of seafood (fish, crustaceans, shellfish) are the dishes with the base of the magnificent vegetables of the Campania countryside; like the parmigiana di melanzane (aubergines baked with tomato and cheese) or the stuffed sweet peppers. There are many of this kind of substantial dish, real "piatti forti" (‘strengthening dishes’) which are always excellent. Amongst the seafood dishes, the «polpi alla luciana» (‘octopus’ Luciana style) stand out particularly, so-called because it originates from the working class quarter of Santa Lucia; it is cooked with hot chilli pepper and the ever present tomatoes. Amongst the sumptuous merchandise of the ostricaro, a typical character of the Neapolitan streets and "teatrino" (puppet theatre), the "vongole veraci" (carpet shells) merit the first prize: meaty and fragrant, they can be made into an exquisite soup and for dressing "maccheroni" and "vermicelli" pasta.
The variety provided by the Neapolitan pastas is such that it would justify having a separate chapter to itself. Pasta was not invented in Naples, but here it has certainly reached the highest levels of perfection. To be more precise, at Gragnano, only a few kilometres from the capital city of the region, it was discovered how to dry pasta for its preservation, thus making way for the industrial production of the most Italian food which exists. Since the raw material is durum wheat, which is very difficult to mix and process, the Neapolitans rely with the utmost trust on their industrially made pastas, and do not in the slightest believe– as in other regions – that to be good, a pasta must be home-made. In reality, in Naples, the pasta is extraordinary both for its quality and for the perfection with which it is cooked, which must be correctly "al dente", and for its dressing. From the classic "pummarola" (tomato sauce), simplest "aglio e uoglio" (garlic and oil), the whole exhibition of sauces accompanied with vegetables or seafood up to the apotheosis of the ragù meat sauce, where the creativity of the South gives stunning proof of itself.
An important presence in Neapolitan and Campana cuisine is that of the dairy products. Provolone, scamorza, caciocavalloi, ricotta cheeses appear frequently on the cheeseboard and enter into the preparation of many dishes. But the queen of the cheeses is the "mozzarella", the fresh, soft product with stringy texture made from buffalo milk. Its production is concentrated most of all in the area of Aversa, Battipaglia, Capua, Eboli and Sessa Aurunca: whoever finds himself around these parts will find something which will remain stamped upon his taste-buds! One variety of mozzarella are the "burrielli" which are small mouthfuls of the sweeter type, preserved in terracotta amphorae and immersed in milk. Unfortunately, the real buffalo-milk mozzarellas are now very rare, and cows’ milk is often used: the resulting product is called "fiordilatte", and is less full in flavour.
Now, in Neapolitan gastronomy there exists a series of dishes which go back to the traditions of the courts or to the genuine French-inspired “school” which was followed by a group of noble families especially in the eighteen hundreds. In this way, recipes were created in which refined French contributions combined with typically Neapolitan ingredients and customs. This resulted in very elaborate and spectacular inventions: the masters of the house would entrust the management and the preparation of their feasts to expert chefs who were then to become famous. Amongst their preparations, the most well known is the «sartù», a timbale with the rice base stuffed with chicken livers, sausages, small meatballs, mozzarella, peas and dressed with ragù meat sauce or, in the “in bianco” version (without tomato), with béchamel. Another triumphal timbale is that of maccheroni al ragù.
Certainly, however, these elaborate and refined creations remained distant from the simple cuisine of the normal people which nevertheless continued to reap success in the alleys and at the taverns on the seafront, as in the restaurants and the luxury hotels. The Neapolitan, whether street urchin or baron, loves the same macaroni with the "pummarola 'n coppa" (topped with tomato), or with clams, maybe eaten outside with the sun filtering through a pergola and the view of the greatly renowned Gulf before his eyes.
The most classic cakes and desserts of Naples are those which were eaten in times gone by: ice creams, «babas», spumoni, «sfogliatelle», «taralli» and the magnificent «pastiera», the cake of the time which goes from Epiphany to Easter, with fresh ricotta and orange flowers, cinnamon and candied fruit.
The cuisine in Naples is made above all from "esterni" (outsiders), from show and performance, it is an experience to be shared with someone from the audience. From the "friggi e mangia" (‘fry and eat’), the many products of the local rosticceria (delicatessen), to the various “passatempi” (‘pass-times’) which are offered in the kiosks or stands and which are eaten at any moment during the day (seafood, small pizzas, tarts or fritters). Naples displays, as ever, to whoever wishes to see it, its legendary fantasy stretching back thousands of years.

