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SPECIAL TRADITIONAL ITALIAN PASTA: shapes, forms, and flavors.
The cuisines of Italy can be called just that. One of the
interesting things about Italian cuisine is that there is no one cuisine.
Certainly there are some standardized notions, but usually it is riotous
anarchy, especially with pasta, Italy’s foremost food. Differences
abound, so much so, that in certain regions, the same named pasta has a completely
different shape depending on the village, location, or area. Here are several
pasta specialties which come from specific areas, unique to those, and not
often seen.
From Liguria: CROXETTI: 500g
They can also be called “corsetti or corzetti.” These are flat,
disc shaped pasta, made from a simple dough of flour and water, although they
can also be made with an egg dough (see what I mean!) that are stamped with
a design. Some pasta historians say these date from the time of the Crusades,
where nobles would have their pasta stamped with their coats of arms. What
is interesting it that CROXETTI are made in a restricted area in Liguria, in
the Oltrepo Pavese, and can have a different shape altogether! (The other corzetti
come from Polcevera and have a figure 8 shape.)
CROXETTI are generally dressed with a mushroom sauce called “tucco,” or
with melted butter flavored with fresh marjoram and pounded pinenuts. We
would be pleased to send our recipe for tucco should you want it.
TROFIE: 500g pkg
Trofie are nearly always served with pesto. The name in Genovese dialect means “truffles” or
gnocchi, and this pasta shape is an elongated, pointed piece of dough thicker
in the middle than the ends, made out of flour and water and rolled by hand
to produce the special shape. Dressed only with pesto, but cooked with fresh
green beans and potato slices, these are a specialty of the Ligurian coast,
especially at Recco.
From Lombardia (Valtellina);
PIZZOCCHERI: 500g box
Pizzoccheri are a flat, tagliatelle like pasta made from one part wheat and
three parts buckwheat flours. They are unique to the Valtellina area just south
of the Alps in Lombardy. Pizzoccheri are quite special, and are dressed in
a traditional manner with cooked cabbage, butter, and cubes of semi hard cheese
called Bitto. The flavor is unique in pasta, and the pasta box has the classic
recipe.
From Sardinia: FREGOLA SARDA: medium size 500g pkg.
Fregola Sarda is the Sardinian version of couscous, the rubbed pasta of semolina
and water, made into irregular balls. It is bake dried and can be used like
pasta, as a side dish, or made traditionally with clams into a type of pasta “paella.”
From Puglia: ORECCHIETE MARITATE: 500g pkg
Hailing from Bari, in Italy’s Puglia, orecchiete are a traditional form
of pasta also called “strascinate or rècchje.” The “maritate” means
wedded. These are two different shapes which are cooked together. The round,
disc shaped pieces originally made on the thumb and the rolled form made by
rolling a piece of dough around a thin wire or reed. Orecchiete have become
quite popular now, but the “maritate” are seldom seen. This “wedded” pasta
is usually dressed with a ragù type sauce made from pork or lamb, but
broccoletti di rape or rapini, or regular broccoli, and also cauliflower, boiled
in water and the pasta cooked in the same water also produces a delicious,
traditional dish. Fruity olive oil, grated pecorino cheese, and some hot pepper
are all that is needed.
From Italy: LASAGNE ALL’UOVO: 500g box
Flat sheets of egg pasta, not pre-cooked, just dried, ready for use. I do not
like pre-cooked, ready to use lasagne sheets. Ours, however, are practically
the only ones available. Here is the last of a traditional type of egg pasta,
just flat, dried; it has to be cooked by you before assembling a lasagne. The
squares of pasta can also be used very handily for the preparation of cannelloni.
This is the traditional cut for making lasagne alla Bolognese.
PORTUGUESE CONDIMENTS from QUINTA D’AVÓ
Portugal is not often considered a hot bed of gastronomy.
History shows it should be. Most of the spices and products of the old world
and southeast Asia came through Portugal, and much of what came from the
New World was sent all over from Portugal. With the division of the world
into two spheres of influence, Spanish and Portuguese, Portugal was given
the east and Spain the west. This accounts for the fact that in the new world,
only Brazil speaks Portuguese, but in parts of Africa, India, China, and
Indonesia, Portuguese was spoken. Thirty years ago, where Portuguese was
spoken, was Portugal or had been a Portuguese colony. This Portuguese influence
made for very interesting culinary fusions which created new national cuisines.
A Portuguese company, QUINTA
D’AVÓ makes several
preparations which have their roots in the fusion cooking of the Portuguese
colonies. I suggest them to you since they are very good and distinctive,
the result of a unique cultural melding.
Preparado Timorense 150g
From East Timor, a chile condiment made from both hot and sweet peppers, lemon,
and spices.
Preparado Angolano 150g
Made from hot chiles and lemon pulp, sharpened with vinegar.
Piri-Piri 90g
Piri-piri is the name given to Malagueta peppers by Africans when they were
introduced into Angola and Mozambique by the Portuguese. It has now become
the common word for (hot) pepper sauce in Portuguese.
Vinha d’alho 200g
Vinha d’alho is the Portuguese version of the Goan vindalho or vindaloo.
Made from garlic and wine with peppers, it is used for marinating meat, especially
pork, before grilling.
Tempero para grelhado de carne 200g
A spicy grilling sauce for red meat. Tempero means condiment or dressing in
Portuguese. It also may be the origin of the Japanese word “tempura.”
Achar de limão 340g
Achar de limão is the Portuguese version of preserved lemons. The word “achar” from
Persian or Arabic means “pickle.” It is a tart condiment of salted
lemons, flavored with peppers.
LYKOVOUNO: ITS OIL AND “RIGANI”
LYKOVOUNO means Wolf Mountain in Greek and is the estate
owned by Dr. Peter Panagotacos, a noted San Francisco dermatologist, who
has begun producing fine oil from his property in Lakonia in the Greek Peleponesos.
LYKOVOUNO oil is produced from the great Greek cultivar Koroneiki. We have
just received the 2003-2004 crop oil which is an intense fruity oil with
great pungency and character. If you are looking for a very fine, intense
fruity oil, here it is.
Another wonderful product produced on the Likovouno estate
is the organic wild oregano which is harvested on the unplanted sections
of the property. “Rigani” is Greek for oregano, and this product
is different from any other on the market. Intensely perfumed and flavorful,
it is the oregano you would use in making Greek dishes where this intensity
is required. LYKOVOUNO WILD OREGANO 14g (0.5oz) sachet
