L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 34 L'Italo-Americano LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 F rico, that stranger! Frico, or fricò to say it in Friulan dialect, comes from the extreme North-East of Italy, near the border with Austria. This tasty delicacy is made with all the leftovers of mountain cheeses and, especially, of Montasio, Friuli's own DOP cheese, named after the homony- mous plateau and produced in the area since the 13th century. In the 15th century, Martino de Como's De Arte Coquinaria, one of Italy's earliest and most impor- tant recipe books, wants it paired with polenta, a perfectly earthy dish to feed farmers and lumber- men. Basically, frico is cheese lef- tovers, sliced and fried in oil, but- ter or lard. It comes in a soft version, made with potatoes, but- ter, onion or speck, and a crunchy one, much thinner and made only with the fried cheese, served with mushrooms or Montasio fonduta. It is also perfect as a starter, served with cold polenta, as it used to be more than 500 years ago. A particularly tasty version is made in Flabiano: the frico alle erbe (frico with herbs), where fresh herbs typical of the area are added to the cheese. This variety of frico holds the "tipicamente friulano" nomenclature, in order to protect and create awareness around its unicity. Hot! Hotter! Soft 'nduja, the soft Calabria salami Say Calabria, say hot! Say Spilinga, say 'nduja! Between green mountains and crystal clear sea, the region of Ca- labria offers a plethora of unique delicacies, including 'nduja, a cu- rious spreadable deli meat, cha- racterised by a bright red color and a fiery taste. Even if its origin is uncertain - maybe Spanish, because of the heavy use of chillies imported from the Americas, or possibly Medieval, but with a different re- cipe - we have good information about its name, which is definitely French in origin. Indeed, the French word andouille is used to indicate all preparations typical of salumeria. As it often happens, sa- lumi are usually the result of our ancestors' good habit of creating something delicious from lefto- vers. 'Nduja, for instance, is made with pig's fat and lesser cuts, with the addition of Cala- bria's own fresh sweet and hot chillies that, beside adding flavor and color to the product, are also filled with antioxidants and act as a natural preservative. The meat, fat and chillies are ground very thinly until they become a cream, which is then put into the a traditional casing called orba and smoked with olive and locust tree wood. After a brief period of aging, it can last for over a year. Once used only as an accompa- niment to vegetables, today 'nduja has become a popular in- Frico is usually served with polenta and it's typical of the extreme North East of Italy VARINIA CAPPELLETTI Italian Food Culture A Culinary Journey by L'Italo-Americano Granita, grattachecca, sorbetto or sgroppino: who knew ice could be declined in so many ways gredient for pizzas and meat ba- sed pasta sauces. It has a DOP denomination. Granita, sorbetto, gratta- checca o sgroppino… Much more than ice and syrup! Sicilian granita has rougher consistency than gelato, is enti- rely free from air and has a sugar content of about 30%. It is made of water, fruit juices or syrups. On the Siracusa coast, it's semi- liquid, whereas on the opposite side of the region both its texture and name change: it becomes cre- molata. The typical syrups used to make granita Siciliana or cre- molata are reminiscent of the Arab world: jasmine, cinnamon, almond, but especially lemon and coffee. In Rome, people eat gratta- checca. The name comes from the verb grattare, to scratch, and from the noun checca, which was used to indicate a large block of ice. Grattachecca is not really an iced preparation as granita is, be- cause fruit juices or syrups are not mixed into the ice, but added on top of it. Sorbetto was also born in beautiful Sicily. It has a texture similar to that of gelato, of which it probably is a precursor: it is very fluffy, because air is incor- porated in it during preparation, but it's made with water and fla- vored with fruit and also li- queurs. Sgroppino comes from the ex- treme North of Italy, in the area home to Italy's very own famous Prosecco. You don't eat sgrop- pino, you drink it, and wines, li- queurs and Prosecco are added to shaved ice and fruit. The recipe was already known in the 16th century, when it was served at the tables of the wealthy between courses.

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