la Piadina

The History The piadina in ancient Italy Already the inhabitants of the Lombardic stilt houses of the 1200 R-avanti.Cristo used to eat rounves loaf pasted with flours several and such focacce unleavened breads (without leaven) came then cooked on hard and indigestible make red-hot slabs but such piade they were sure a lot. In ancient Italy they were probably the Etruschi to teach to the local populations like cooking the cereals (the farinata one of cereals was in fact an Etruscan typical plate). The piadina in the ancient Rome It influences from the Etruschi the first Roman to you began to use the spelta, I luff it, fava and the veccia. Ceres, for the Sabini, was the grain that gave the life, the cereal for excellence and to Rome it became the Goddess of the puttinges. The first cereal cultivated from the Roman was luffs it and with its flour they prepared the puls (or farinata) and piade the unleavened breads but I luff it came soon replaced from the farro, a typical hard grain of the Lazio high, a lot still appreciated to the days ours. The spouses, during the wedding ritual, used to offer to Giove one focaccia of farro, the confarreatio. The grain replaced the farro in IV the century R-avanti.Cristo and in that period it uses itself to make to go back the appearance of the first leavend bread. In the 100 R-avanti.Cristo the leavend bread had nearly supplanted of the all polentine of cereals, but piade the unleavened breads cooked under the ash or in the furnace remained the preferred ones. These focacce were appeared also to Rome towards the 170 R-avanti.Cristo being similar to one low, scondita and rather hard species of galletta. It was in any case a food from rich although that they remained eatable for little hours from their baking since hardened in cooling off itself until becoming inedible. As the piadine of our days also these gallette were not eaten never alone but it was used to accompany them with cheese. The strict Catone was contrary to diffusing itself of this new food between the population of Rome because, demanding a companatico, it would have rendered its connazionali greedy and soft. But the bread and piade divennero equally an important element in the roman feeding therefore that the breadmaking to mattino divenne an austere ritual, as it had been in the past the preparation of the puls. Therefore new tradition was been born one and also Catone, to the end, yielded to the use of the unleavened bread; when then the leavend bread is diffused strongly the use of the piadine came classified to the single religious ends. Of all the types of most skillful bread and focacce of which the divennero Roman in the preparation goes remembers the clibanicus to you, species of piadina extended on a coccio rovente and left then to fall semicooked on the warm ash; the facaceus, species of bread from which ours derives focaccia and that it came flavored in several ways and covered of seeds of finocchio, of anise or sedano; the tarunda, one crushed votiva of farro to the honey. The piadina in the Middle Ages The several barbaric invasions influenced, without but upsetting them, the alimentary habits of the Italian populations. In a Middle Ages the people only ate what he produced or that found in the forest to the wild state (in practical ate as the roman people) and the getlteman imposed the use of their flour mills for trarne gain therefore that ended in order to provoke large contrasts. In this period in England nacque the Lord word "getlteman" who derives from the Hlaford Anglo-Saxon and that he means "guardiano of the bread", in fact the getlteman was R-he who distributed the bread, and the Lady word "mrs." derives from the Hlaefdige word, that it means "impastatrice of the bread" since the moglie of the getlteman was the one who that, with its continuation, the bread produced that the husband lavished the people. In 1300, year of the plague, the class peasant did not have more the possibility than to eat the leavend bread and returned to the consumption of polentas, of flours of luffs and focacce made unleavened breads with less valuable cereals, legumi buckets and ghiande. The piadina in the Rinascimento In Europe, in the Rinascimento, the evolution of the culinaria art is had, is born the first national culinarie schools and the first great cooks form themselves. In every Italy region has its bread and the focacce, above all those not leavend, begin to lose importance; in sure regions focacce the unleavened breads only continue to being