Antipasto calabro is the typical appetizer that I enjoy eating when I’m on vacation there, and I love to prepare it for my guests when I’m back in Verona. It’s a simple dish that encompasses the main products of this land: red hot pepper, pork meat, sheep milk cheeses, red onions from Tropea, tomatoes, eggplants and mushrooms.

There’s no cooking in this appetizer, you just have to buy good quality products and display them nicely on a plate. I actually buy most of the ingredients in Calabria except for the Pecorino cheese that I can find here in Verona too.

A jar of eggplants and a package of olive schiacciate are always in my pantry. The eggplants are peeled and cut in thin strips, seasoned with oregano, a little bit of red hot pepper, slices of garlic and preserved in olive oil. Olive schiacciate, the olives are seeded and seasoned with red hot pepper, garlic and oregano. I had a recipe how to prepare them and I made them once but they came out too bitter, so I still prefer to buy them. Of course dry tomatoes preserved in olive oil are a must.

This dish is often enriched with mushrooms preserved in olive oil, they actually were in the dish but they are not visible in the picture. The Sila, a wide mountainous plateau between Cosenza and Catanzaro, abounds in mushrooms including the prized porcini mushrooms.

Soppressata and capocollo are the Calabrian cured meats that come from locally-raised hogs. Sopressata calabrese (or soppressata) is made with the lean part of pork meat and 2-3% pork fat. It’s flavored with salt and black pepper and a dusting of red hot pepper. Capocollo, called coppa in the other regions of Italy, is cured pork shoulder prepared with salt, herbs, and spices. Prosciutto crudo is also produced here, but it’s not as typical as the other cuts.

Finally there’s the mythical Nduja, my favorite pork product from Calabria. A spreadable salami filled with pork and a lot of red hot pepper, then smoked. I would eat it every day if I could, but this year I went a little bit easy on it and it was really hard. I brought one nduja home as usual, so when I miss it I have it on hand all year long to prepare a pasta dish or to spread it on slices of bread.

Recently I’ve seen Nduja produced abroad, I wouldn’t buy it even if it would be produced here in Verona for that matter. I think that certain products are authentic only when produced in their region of origin. It shouldn’t be called nduja if not produced in Spilinga (Vibo Valenzia) or its surroundings.

The last ingredient is Tropea red onions, one can find them everywhere in Italy and abroad, but I wonder how it’s possible that such a small area produces such a great amount of onions. Anyway I tasted the real ones and I can assure you that I’ve never tasted anything so sweet and flavorful while not overly strong. The secret to extra sweet onions is to slice them and leave them in cold water 30 minutes before consuming.

I know this is a rich appetizer and it could be a whole lunch by itself, but if you want to organize a Calabrian dinner this is a good start. Just make sure to serve a small portion.

Antipasto calabro

Ingredients:

Pecorino cheese
Dry tomatoes preserved in olive oil
Olive schiacciate, preserved eggplants, mushrooms and artichokes
Sopressata
Capocollo
Prosciutto crudo
Nduja
Sliced red onion previously soaked in cold water for 30′
Rustic bread

Prepare a small plate for each guest and place few slices of Pecorino cheese, sopressata and capocollo. A Tablespoon of olives, eggplants, mushrooms and few artichokes. A piece of nduja. Add a small mount of sliced onions. Make sure to accompany this appetizer with a rustic bread, better if it’s not too salty.

You may also be interested in other Calabrian specialties: Pasta with nduja, Pasta with potatoes.

Italy, as I always say, is a land of many facets, some of them have a few aspects in common, some others are completely different from each other. One place that doesn’t have so much in common with the rest of Italy is Bolzano, in the Trentino Alto Adige region. I love to go to Bolzano and I often recommend others to go visit it too. If you’re not aware Bolzano became Italian right after the first world war before then it was part of South Tyrol. The city is bilingual (German-Italian) and even if a century almost has passed it still seems to be in an Austrian city. I love the architecture, some buildings are similar to those in Innsbruck. The typical cuisine is Tyrolean influenced by the Italian cuisine and the population that has lived in this territory in the past 2000 years.

