Tag: Tuscan Food

Tuscany food

Tuscany food

Lardo di Colonnata: Tuscan Treat
Regional Cuisine from Tuscany for Marble Workers

One of the most unusual traditional Italian foods is Lardo di Colonnata. This is a type of cured pork fat, which comes from the little village of Colonnata, high up in the Apuan Alps in Northern Tuscany. Colonnata is close to Carrara, famous for its fine marble, and lardo was the food of the marble quarriers: cheap and filling. Today lardo di colonnata is a delicacy, rather like a fine ham. It might sound horrible but it’s said to be silky, smooth and very tasty.

Traditional Tuscan cuisine uses up all scraps of food – nothing is wasted. And this dish is a prime example. It probably dates back to Roman times. Pigs used to be kept in the area, fed on the acorns that fell from the oak trees that grew on this unfertile mountain ridge. Lardo di Colonnata is made from very thin strips of pork fat, taken from the back of the pig.

It’s traditionally made in a marble vat, called a conca or conche – the inside of which is rubbed with garlic. The strips of fat are placed inside the vat in layers, and seasoned with salt. Each layer of fat alternates with a layer of herbs and spices. Every local producer has their own special combination of flavourings: but they generally involve seasonings like black pepper, rosemary, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, sage, oregano and even aniseed.

The vat is then sealed and traditionally left in a cave, where the cool mountain air passes around it. The salt dries the pork fat, and the flavours of the herbs and spices seep in. Some say that it’s important that Carrara marble is used for the vats, as this is free from lime. After 6 to 8 months the vat is opened and the lardo is ready to eat. You can buy it from one of the larderie in Colonnata, though these days it is made under different conditions due to new hygiene laws.

Leslie Halloran
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“A frog in the well does not know the sea.”- Japanese Proverb

Tuscany dishes

Lardo of Colonnata

The Lardo of Colonnata
Marble is the reason that the tiny village of Colonnata exists, but the Lardo has made the town famous. This poor man’s food that was once served on bread rubbed with a tomato and onion, now commands top prices and draws visitors to this remote mountain area in the heart of the Carrara marble quarries. But what is it, and how is it made? Why is Lardo di Colonnata so special, not just a piece of pork fat, used to flavor soups and stews, but a highly prized treat?

The preparation of lardo has been documented for nearly as long as written history has existed. The laws of Justinian demanded that legionnaires be fed ample doses of lard to keep them healthy and energetic. In the 13th century, the first statutes regulating lard making appeared. Lardo was a part of the rural life of all of Italy.

In Colonnata, the local marble became tubs to hold the lardo, chiseled from the stones that were unfit for artists and artisans because of their brittle nature. These chiseled tubs still are used in the making of Lardo di Colonnata. They are bigger now, but their shape and use are the same. This marble is dry, glassy and porous, too fragile for use in statuary or decoration, but perfect as refrigeration: it protects the lardo from humidity, and lets oxygen circulate around the curing fat. There are no refrigeration plants in Colonnata. Preservatives are banned; it is the marble and the special curing that allow this product to exist so naturally.

The marble basins are washed and treated with vinegar each September. When they are ready, the lard making process begins and lasts until spring. The pigs arrive from farms that are regulated by the Parma and San Daniele prosciutto consortiums; they must be at least nine months old, and weigh 160 kilos. When the pigs are butchered, the curing begins.

The walls of the tubs are rubbed with garlic, and the slabs of lard are massaged with sea salt, which is then rinsed away. The bottom of the tub is covered with another special salt, then layers of lard are added, one on top of the other. What makes the Lardo di Colonnata unique is layers of ground black pepper, chopped garlic, and chopped rosemary that are added between each slab of lard before the entire tub is left to cure for six months. Additional spices, such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, oregano, star anise, and sage are added according to the special recipe of the individual lard maker. The basins are sealed with marble slabs, and for six months they are checked to make sure the curing is coming along as expected. The resulting product is amazingly sweet and delicate. In Tuscany, they say “it dissolves in the mouth.”

www.lardodicolonnata.org

Tuscany – “Neccio” flour

Tuscany Cake
Tuscany Cake

Commonly knows as “chestnut flour”, originates in Garfagnana and it is used by the population as wheat flour is used in the plain areas.
The chestnut is therefore a “bread tree” and its fruits, the chestnuts, “tree bread”.
Although mainly used for polenta, there are various uses for chestnut flour. It was dissolved in a water and coke on the fire between two pieces of metal to form “necci”, eaten with ricotta or cured meats.
It could also be mixed with water, walnuts, orange  peel and oil and coke in the oven to make the famous “castagnaccio”. Today the flour is no longer used daily but its scent and delicate taste can be experienced when you try “necci” or “castagnaccio”.
The fragrant flovours  come alive in the “metato” where the freshly-picked chestnuts are dried. The chestnuts remain in the “metato”, traditionally beate with logs of chestnut wood, for 40 days until they assume the characteristics wich we will enjoy when they are cleaned and trasformed into Garfagnana “neccio flour” now provided of DOP label.

“Castagnaccio” recipe:
For 4 people:
400 g neccio flour
500 g water
30 g crusche walnut
peel of 1 orange (only the yellow part)
rosemary
oil
salt
Add the water to the flour a little at a time,  with a pinch of salt: Mix and pour into a round baking pan to reach a height of 1,5 cm. Drizzle the surface with oil, sprinkle over the nuts, chopped Rosemary and orange peel and cook at 200° for 40 minutes.
Please visit also: Tuscan recipes

Tuscany – A typical dessert: “chiacchiere” with lemon mousse

Tuscany Chiacchiere

Lemon mousse:
. 3 eggs
. the juice of 3 lemons plus grated rind of one
. 100 mg sugar
. 6 gm gelatine
. 350 gm whipping cream

Separate the eggs and put the yolks and the whites into different mixing bowls. Put the whipping crea minto a third mixing bowl. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and mix well. Put the lemon juice and the gelatine in a small saucepan and leave for 5 minutes before heating gently to dissolve the gelatine.
be careful not to let the lemon jiuce boil.
Take the saucepan of the heat and leave to cool a little before adding it and the lemon rind to the egg yolk mixture. Mix well.
Now whisk the egg whites and the cream until they are both firm.
Mix them both into the egg yolk mixture by very gently moving the mixture from top to bottom with a wooden spoon or spatula. The slower and more gently you do this the lighter the mousse will be.
Put the mousse in the mixing bowl into the fridge for at least 2 hours to set.

Chiacchiere:
. 400 g plain flour
. 25 g icing sugar
. 50 g butter
. 2 eggs
. a glasso f marsala
. a pinch of salt

Sieve the flour into a bowl and add all the other ingriedentes. Mix well to form a smooth dough. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is just a couple of milimetres thick and then cut into strips using a zig-zag edged patry cutter. Fry in hot oil for a few minutes until browned and leave to drain on some kitchen paper.

Serving suggestion

Using two dessertspoons, form querelle with the mousse by taking a spoonful of the mixture from the bowl with one spoon and then carefully passing the mixture between the spoons until a neat form is obtained. Gently slide the quenelle off the spoon into a dessert plate.
Dust the chiacchiere with a little extraa icing sugar and place them on the plate next to the querelle of lemon mousse.
Finally decorate the mousse with a few fine strips of lemon rind.