consumed from the poor social ranks above all in the scarcity moments. Call from Giovanni Pastures the "Bread rude of Rome", the piadina is one crushed of unleavened flour of cereals flavored with strutto of pig or lardo cooked on one slab of refractory stone or coccio, the so-called "text". The etimologia of the term piadina is uncertain and probably it is connected the Greek "plaukous" "focaccia" and if such chip ax hypothesis the term would derive therefore from the domination bizantina of the Romagna. These focacce in the 1500 came manifactured with poor cereals, fave, ghiande and with bran and in the periods of scarcity which filled up, also sawdust to you joined, or worse still (were unavoidable that with such ingredients the piadine could not be that unleavened breads). The piadina in the Romagna of the nine hundred At the beginning of XX the century the piadina already had a large one throws again thanks to the presence of the maize flour that, mischiata to that one of tender grain for more economic issues that culinarie, served to prepare the paste. The children already to the age of five or six years learned to pull leaf through it and to cook in the text the fragranti piadine farcendo made them with the traditional one salame in house, the flavored sausage to irons, lessati cabbages with oil, garlic and rosmarino, or with the goblet of head (salume special of preparation similar to wurstel but the compound, rather than of one purea of lean meat, of she falls to me semifat of the working of the meats of the ear and the cooked head of the pig in little water until producing one insaporita gelatinous mass with one Spezia then called exactly "saporita"; this came then insaccata in a large one budello of colon or in "mula" that other was not that the bag of the esophagus). And the piadina, together to the other specialties inhabitants of Romagna, began to conquer the tourists in years ' 40 and ' 50, when they began to appear along the state roads them that they carried to the sea the first kiosks that sold the piadine prepared for the moment and tasted with the porchetta of pig, the salsicce cooked to the live coal, the cabbages, the tomatoes and the gratinate eggplants and this tradition are continued until today. The Piadina to the albori of XXI the century Today it is increased the offer of foods available placing side by side to traditional cassoni and to the piadine also the typical specialties of "fastfood" the American: hamburghers, hot-dogs, fried patatine etc... and also the piadine are changed in the meantime; little in house prepare them for the moment and who pleases itself uses to cook precooked them ripassandole on the hot slab for some second or, in extreme cases, the furnace to microwaves. Farciscono second canoni alimentary more puts into effect them legacies also to "the dietetic" requirements of the new generation: insalata and tomato, grilled rucola, verdure and the all scondito one or nearly, using salumi premanifactured and little soft and cremosi cost, once nonexistent cheeses and the sausage, ahimè, is not more the preferred one. Today the piadina inhabitant of Romagna is consumed giornalmente nearly like the bread; it finds its place is in the table of the families is in the business and scholastic caterings, in the fastfood but also in the traditional restaurants and in it lodges, a po' ovunque insomma. Very little massaie, at this point also they on the road of the "extinction", prepare or however they know to prepare one good piadina; we are at this point accustoms to find it to you to the already beautiful supermarket and ready but if we are just of the buongustai we will go directly in one of the numerous "small shacks of the piadina" where ce they cook it at the moment and, incartata to it must, will arrive warm and fragrante until house ours. The piadina inhabitant of Romagna has at this point exceeded that process of industrialization that has carried this food from closely familiar preparing to a good of ordinary consumption (produced also in large handicraft and industrial plants) and to this point nobody is astonished when it says that the piadina is not more a typical regional food because the industries, than they produce some in great amounts, the reindirizzano on all the Italian market (to the north in particular, in the measure of approximately 500.000 pieces to the week) and on that foreign country (comprised the United states, than of it they make one demanded total for approximately 20 million annual pieces).

