Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa

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