L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano Spaghetti alla chitarra with pallottine © | Dreamstime.com LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES VARINIA CAPPELLETTI Continued to page 32 Looking at the sea from a mountain top: Abruzzo U p to 1963 the proud region of Abruzzo was not a region in its own right, but cohabited with Molise, even if Frederick of Swabia had already, in 1233, cre- ated the Giustiziere d'Abruzzo, identifying the region's territory. Abruzzo became then part of the Bourbons' kingdom, under the rule of which it remained until, not without fighting, it was even- tually annexed to the Kingdom of Italy. In those years, the phenom- enon of brigantaggio, criminal venture in support of the Bour- bons, became particularly strong. Geographically, Abruzzo is lo- cated at the very centre of Italy, but culturally it is a typical south- ern region. To be fair, we could define Abruzzo a National Park, con- sidering it hosts 36% of Europe's protected areas, along with 23 of the Borghi più Belli d'Italia (Italy's Most Beautiful Villages) thanks to its many castles, rocks, abbeys, convents, monasteries, sanctuaries, hermitages and ar- chaeological sites. The natural paths of transhu- mance, the so called tratturi, were crucial for the sustenance of the Samnites and have been charac- teristic of the region's landscape since the 6th century AC. They were regulated starting in the 2nd century AD by the Romans, who imposed passage tolls on them. In the past 20 years, a project called Le Vie del Tratturo has been working to bring back into use these ancient roads. Between 1860 and the end of the Second World War, about 1.3 million Abruzzesi migrated to North America and Australia, but during the previous centuries, Abruzzo had been itself a land of immigrants: starting in the 16th century people from Serbia, Croa- tia and Albania had settled in the areas of Terni and Pescara. Of them today, only some linguistic vestiges in the dialect spoken at Villa Badessa and the Orthodox rite remain. Its peculiar geographic confor- mation, mountain peaks that turn into hills to meet the sea, means that there is a variety of micro-cli- mates within a relatively small area. This characteristic influenced Abruzzo's economy and, of course, also its food! Even if neither the territory, nor the soil are particularly favorable, agriculture remains an important activity, so much so Abruzzo is home to plenty IGP, DOP and PAT denominations. Among its typical produce we can find Aquila's saffron, Fucino's potato, Sulmona's red garlic and Abruzzo's spelt. Sulmona's red garlic is a rare and precious variety that has been cultivated for centuries only in the Conca Peligna area near Sulmona. It is known for its medical proper- ties, but also for its intense flavor and the fact it lasts longer than regular garlic. It is perfect with both land's staples such as potatoes and spaghetti, and sea flavors such as prans. Another excellence of Abruzzo The "chitarra" is wooden instrument with strings that are used to cut the pasta dough into spaghetti © Catalina Zaharescu Tiensuu | Dreamstime.com

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