The Arabs. Zibibbo, Spaghetti and Cassata sharba

The Arabs arrived in Sicily in approximately 827, landing on the Southwestern coast, and founded a city that they called Marsala, from the Arabic Mars-Allah, meaning “Port of God”, and with them, they brought a vine called Zibibbo. The Arabs were not drinkers, by any means, seeing as their Islamic religion prohibited them from consuming wine or other alcohol. However, they did much to the benefit of Sicily, bringing many goods and other riches.
Skilled philosophers, mathematicians, and engineers, the Arabs constructed many buildings and mosques of notable beauty, as well as canals for irrigation and the plantation and cultivation of many new plants, including pistachio, carob, asparagus, saffron, cinnamon, clove, and cane sugar. Their dietary laws also had a strong influence on the Sicilian population’s way of eating, inventing dishes and introducing delicacies that, even today, are present on Sicilian tables all over the world.
 Arabs immediately appreciated the versatility of durum wheat  seeds, introducing “Cuscus”, and with the same talent, began  producing maccheroni:, or, the first pasta. The first spaghetti,  produced in Trabia, near Palermo, in the year 900, were called  itria. Contrary to common belief, this “invention” of pasta as  we know it in the western world was introduced long before  Marco Polo’s arrival in Venice at the end of the 13th century  from Cathay (China).
 Legend attributes the invention of the famous Sicilian dish,  pasta con le sarde, to an Arab cook by the name of Eufemio,  who lived near Syracuse. This dish, a meal unto itself, consists of pasta (preferably bucatini) and sardines marinated with wild fennel and pine nuts, ingredients omnipresent in Sicilian cuisine, and optimal against intoxication.
The union of fresh sheep’s milk ricotta, which had already been produced for centuries by local farmers, and sugar, packed into a copper pot that the Arabs referred to as Quas’at was the origin of the dessert known today as Cassata Siciliana.
A jubilation of colors and sweetness, with a fantastical garnish of candied fruit, the cassata, a cake layered with sweetened ricotta and chocolate, and topped with sugar icing and marzipan, is surely an icon of Sicilian cuisine.
Sciarbat or sorbetto is another invention credited to the Arabs of Sicily. At that time, sciarbat was made with actual snow, which was mixed with a sweet, frozen beverage, and flavored with the essences of fruit, vanilla, and cinnamon. Turkish coffee, or qahve, was also used as a spice for flavoring sweets.

Muslims developed a variety of juices to make their “sharab” (sherbet). Their sherbet was a soft juice drink of crushed fruit, flowers and herbs. It existed as one of the most famous drinks of all time, winning the hearts of people like Lord Byron. “Sharab” is where the Italians “sorbetto” comes from, where the French “sorbet” comes from, and then finally the English “Sherbet” is derived from. There are a number of names, and is associated with a number of traditions. Sherbet is also now produced in  America all the way to India. Medieval Muslim sources contain recipes for drink syrups that can be kept out of the refrigerator for weeks and even months

PILLOLE DI STORIA EBRAICA
La più antica cucina d’Italia: cucina ebraica-romana

Un popolo straordinario, un enigma storico, un patrimonio morale e religioso unico. E’ questo il mistero ed il fascino della vicenda ebraica.

Quella di Abramo era una famiglia di pastori nomadi, che aveva vagato dalla profonda Mesopotamia, fino alle sogli dell’Egitto. Era una gente industriosa, abile e depositaria di una credenza monoteistica, difficile a mantenere in un mondo popolato da dei e superstizioni.

