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| Italian Recipes Cuisine | Mediterranean Cooking and Diet | Healthy Cooking Mediterranean Style |
A long history of political fragmentation, lasting right up until the 19th century, has produced an Italian identity defined more by city than by nationality. Italian cities each have a dialect and a set of traditions, but often a particular shape of pasta, style of cheese, and methods of food preparation.
The modern communes of the north were once competing citystates, for centuries operating independently and with scarcely any centralized authority. The southern regions have functioned with comparatively less civil tension, developing instead along lines of poverty from trade and geographic isolation. Italian cooking remains regional cooking and Italy’s regions are as diverse as they are rich in centuries-old tradition and culture.
Italians can be passionate about the things that define a person, about the things that define a life, and about good food in general. A strong pride in local and regional legacies is characteristically Italian. The town of Bologna, for example, presents a marvelous study in cultural - and culinary - uniqueness. Any true Bolognese will happily inform the visitor on tortellini, the two towers, and how Dante was once a student in the city.
Often thought of as the culinary capital of Italy, Bologna is also a town with many names. In the local dialect, it is Buläggna, in ancient Latin, Bononia. Alternately, the city is called by its three nicknames, Bologna la rossa (the red), Bologna la dotta (the learned), and Bologna la grassa (the fat). Bologna’s left-leaning politics and thousand year old university have given it the two former, while the town’s rich and flavorful cooking have earned it the latter.
The city’s best-known epithet, la grassa, derives from the Bolognese love of butter in meaty recipes. Handrolled egg pasta and pork produce are centerpieces of Bolognese cooking, and the two main ingredients in tortellini. Town favorites are fried dishes which combine the meats beef, veal, chicken, and sausage (bolliti misti) and those that mix vegetables varieties, fruit, and cream (fritto misto alla Bolognese). Other traditional Bolognese recipes include lasagna verdi, made with spinach, ragu made with beef and tomatoes, and passatelli in brodo, made of breads crumbs, nutmeg, and parmigian.
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Modern Romans likewise hold heritage in high esteem. Living in a city whose ancient legacy is not a roped-off museum, but a vibrant cosmopolitan stomping ground, the Romans have a saying. Theirs - whatever it may be - is surely “il migliore dei migliori,” (the best of the best). The sentiment applies to Roman cuisine no less.
Ancient Romans had a taste for bold flavors in daring combination, and the preference is evident in recipes passed down over centuries. Highly prized at the Roman table were and still are salted meats and fish, especially wild game, wild bird, pork, mussels and oysters. Wine, cheese, and fruit make the list as well, although interestingly the ancient Romans enjoyed their wine mixed with water, honey, and spices.
The Roman love of strong flavors is alive and well represented by traditional dishes Bucatini alla Gricia, a blend of bacon, olive oil, onion, sheep cheese, and chili pepper, and Abbacchio alla Romana, browned and roasted bite-sized baby lamb in a sauce of garlic, rosemary, vinegar, and anchovy. Other bacon and lamb favorites are Bucatini all’Amatriciana and Abbacchio Brodettato. And a discussion of traditional Roman cuisine cannot be complete without mention of Spaghetti alla Carbonara, the “charcoal maker’s spaghetti,” made with eggs, bacon, and pepper.
Italian cuisine is famous the world over, and yet it is far from understood. Pizza, for example, is a meal requested at restaurants across the planet, and yet there is scarcely anything like it outside Italian borders. Historically eaten by several cultures, including the Greeks and the Phoenicians, this culinary masterpiece drawn on flatbread was originally baked on a hot stone. While a firey oven is the modern method of cooking, no self-respecting Italian would call a thing a pizza sprinkled with dry shredded cheese.
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