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Cooking La Spezia
Cooking
The typical cooking of Liguria is strongly influenced by its geographic characteristics, such as being surrounded by the sea, land and without any open plains.
Thus, the cuisine is not based on the use of meat even raising animals for meat is very rarely seen. However the fruitful nature and the abundance of rain render the land particularly fertile for a great number of pot herbs, which are widely used in their cooking. Marjoram, thyme, rosemary, sage, “boragine” and the top quality basil, which is used in the famous pesto, are all very common. Other well knows sauces of the area are the Salsa di noci – Walnut sauce and the Sugo ai funghi – Mushroom sauce.
Given the unpredictable changes in history, the cooking of Liguria can be defined as the perfect example of Mediterranean cuisine, cradled by nature and the work of man. Some recipes are simple and poor, where others rich and full of flavor. Ligurian dishes mirror the creativity of the local population and even the best traditions also of foreign origin.
Since we are speaking of a seagoing republic indeed, many products were imported over the course of centuries, for example baccala` - codfish, and stoccafisso – stockfish, and other recipes are similarly found in Portuguese, French and Catalan cuisines.
An important aspect of Liguria’s cuisine is the technique of food conservation, such as mushrooms in oil, jam, honey, anchovies prepared in salt, brine and various sauces and confections.
Some of the most characteristic century-old sweets are canestrelli cookies, ameretto almond cookies and pandolce, which is a sort of panettone or milanese cake, risen less and rich with candied fruits and raisins.
La Spezia’s cuisine is a particular mix between seafood and meat dishes, a way of cooking that is simple and distinguished by the use of ingredients said to be “poor,” or rater easily available ingredients and typical of this Mediterranean area.
The typical productions of the area are the zucchino alberello of sarzana – the “little tree” zucchini of Sarzana, which ha delicate flavor and produces many flowers. The potatoes of Pignone, beans of Torza, the fagiolo cenerino – a type of white bean form Pignone, il fagiolo ‘lume’ of Pignone, the Mangia benas, the saffron from Campiglia, the kale form Vale di Vara and the castagna burasca ‘storm’ chestnut are also very typical. The province had planned various important projects to develop the production of potatoes and beans of Pignone along with the tat of Chestnut flour. In course now is a plan to recover the Pisello Nero – the black pea of L’Ago, one of the fractions of Borghetto Vara a place in which the constitution of Slowfood is foreseen to unfold.
The passage through the Cinque Terre is characterized by the terraced vineyards, built by man’s hard work, with fig trees strategically positioned to shade the vines in times of rest, and agave to indicate borders and define trail on the steep stone steps.
The most famous wine of the Cinque Terre is the white wine D.O.C. Cinque Terre, and the Schiacchetrà, a valued after dinner wine made from dried grapes. Limoncello, a lemon liqueur, made from the lemons form the area is also very common.
Schiacchetrà is made form vermintino, bosco and albarola grapes left to dry in cool areas on special lattices. The grapes have a high concentration of sugar. It is a D.O.C. - Denominazione d’Origine Controllata product since 1973, like the Cinque Terre white wine, obtained from the same grapes, form vines that are no more than one meter tall. The grapevines do very well in the easily permeable terrain, mild climate with exposure to sun.
Enogastronomia
Quiet Night: La Spezia (SP) - 19122 - Via Roma 12 Telefono: 348 5747137 - Fax:
0187 258697
info@quietnight.it - P.Iva: 01294150113
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