Riparato in Egitto per una carestia, il popolo Ebreo era caduto in schiavitù. Fuggiti miracolosamente, superano la dura prova della sopravvivenza nel dove la loro vocazione si trasforma in riti e leggi. Reso forte dalle difficoltà e dalla fede, si istalla combattendo, in un territorio “santo” che considera la sua eredità divina. E’ il luogo più difficile del globo terraqueo, perché è una piccola striscia che congiunge i bacini di tre grandi fiumi, dove nasceranno tutte le civiltà umane: il Tigri e l’Eufrate ad Oriente ed il Nilo ad Occidente. E’ un posto scomodo: di qui passeranno gli eserciti di tutti gli imperi. Per questa ragione, questo popolo subirà più volte l’esilio e la deportazione.

C’è un mistero in questo popolo, duramente arato, in ogni nuova stagione. Dal suo solco nascono grandi rivelazioni sulla nascita del mondo, grandi poesie in lode del creatore, grandi leggi per formare l’uomo, grandi speranze che varcano il nostro orizzonte.

Solo per un breve periodo della loro  lunga storia, solo per mille anni risiederanno sulla terre della loro eredità e sempre con tali difficoltà che avrebbero dissolto qualsiasi altra aggregazione umana. Ma sopravvissero per la loro fedeltà ad una promessa, finché i romani non li sradicarono dalla loro terra.

I Romani accettavano gli dei di tutti i popoli ed avrebbero volentieri accettato anche il Dio degli ebrei che stimavano. Ma non erano in grado di accettare la pretesa che fosse unico. E risolsero a modo loro la questione.

E’ in questo periodo che nasce il Cristianesimo, dall’antico ceppo un nuovo virgulto. Ed alla fine dell’impero romano, un altro ancora, l’Islam. La convivenza non sarà pacifica e la fedeltà degli Ebrei alla loro vocazione farà sì che essi rimarranno minoritari, nei grandi spazi creati dall’impero romano.

Quando l’impero divenne cristiano furono guardati con sospetto, sottoposti a regimi speciali, perseguitati. Nelle difficoltà conserveranno la loro caratteristica di saper leggere e scrivere, in un mondo di analfabeti, di essere abili per necessità di sopravvivenza, di essere acuti e chiaroveggenti perché separati e diversi.

Quando sembrava che dopo un millennio, nella società moderna avessero conquistato i diritti civili, si abbatté su di loro l’ultima e più dura persecuzione, il tentativo diabolico di sterminarli, nell’olocausto. Tornarono alla loro terra, la riconquistarono combattendo, e la tengono in mezzo a pericoli immensi. Non c’è altro esempio nella storia di un gruppo umano che ritorni dopo duemila anni nel paese in cui avevano costruito la loro prima identità.

E’ naturale che durante questa lunga vicenda questo popolo-famiglia abbia costruito una sua cultura e dei suoi costumi di vita. Ed abbia creato anche una tradizione nel modo di preparare il cibo.

La base di questa cultura sono le norme fissate dalla stessa religione, che dettano principi morali e regole sanitarie ed igieniche. Ma sopra queste basi si è poi costruita una pratica che  ha utilizzato sia l’esperienza, sia la contiguità con produzioni e tradizioni di ogni paese e di ogni clima.

Forse la più antica comunità ebraica esistente è quella romana. Risiede in Roma dai tempi di Erode il Grande, nel primo secolo avanti Cristo, presso il Portico di Ottavia, che era un grande complesso monumentale, situato fuori delle mura Serviane, fra il Tevere e Campo Marzio. Una comunità che  è stata continuamente presente in Roma, fin da allora. Il rapporto con le autorità romane si mantenne buono, fino a quando l’Impero non diventò cristiano. Poi ci furono periodi tristi e meno tristi, ma sempre difficoltosi , secondo i caratteri dei vari papi.

