L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 25, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano I talians are hardcore about their food. Dare if you may question whether Town X makes better (fill-in- the-blank) than Town Y and you'll get an earful of the deep-seated pride and honor welded to local cuisine. It's a given; from entire regions down to the tiniest borgo, food pride is as robust as Ro- man concrete. Despite this truth, most Italians would agree that other than their mamma's kitchen, the mother lode of food is found in Emilia Romagna, Italy's revered "food valley." When you think about the food treasures that originate in Emilia Romagna – Pro- s c i u t t o d i P a r m a , P a r m i - giano Reggiano, Balsamico di Modena to name a few – it's obvious the pasta offer- i n g s w i l l b e s p e c t a c u l a r . Meet the magnificent mas- terpiece called tortellini. Broadly defined, this egg- based stuffed pasta comes in a limited variety of shapes and fillings and is tradition- ally served floating cloud- like in a sumptuous broth or lolling in a shallow sea of n e v e r - t o o - m u c h b u t t e r . N a m e y o u r p o i s o n ; i t ' s a highly respected, traditional p a s t a t h a t s e r e n a d e s t h e heart via the mouth. A l l t h a t d e l i c i o u s n e s s aside, no one needs convinc- ing of the tasty joys of these delectable pasta-wrapped morsels. One might, howev- er, require persuading as to which version of the inven- tion of tortellini is at least h a l f w a y b e l i e v a b l e . T h e p r a g m a t i c e x p l a n a t i o n , while a bit boring, points to a recipe dating to the 1500s. A creative Bolognese cook decided that grinding pre- cious leftover meat into an u n d i s c e r n i b l e m u s h a n d t h e n c r e a t i v e l y w r a p p i n g tiny portions inside pasta squares would make a fine m e a l . F a i r e n o u g h , b u t a more titillating explanation exists involving war, mythi- cal gods, and a voyeuristic innkeeper as key players. R i v a l s t o t h i s d a y , t h e cities of Bologna and Mode- na were embroiled in a turf war in 1325 (The Battle of Zapollino). Modena was vic- torious this time; the Bolog- nese scurried back to safety and locked the city gates. Needing a trophy to parade once back home, a Mode- n e s e s o l d i e r m a d e d o b y grabbing a simple wooden bucket from a nearby well. It was proudly hung from a tower for all to see and can s t i l l b e v i e w e d t o d a y i n Modena's communal hall. Back to the story, though. Several hundred years later, f a m e d M o d e n e s e s a t i r i s t A l e s s a n d r o T a s s o n i wrote an epic-style poem making fun of "The Battle of the Bucket," which included inserting a few gods: Mars, Bacchus, and Venus - the goddess of love. The three came down from on high, and as gods tend to do, they merely observed the atroci- ties while enjoying hedonis- tic pleasures. Weary from their surveillance, the trio opted to continue the party at a small inn. A bit tipsy perhaps, it was decided to share a single bedroom for t h e n i g h t . T h e h i g h l y intrigued innkeeper quietly crept to the door to steal a peek at the nude goddess. With nothing gained other t h a n a g l i m p s e o f V e n u s ' p e r f e c t n a v e l , h e w a s nonetheless mesmerized. Prying himself away before he was caught, the innkeep- er snuck back to his kitchen a n d c o m m e n c e d s h a p i n g pasta dough into the image he could not forget: a per- fectly formed, glorious little pasta navel. Tortellini was born! The legend names the s m a l l t o w n o f t h e i n n a s C a s t e l f r a n c o E m i l i a , equidistance between Mod- ena and Bologna; thus, nei- ther can claim tortellini as t h e i r o w n . T h a t d o e s n ' t mean they don't keep trying, though! E v e r y t r a t t o r i a , e v e r y pastificio, every cuoco in Emilia Romagna has their signature style of tortelli- n i , y e t u n s p o k e n r u l e s apply. Traditional tortellini features a mixture of several ground meats and should be served al dente bobbing in a richly complex capon broth. T h e l a r g e r n a v e l - s t y l e tortelli