Fügassa, focaccia genovese: white focaccia typical of Genoa, already a Slow food presidium. A sort of leavened bread, about 2 centimeters high, brushed after rising and before baking with an emulsion of water and flour to which grains of coarse sea salt are added.
Focaccia di Recco: legend has it that this recipe dates back to the first Crusade. It is a low focaccia, rolled out thinly; between the two overlapping disks is placed the formaggetta, a fresh cheese; the focaccia is then seasoned with Ligurian oil and salt then baked on a slate disk.
Gofri della Val Chisone: Crunchy wafers with a typical honeycomb surface, obtained from a mixture of water, milk, flour, eggs and yeast cooked between two opposing and shaped plates. Typical of Val Chisone, they can be eaten seasoned sweet or savory, even as a bread substitute; in Val Germanasca they are replaced with tourtél, similar but without yeast.
Brezel:typical bread of German-speaking populations, in Italy widespread in Alto Adige. The classic braided shape is blanched in a solution of water and sodium bicarbonate, which gives it its typical shiny appearance, then seasoned with grains of coarse salt and baked in the oven. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, it has a slightly malty flavor that contrasts with the savory flavor of the salt.
Piadina romagnola: puff pastry obtained from a mixture of water, flour and lard, lightly salted, then cooked on an earthenware dish, nowadays made of metal; stuffed at will, the traditional condiment is with rocket and squacquerone cheese, in addition also raw ham or culatello.
Lampredotto:traditional Florentine recipe in which the abomasum, one of the four stomachs of cattle, is boiled for a long time in water flavored with celery, tomato and onion. Once cooked, it is coarsely cut and used to stuff a sandwich, which is then soaked in the cooking broth and seasoned with green sauce made of oil and parsley.
Borlengo: very thin crepe obtained from a mixture of water or milk, flour and salt seasoned with the traditional cunza, that is a chopped lard scented with garlic and rosemary, completed with a small handful of parmesan cheese; it is a typical preparation of the hills between Bologna and Modena.
Pani ca’ meusa: literally bread with spleen, a traditional specialty of Palermo, the queen city of strie food. A soft loaf of bread with sesame seeds is stuffed with cow spleen and lung, previously cooked in broth and then cut before being pan-fried in pork fat. It is topped with grated caciocavallo cheese and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Rosetta con la porchetta:the typical sandwich of the Castelli Romani. The rosetta, a traditional bread of Latium cuisine, is cut and stuffed with slices of porchetta, or boneless pork and seasoned with salt, black pepper and herbs before being roasted in the oven.
Supplì: typical recipe of Rome, this rice ball with an elongated shape is fried in plenty of hot oil which gives it a crispy exterior thanks to the breadcrumbs. The rice is traditionally cooked in a tomato sauce and chicken giblets, is often replaced by a meat sauce or just tomato sauce, the center of the supplì is placed a cube of mozzarella cheese that melts with the heat and becomes stringy: hence the name supplì on the phone.
Stigliole: typical dish of Sicilian cuisine, inarticulate from Palermo. The guts of the lamb, or kid, are rolled around a leek leaf skewered on a wooden or bamboo skewer, then roasted over embers and seasoned at the end with fine salt and lemon juice.
Pizza fritta: born from the creativity of Neapolitans to overcome the lack of a wood-fired oven in which to cook pizza. The leavened dough rolled out by hand in small discs is dipped in hot oil. Inside the pizza can be stuffed or it can be topped with a tomato and basil sauce and a sprinkling of grated cheese: in this case it is called montanara.
Farinata: spread throughout the Ligurian Riviera, up to Tuscany where it takes the name of cecina and towards Nice with the name of socca. A low pizza, cooked in a pan in an oven preferably wood fired, obtained from a dough made of chickpea flour, water and salt with a little oil to season.
Panissa: Originally from Ligura, panissa is made with the same ingredients as farinata, minus the oil. The dough, initially cooked on the fire, is then rolled out and allowed to cool before being cut into regular pieces. It is eaten seasoned with lemon juice or onion.
Pinzone ferrarese: a kind of focaccia typical of the city of Ferrara, is made from a mixture of flour, water and yeast flavored with lard and bacon, all baked in the oven, in the classic lozenge shape. There is also a version enriched with stewed onions.