Nel 1555 attorno al quartiere ebraico fu costruito un muro con tre porte, dentro il quale gli ebrei dovevano obbligatoriamente risiedere. Furono escluse dal recinto le case dove la tradizione narrava avesse abitato San Paolo, che era ebreo, prigioniero a Roma. Era la cruda contraddizione fra cristiani ed ebrei, a cagione della quale si costruiva un ghetto per gli ebrei, in questa città, nella quale i più grandi e maestosi edifici erano dedicati ad ebrei padri del cristianesimo!

Nel ghetto si fusero ebrei antico romani con ebrei spagnoli espulsi da Isabella ed Ebrei siciliani  espulsi dagli Aragonesi. Entrambi avevano convissuto con due grandi civiltà Islamiche, che avevano dominato la Sicilia e la Spagna. Da questa fusione nacque la  cucina “giudia”, come si dice in romanesco. Una cucina particolare che, con le sue caratteristiche tipiche, è interamente romana ed  interamente italiana.

Thomas Mann, grande scrittore tedesco, la cui madre era ebrea, ha scritto una bellissima storia romanzata di Giacobbe e di Giuseppe, suo figlio, che divenne gran Vizir del Faraone. Egli immagina che Giuseppe trovasse simpatia presso i padroni  che lo avevano comperato come schiavo, perché sapeva fare con arte le focacce di pane azzimo. E’ lo stesso pane che gli Ebrei prepararono nella fuga dall’Egitto, che imbandivano nella cena celebrativa della Pasqua, quello stesso pane che spezzò Gesù nella sua Pasqua a Gerusalemme e che i cristiani imbandiscono nella loro rievocazione della ultima cena.

Come un fiume tortuoso e fecondo la storia arriva fino alle nostre case. Ed oggi, attraverso i canali della cucina italiana nel mondo, i gioielli della cucina ebraica sono diffusi in ogni continente.

E’ una cucina sefardita, che ha origini mediterranee, che ha il profumo della tradizione degli arabi di Spagna e di Sicilia, che è profondamente intessuta di finezze italiane. Ed è anche la più antica cucina italiana.

E questo per la gioia dei intenditori ebraici e per la dovuta ammirazione di quanti, anche senza essere ebrei, non sono insensibili al fascino di questa grande cucina.

Quando nel 1767 un Ebreo di Modena si converti al cristianesimo, confessò che non aveva abbandonato il prosciutto d’oca, gli azimi, l’agresto ed i dolci di marzapane, perché temeva che la carne di maiale gli facesse male. I priori di Perugia proibirono nel  1300, la vendita del pane azimo perché sembrò loro che piacesse troppo ai perugini cristiani.

Non v’è dubbio che gli Ebrei che giunsero in Italia dal Marocco e dall’Algeria nel 1400 portarono il cuscus, che chiamavano semolella, che è certamente di origine araba.

A Roma, nelle cucina degli ebrei poveri regnava la melanzana fritta o marinata nell’aceto, introdotta dagli spagnoli.

L’Artusi racconta che ancora alla fine dell’ottocento a Firenze le melanzane erano disprezzate, ma non da lui, come mangiare giudeo.

Le zucchine ed i carciofi erano alla base dell’arte del friggere, tipicamente ebrea. Le minestre erano la esaltazione dei ceci, fascioli, lenti, lupini, cicerchia. Verdure: porri, spinaci e biete, cucinati con carne e zuccaro. Grande spazio ai volatili. Innanzitutto all’oca, il maiale degli ebrei.

Un proverbio ebreo sintetizza il banchetto del Purim “girar capponi, mazar piccioni”, girare vuol dire metterli al girarrosto.

Nella storia della cucina italiana gli Ebrei sono fondatori della tradizione romana delle frattaglie. Ecco un elenco tratto dagli Archivi della Comunità. “Animelle con i ceci, trippe con l’agliata, lingue salmistrate, milze in padella con la salvia e l’agresto, creste di pollo con aceto e cannella.” Sono cibi antichi, che oggi non sarebbero tutti graditi, ma l’inizio della tradizione è questo.