are typically stuffed with ricotta and spinach, then slathered in a brown butter sauce complemented w i t h s a g e . C o n t e m p o r a r y chefs might offer a creamed tomato or white sauce, but traditionalists scoff at the idea. If you want to go big, find your way to tortelloni – t h e g r a n d e c o u s i n t o tortellini and tortelli. Vege- tarian stuffings, in particu- l a r p u r e e d p u m p k i n , a r e common, but rules seem a bit more lax for this version. Bologna may be the capi- tal of tortellini, but other f o o d - c e n t r i c c i t i e s i n t h e region boast in defiant rival- ry their own specialty ver- sions of stuffed pasta. Cap- pellacci di Zucca – little p u m p k i n h a t s – a r e a delight found in Ferrara, while Piacenza went rogue with its T o r t e l l i n i P i a - centini – a braided pasta packet resembling a swad- dled baby. Live large with P a r m a ' s T o r t e l l i d ' E r - bette, jumbo-sized square p o c k e t s r i p e w i t h a r i c h cheese and spinach filling. Two unique sagre, those beautiful Italian festivals celebrating local cuisine, are held in Emilia Romagna to honor the navel-replicating t o r t e l l i n i . C a s t e l f r a n c o Emilia's legendary role in the inception of tortellini h o s t s a y e a r l y S a g r a d i S a n N i c o l a … a l i a s f o r "Tortellini Festival" …which celebrates the innkeeper's w o n d r o u s r e c r e a t i o n o f V e n u s ' b e l l y b u t t o n . T h e l e g e n d i s r e - e n a c t e d b y townspeople, and of course, copious amounts of tradi- tional tortellini in brodo are s e r v e d t o a p p r e c i a t i v e c r o w d s . D r e s s i n y o u r favorite Renaissance cos- t u m e a n d c o m e h u n g r y . E a c h O c t o b e r , B o l o g n a h o s t s t h e F e s t i v a l d e l Tortellino coinciding with the celebration day of their patron saint - Petronius of Bologna. The centerpiece of the festival is a competi- t i o n b e t w e e n 2 0 l o c a l l y renowned chefs who pre- pare their own versions of tortellini. Snag a ticket and you can be the judge as to who ranks number one. Revisiting the fact that Italians take their special- ties seriously, therein exists Bologna's Brotherhood of the Tortellino, the Dotta C o n f r a t e r n i t a d e l Tortellino. Relatively new, the brotherhood was found- ed in 1965 by Alessandro Cervellati and reordered in 1987 after a brief demise. Cervellati's description of tortellini says it all: a sensu- a l i n t e r c o u r s e b e t w e e n a woman's attractiveness and a g a s t r o n o m i c c r e a t i o n . V e n u s w o u l d b e p l e a s e d . The Confraternita's incep- tion came about in response t o t h e w i n d s o f d o u b t swirling in local mid-1960s newspapers. Perhaps Bolog- nese cooking's high ranking wasn't completely warrant- ed; are we sure Modena was not the tortellini epicenter r a t h e r t h a n B o l o g n a ? Heresy it was; it must be dealt with. Preservation of old recipes, upholding tradi- tion, convivial dinners, culi- nary debates, and snubbing i n n o v a t i o n , t h e " l e a r n e d brotherhood" mantra main- t a i n s " i t [ o u r w o r k ] i s extremely necessary…and even little changes of the tortellino filling can cause l e a r n e d d i s c u s s i o n s . " A s e r i o u s m a t t e r , a l b e i t a p p r o a c h e d s o m e w h a t tongue-in-cheek, the broth- erhood received Italy's Pres- idential Medal in 2013. T o r t e l l i n i : l e g e n d a r y , inspired by a goddess, pro- tected and revered, power- f u l l y d e l i c i o u s , j e a l o u s l y guarded. But not so guarded that a peek at the Confrater- nita's website won't reveal t h e a p p r o v e d , c a r v e d - i n - s t o n e ( l i t e r a l l y ) , a n d a u t h e n t i c r i c e t t a d e l tortellino for creating your own sensuous pasta experi- ence. PAULA REYNOLDS T h e T a l e o f T o r t e l l i n i – E m i l i a Romagna's slightly naughty pasta Legends say that the shape of tortellini was inspired by Venus' belly button (Photo: Martiapunts/Dreamstime) LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES

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