Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa
Matthew Fort
Italy’s tumultuous history can be traced through its food. In an epic scooter trip from the Ionian Sea to the far north, distiguished food writer Matthew Fort explores the local gastronomy and culinary culture of a country where regional differences are vibrantly alive.In no other country is food so much a part of everyday life as it is in Italy. Matthew Fort's plan is a simple one: to travel by scooter from Melito di Porto Salvo – the southernmost town in Italy and where Garibaldi landed in 1860 to begin his conquest of Naples – to Turin in the north, eating drinking, talking and noting as he goes.Passing through Calabria – rich in spices, Arabian-influences of almonds and dried fruits, as well as Spanish chocolate (Fichi al Ciocolatto, mostacciolo) – and on to Campania – from where the historic Nepalese pizza has become infamous – Fort discovers the rich connection between historical tradition and cuisine. The Italian genius for combining abundance and thrift is evident from the economy of the mountainous and sparse landscape of Molise, where much use is made of pastas and chillies, and adjoining lush Abruzzo, with its delicious cheeses and risottos.Fort travels on to Emilia-Romagna, where much of what we have come to love in Italian food can be found: prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, ravioli, taggliatelle and zamponi…In Piedmont, the wine-and-truffle country stretching from the shadow of the Alps through arable flatlands, the cooking of France and Northern Europe fuses with that of Italy. This enticing sum of parts – the dishes, producers, ingredients, consumers and eating occasions – make up nothing less than a contemporary portrait of the country.
Eating Up Italy
Voyages on a Vespa
Matthew Fort
Dedication
FOR LINDSAY
Contents
Cover (#ulink_e5f69c73-c969-5c8b-844e-caf8f86915da)
Title Page
Dedication
Note
1 Whetting the Appetite
Melito di Porto Salvo – Reggio di Calabria
2 King Pig
Reggio di Calabria – Vibo Valentia – Pizzo – Pianapoli
3 Getting Stuffed
Pianapoli – Castrovillari – Diamante – Scalea – Maratea – Sapri – Sala Consilina – Naples
4 Turbulence, Tripe and Taralli
Naples
5 One for the Road, Again
Naples – Piedimonte Matese
6 Sweet Charms
Piedimonte Matese – Sulmona – Fara San Martino – Guardiagrele
7 Olive Branches and Potato Passions
Guardiagrele – Penne – Ascoli Piceno
8 Pulses from the Old Year
Ascoli Piceno – Serra de’ Conti – Portonovo – Ancona
9 ‘Sara Un Si Ameno Giorno Propizio Ai Viaggiator’
Ancona – Cervia – Comacchio
10 The Supreme Sausage
Comacchio – Ferrara – Mantua – Cremona
11 The Mozart of Mushrooms
Cremona – Casale Monferrato – Asti – Bra – Turin
12 Mixing Memory and Desire
Turin
Searchable Terms
Acknowledgements
Other books by Matthew Fort
Copyright
About the Publisher
NOTE
Italian cooks are not so obsessively concerned with precise measurements in recipes as the British tend to be. Expressions such as ‘a handful of’ and ‘the right amount of’ abound, and cooking times seem non-existent. This stems partly from the natural confidence of people who cook on a daily basis, and partly from the fact that no two cooks can agree on ingredients, let alone the proportions in which they should be added to a dish. I have tried to formalise the recipes that I have collected without losing the character of the originals. I may not have succeeded in every case, but it seems to me better to respect a living culture than opt for arid exactitude.
1
WHETTING THE APPETITE
MELITO DI PORTO SALVO – REGGIO DI CALABRIA
Crostino di pane di grano con pomodoro, peperoncino e origano
The biscuity gold slice of toast was heaped with tiny cubes of cardinal-red tomato, shiny with oil and juices, and flecked with dark green particles. The crostino was explosively crunchy, with a slightly malted flavour. The tomato was clean and sweet, its flavour sharpened by the exhilarating intensity of the dried oregano, the warmth of chilli rising up through fruit and herb.
1
WHETTING THE APPETITE