You can easily access to Bolzano either by train or by car. It has numerous parking ramps. One is right close to the train station which is right next to the historical city center. The fulcrum of the city is in Walther square with its characteristic buildings, cafes, restaurants and the dome. It’s the square that every Christmas hosts the famous Christmas market filled with small wooden houses that sell Christmas decorations made in wood, glass or ceramic. The right place to find original Christmas presents from the Mittel-European tradition. You’ll also find Christmas cookies, the Lebkuchen (chocolate spiced cookies) and cakes like the well known Zelten made with dry figs, raisins, almonds, candied fruit flavored with cinnamon and cloves. While you’re enjoying these moments I suggest you to warm up yourself with Apfelsaft (warm spiced cider juice). The atmosphere is enchanted with many lights and decorations throughout the city but this city doesn’t loose its charm if you go in any other period of the year. The center of the city can be easily visited in one day, don’t miss the Museo Archeologico dell’Alto Adige (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology) with the famous mummy Ötzi, the man who came from the ice. The Dominican church the first Gothic construction in South Tirol with its famous frescoes – in the chapter house and John chapel – by the scholars of Giotto. The vibrant Piazza delle Erbe (Square of the herbs), which is not actually a square but one of the nicer streets in Bolzano with its daily fruit and vegetable market. If you want to go shopping the characteristic Lauben or Portici (porticos) are the right place for you.

Lauben

I usually like to go to Bolzano during the Advent to visit the market but this year I waited and I accompanied my mother in law and niece in February. We found a marvelous day: a clear blue sky, the mountains surrounding the city were covered by snow a perfect day to visit the city, its monuments and surroundings. We had lunch at my favorite restaurant, the Cavallino Bianco (Weisses Rössl)* a historical institution where you can savor the local Tyrolean cuisine in a typical ambiance at decent prices. The service is quick, waiters are really friendly and mainly German speaking. An interesting characteristic of this place is that you can find yourself sitting together with strangers. If there’s an empty place at the table someone may sit down there to eat. The place is always crowded day and night but it’s relaxing at the same time.

Bolzano cuisine is mainly Tyrolean, rustic and simple as a cuisine from the mountains should be. It’s not rich or sophisticated but robust, tasty and very satisfying. Bread has an important role in it and you’ll notice by walking in the center and seeing the numerous bakeries with its mouthwatering breads and sweets. I always have to control myself from running inside and emptying the whole place. Paarlbrot (couple of bread) made with rye flour flavored with anise, fennel seeds, kummel and coriander, Schwarzbrot (black bread) but my favorite of all is Schüttelbrot really, crispy thin flatbread made with rye, wheat flour, sesame, fennel and cumin seeds. Schuttelbrot is the perfect accompaniment to speck. Speck which is another pillar of the Tyrolean cuisine, pork meat spiced, then cold-smoked on juniper wood and aged for 22 weeks. I like it as an appetizer first sliced in a thick piece and then cut in thin strips.

There’s an old proverb that actually sums up the basics of the Tyrolean cuisine: Knödel, Nüdeln, Nocken, Plenten sein die vier Tiroler Elementen (Knödel, Noodles, Gnocchi and Polenta are the Tyrolean four elements). Among the four main dishes the Knödel – canderli in Italian – occupies the place of honor and I should say it’s my favorite too. Knödel are bread dumplings made with old dry bread, softened with eggs and milk and flavored in different ways with cheese, speck, buckwheat flour or liver for a total of about ten varieties. They’re served as a first course in broth or “dry” as a side dish topped with melted butter together with Goulash or other meats, sausages, salad.