Erbazzone:seasonal specialty typical of the province of Reggio Emilia, is a savory pie made of a crust of dough stuffed with boiled beets and seasoned with eggs, shallots and parmesan cheese.
Sgabei: traditional of Lunigiana, sgabei are obtained from strips of bread dough fried in abundant boiling lard, until golden and crispy. They are served with sliced meats and cheeses, but are also eaten like this in cartocci. The original version foresees the addition of corn flour to make the dough more consistent.
Olive ascolane e crema fritta: widespread and originating from the city of Ascoli Piceno, green olives in brine, pitted by hand and stuffed with a mixture of pork and beef, are breaded and fried. The fried cream is made of regular cubes of custard cooled and breaded before frying.
Gnumareddi: turcinello in the Foggia area, turcinieddhri in Lecce and turcinieddi in the province of Brindisi. They are rolls of lamb or kid innards, liver, kidney and lung held together like a ball of guts, seasoned with salt and wild fennel before being roasted on the grill.
Crocchè: from Sicily to Naples, these potato balls are coarsely crushed or mashed, then mixed with eggs and cheese before being breaded and fried in hot oil. In the Palermo version, instead of eggs, milk is used to make the potato mixture more homogeneous and smooth and mint leaves are added for fragrance.
Panzerotti: Spread all over southern Italy, according to the area it takes on names and variations in the recipe and in the filling. Basically it is a pocket made of pizza dough, stuffed with stewed escarole in lower Latium and upper Campania, with onions, capers, olives and tomatoes in Apulia. In Naples it is called calzone, in Sicily there is a similar version called pitone.
Murzeddu calabrese: typical sandwich of the Catanzaro area in which the traditional wagon wheel bread is stuffed with a stew made with bovine interiors: heart, liver, lung, spleen and sometimes intestines. Everything is cooked in a sauce of tomato paste, spicy peppers and oregano; there is also a murzeddu cento fogli version cooked only with veal tripe.
Pane e panelle: typical snack of the city of Palermo, sold in banquets at the edge of the streets, it consists of a soft white bread, usually decorated with sesame seeds, stuffed with fried slices of a mixture of chickpea flour and water, previously cooked on fire then spread to dry. It is seasoned with lemon juice and, at pleasure, a grating of seasoned caciocavallo cheese.
Sfincione: traditional of Palermo, this leavened dough sweetened with a minimum amount of honey in cooking assumes the consistency of a sponge, soft and moist. The surface is seasoned with tomato, oregano, onion and anchovy; at the moment of serving the cart in the street heats it briefly so that the seasoning impregnates the whole spongy part.
Seadas: typical Sardinian sweet, in the zonal variant also called sebadas, it consists of two overlapping disks of dough and stuffed with fresh cheese, fried in abundant olive oil. While still hot it is sprinkled with honey.
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Scacce: Thin bread dough, rolled out in rectangular shape is then seasoned and folded on itself until obtaining an elongated or square shape with several layers, then baked in the oven and served in slices. The seasoning-filling varies from area to area in Sicily: in Ragusa tomato and caciocavallo cheese, ricotta cheese and sausage in the foothills, mixed vegetables, potatoes and sausages in Solarino, in Agrigento cudduruni. If it is round and slightly thicker, it is called votavota and it is usually stuffed with vegetables, broccoletti, spinach or chard.
Paposce: from Vieste to Peschici, a dough of rolled out leavened bread dough is briefly baked in the brick and then topped with cheese and seasonal herbs or with tomato and fresh cheese; it is then folded over on itself into a long, narrow shape, then baked again in the oven.
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Pettole: Pancakes spread throughout the south of Italy and made of a dough dough fried in hot oil. They are eaten with salty foods or sprinkled with powdered sugar in the sweet version. Depending on the area they have different names: pàtt'l in Matera, zeppole in Irpinia, pittule in Lecce, zipoli in Calabria.
Sardella calabrese: also known as Calabrian caviar, is a sauce made of whitebait, hot pepper and salt, in some variants it may also include wild fennel seeds. Small fishes left to marinate in big jars form in a short time a thick sauce to be spread on bread; well-known and sought-after is the rosamarina, made of newborn mullets; the area of choice is in the Crotone area.
by Guseppe De Luca on January 24.2021