Per non dimenticare infine le coppiette, la carne secca del Ghetto. Gli Ebrei del ghetto avevano il monopolio della carne di bufala, che veniva macellata solo per loro. Un attento funzionario piemontese giunto a Roma, con l’unità d’Italia ci informa che si macellavano circa settecento bufali delle paludi della campagna romana “nel claustro degli ebrei”.

Ariel Toaff, della comunità ebraica, dal cui libro “Mangiare alla giudia” ho tratto queste notizie, narra  questa storia. Sembra che gli ebrei romani non fossero molto attenti nel rispetto del vino Kasher. Un Ebreo, amante del vino, soleva dire:“Kasher vuol dire genuino, il vino di Frascati è genuino, quindi é Kasher”. Ed andava ad ubriacarsi da Reginaldo, oste cristiano del ghetto. Non so se questa storiella faccia parte della storia della cucina ebrea oppure del patrimonio molto ricco dell’umorismo ebraico. Non mi sarei permesso di raccontarla se non fosse stata narrata da Ariel Toaff.

Nella festa del Sukkott, festa autunnale del raccolto, detta anche delle Capanne, o Tabernacoli, o Frascate, o Caselle, perché si svolgeva in padiglioni all’aperto, accorrevano anche i cristiani per mangiare alla giudia, nonostante le proibizioni e le minacce "ai molti Christiani, tanto uomini come donne, li quali con scandalosa curiosità e soverchia domestichezza con gli Hebrei, in maniera anco toccante li loro riti, concorrono nelle loro case in occasione delle Caselle et altre loro feste"

Dove si dimostra che il cibo della Sukkot, come l’osteria del cristiano Reginaldo, erano occasioni d’incontro e di pacificazione.

Bartolo Ciccardini

LA CUCINA EBRAICA

"La persona che non avverte il sapore del cibo nella sua bocca, può accorgersi da questo che Dio non è contento di lei" -  Nachman di Bratzlav.

La passione ebraica per la cucina, le diete, il nutrimento e i piaceri della tavola sono più importanti di un semplice cibo.
Le abitudini alimentari rispecchiano e determinano il carattere di una persona, perché il cibo di cui un individuo si nutre influenza il corpo,  agisce soprattutto sullo spirito, sull’interiorità e sull’indole.

I cibi e la loro preparazione devono rispondere a regole ferree per essere validi e adatti, ossia "kasher" e regolamentate dal Torà. La Torà contiene le  regole, scritte da Mosé sotto dettatura di Dio, classifica in gruppi gli animali permessi per l’alimentazione e spiega come debbano essere uccisi e cucinati. Gli animali terrestri permessi sono quadrupedi che presentano zoccolo spaccato, unghia divisa e sono ruminanti. Tra i ruminanti sono esclusi i cammelli, dromedari e lama che, non hanno lo zoccolo diviso e hanno un apparato ruminante incompleto.

La Torà permette di cibarsi di locuste che dovevano essere comuni nei tempi biblici. Sono assolutamente vietati: i non ruminanti, come suini, maiali, cinghiali, ippopotami e i quadrupedi, come equini, conigli e lepri; i volatili, come i rapaci; i pesci, come i molluschi e crostacei e i mammiferi marini, foche trichechi, delfini, capodogli e balene, sono permessi solo quelli che hanno pinne e squame; i rettili e tutti gli animali che strisciano e brulicano. Tutti gli animali permessi, tranne i pesci, devono essere uccisi con una macellazione particolare, in ebraico shechità. Per utilizzare un animale per l’alimentazione, occorre che sia sano e non presenti alterazioni fisiche, è proibito mangiare un animale taréf, ossia "sbranato" o "rapinato" e quindi "impuro", animali feriti, con imperfezioni o malattie che potrebbero trasmettersi all’uomo. In cucina i cibi con la carne devono rimanere separati da quelli contenenti il latte,  e non si possono mischiare neanche durante la cottura che a tavola; il pasto deve essere o di carne o di latte la netta divisione è la base della cucina ebraica.