On my last visit at Il Cavallino Bianco, I took the “Piatto del contadino” a huge dish with one Specknödel  grilled meat, smoked pork chop, würstel, sausages, sauerkraut and roasted potatoes. I know I exaggerated a little bit. My niece on the other hand being vegetarian chose Käseknödel, the cheese Knödel with vegetables. Her dish was really tempting, the knödel was placed in the middle of the dish topped with melted butter, surrounded by cooked spinach, boiled carrots, stir fried red cabbage and a small portion of salad. I tasted it and it was really good so the other day I decided to give it a try seeing that I had a lot of dry bread on hand and they came out really well. If you want to taste them check out the recipe “Canederli al formaggio” on Cooking with Patty you won’t regret it.

To end on a sweet note, if you have a sweet tooth, you should try Strudel - you’ll find it everywhere in Bolzano – the classic one is filled with apples and cinnamon or you can taste the version with dry apricots and ricotta a real delight. There are numerous other choices, Sacher Torte, Black Forest cake (the real one), buckwheat flour cake filled with red berries jam, Linzer Torte and Krafen (Berliner Pfannkuchen) made from sweet yeast dough fried and filled with cream or apricot jam. The list is longer but I’m sure you would be happy to discover it yourself.

The City Hall

Piazza delle Erbe

*Note: Cavallino Bianco (Weisses Rössl) in Via Dei Bottai, 6 – phone: +39 0471 973267.

* In the picture above I used Fileja a typical pasta from Calabria.

This time instead of going only to the mountains I decided to spent one day in Turin. It was a long time since I’d been there and I rediscovered its beauty. It’s really a wonderful city, once the residence of House of Savoy and later the capital of Italy (1861 – 1864), and  has not lost its grandiosity still reflected in its royal castles, elegant palaces, immense squares, churches, museums which are famous world wide like the Mole Antonelliana that now houses the National Museum of Cinema and the Egyptian Museum second only to the Egyptian Museum in  Cairo, universities and the Italian automobile industry.

Turin is also the heart of Piedmont’s gastronomy: chocolate and Gianduja cream, a delicacy made with cocoa and local hazelnuts, gianduiotti chocolates, famous wines like Barolo,  Dolcetto, Barbera, Arneis, Moscato and many more. Turin is the city where Vermouth was invented, a wine mixed with thirteen herbs and spices, Martini and the rite of the aperitivo served before dinner, usually accompanied with finger food in the modern and historical cafes. The cuisine of Turin and its surroundings is varied: agnolotti, bagna caoda, mixed boiled meats, outstanding cheeses like the Toma and tomino, salami and a real culture for herbs, home made liquors and desserts like baci di dama, bonnet etc. This description is very reductive because I’m naming only few of the traditional dishes and products but I hope to have given you at least an idea.

I feel very lucky because when I go to Piedmont my relatives always prepare me some of the classical dishes some that I’ve known since I was a child others that are still new to me after so many years that I’ve been visiting. I love some elaborated recipes as well as the simplicity of some others. When I came back from Turin in fact my auntie prepared this Potato and tomato salad and it was exactly what I needed after all that walking. Potatoes cultivated in the mountains and cuori di bue, ox heart tomatoes, picked fresh from her garden. Here potatoes are really good and tasty, my auntie usually has a good amount stored in her cellar so they can last for many months.

This recipe seems almost too simple but you don’t need too many ingredients to prepare something really delicious and healthy. It can be a side dish or a complete meal it’s up to you,  my auntie served it with cold boiled meats but it could be cheeses or tuna fish as well.

Potatoes and Tomatoes Salad

3 lbs. potatoes
2 cuori di bue, ox heart tomatoes about 1.5 pounds
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Serves: 4 to 6 persons

Boil the potatoes in their skins until ready and let them cool for a little bit before peeling them. Cut them in big pieces and place them in a bowl. Slice the tomatoes and add them to the potatoes.
Season the salad with olive oil, salt and serve. It can also be eaten cold but I personally prefer it when the potatoes are still warm.