La Torà vieta la mescolanza di specie differenti nella semina e negli innesti, durante l’aratura bue e asino non possono trainare insieme l’aratro, nei tessuti è proibito fare stoffe o indossare insieme lana e lino e far unire animali di specie diverse.

La vita culinaria della tradizione Ebraica è abbinata alle feste e alle ricorrenze del calendario religioso.

I dolci Ebraici sono realizzati con ricette tramandate da madre in figlia, rispettando la relazione legata alla festività ebraica. Sono preparati dalle famiglie Ebree in occasione di feste solenni ma, per la loro bontà, sono consumati anche durante tutto l’arco dell’anno. Nel medioevo la pasticceria popolare era di dolci a base di cialde derivanti dagli azzimi ebraici, ad eccezione dei monasteri, che sperimentavano preparazioni più complesse, grazie al privilegio della panificazione, alla pratica dell’apicoltura e all’utilizzo delle spezie. I dolci senza latte sono detti “parve”.

Carciofi alla Giudea

Ingredienti: Carciofi romaneschi un paro a cranio Olio d’oliva per friggere abbondante Padelle due

Puliteli togliendo qualche foglia esterna e le punte del carciofo, accorciate anche il gambo lasciandone più o meno tre dita. Mondate i carciofi eliminando le foglie esterne più dure, le spine e la ’barba’ centrale.
Lavateli e schiacciateli leggermente su un tagliere, con la corolla rivolta verso il basso, per allargare le foglie. Metteteli a bagno in acqua e limone oppure aceto, serve a non fare annerire le parti tagliate. I carciofi andrebbero tagliati in un certo modo, ma non riesco a dirlo perché non si impara neanche con un video.
Preparate le due padelle con abbondante olio. Fate sgocciolare bene i carciofi, asciugateli e condirli con pepe e sale anche all’interno. Accendete il fornello di una padella. Scaldare una padella sul fuoco moderato, disponeteci i carciofi con il gambo rivolto verso l’alto, in modo che cuociano internamente, solo quelli che ci entrano. Cuocete lentamente girando i carciofi in modo che si cuociano in modo uniforme. L’olio deve appena friggere, come se faceste un lesso invece che un fritto. Lasciate stufare a fiamma media per, poi girateli in modo che cuociano bene su tutti i lati. Quando la parte dura del carciofo sarà facilmente penetrabile dalla forchetta, i carciofi sono pronti per la seconda fase.
Accendete il fuoco sotto l’altra padella, quando sarà molto caldo metteteci i carciofi con il gambo verso l’alto, cercando di allargare le foglie con una leggera pressione dall’alto. Ora bisogna far friggere violentemente l’olio, per fare ciò bagnatevi le mani e schizzate le gocce d’acqua nella padella, l’olio immediatamente friggerà. Basterà poco e le foglie del carciofo si saranno ben colorite e risulteranno croccanti e fragranti. Levate i carciofi delicatamente ed appoggiateli su della carta assorbente, sempre col gambo all’insù.
ATTENZIONE: Non esagerate con l’acqua, solo qualche schizzo, altrimenti l’olio smette di friggere.

CONCIA DI ZUCCHINE

Ingredienti: Zucchine romanesche medie Aglio Basilico Prezzemolo Sale Aceto Olio extravergine d’oliva

Tagliare le zucchine a fettine longitudinali di circa 3mm di spessore. Disporle su un panno per qualche ora per farle asciugare. Friggerle in olio d’oliva e disporle a strati in una terrina condendo con aglio, basilico e prezzemolo tritati, sale, aceto e olio della frittura (o altro olio extravergine d’oliva). Far riposare per almeno due ore quindi mes