- Ancient flavours and fragrances
of the Sorrentine Peninsule -
The Middle Age's conventual cuisine
by
(Translated by Marianna Mastro)
he straining
of the anchovies introduces us in the argument, which concerns
the Cuisine
of the Convents and the Monasteries, which were numerously
built in the Campania region during the thirteenth century.
We cannot omit
to mention this phenomenon because I believe that in these places,
the cuisine has been considered with sobriety and with much passion
but mainly because it has been handed down during the centuries, in
yellow-paged notebooks sometimes written with goose-quills, which reveal
recipes hidden
for years in the secret of the storerooms.
Around the Convents were the
areas of the agricultural labour: the important gardens were those
of the medical herbs and those of the cattle, sheet,
and pig stables of which the cattle ones were very famous and provided
the milk for the milk shops where it was transformed in fine quality
cheese. These religious institutions became shortly important production
and commercial
centres.
All mentioned above allowed the Father cooks and the Mother
abbess to use various very genuine products and therefore spur their
inventiveness for the preparation of unique tasteful dishes like the minestra
maritata,
the dried broad bean soup, the chick pea and “chiodini” mushroom
soup, the chestnut soup, the “laganelle” with eggs and zucchini, the “maccheroni
'ncasciati”, and the chocolate dressed eggplants.
The "minestra maritata" is
a very well known dish and so we will not dwell on an explanation, as we
will also do for the
chickpea
and chestnut soup.
The minestra maritata dish has remained in the New Year's Eve Dinner
of many citizens of the Sorrentine Peninsula in remembrance of the
ancient cicerali which gathered in the homonymous neighbourhoods, and today
still
exist in various towns of our region, in order to offer their yellow
nuggets as a symbol of richness much superior, according to me, than
the propitiated
modest lentils. The broad bean soup is mentioned to give credit to
a
product of our territory, which has nourished for centuries generations
of our
ancestors.
For the other dishes I retain it is necessary to furnish also
the procedure for their preparation, not well known but which deserve
to be re-proposed
as the broad bean soup. For the other two dishes which, are also proposed
as ancient Sorrentine dishes, I will not explain the procedure since
they are dishes that only a few passionate know.
The broad beans of our territory were very appreciated
already since the Middle Ages and principally a quality produced in the
Baia of Capri
as some renting contracts prove or as a mixture found in Amalfi's Regest
as we discovered from the recent publications of the Prof. Giuseppe
Gargano.
The "fave caliate" were obtained by soaking
in water overnight the broad beans and then quickly fried in a pan with
a little bit of oil
shaking it constantly. When the broad beans became gold they were sprinkled
with salt. The farmers always used to bring some along in their pockets
and ate them in the fields when they were hungry.
For the dried broad
bean soup occurred: dried broad beans, onions, celery, parsley, cow
cheese, milk, bread, and salt. Boil in salted water one kilo
of peeled dried broad beans on a low flame, Add a couple of onions,
some celery and parsley. When the broad beans are cooked, pass them through
the sieve and put them again on the flame adding some hot water and
bring
to a boil for a few minutes. Put the broad bean soup in a bowl where
previously you have beaten three egg reds with an a abundant portion of
grated cheese
and a glass of milk stir everything and serve with croutons.
“Laganelle” with
eggs and marrows: this dish is very
common in the towns of Sorrento and along the Amalfi Coast, where in
some localities it becomes an important dish, such as to be dedicated
to the
Patron Saint in occasion of his recurrence. The laganelle, which we
will describe further ahead, is a fresh pasta made without eggs, shaped
similar
to the modern pappardelle more or less wide. Cut in thin slices about
ten marrows, put them in a pan with oil, two cloves of garlic and half
a glass of wine cover the pan with the lid and cook on a low flame.
When the marrows are cooked and tender, sprinkle them with basil leaves
minced
with the fingers: In another pan cook in boiling water 400 gr. of laganelle;
as soon as they are ready drain the pasta and put them in a bowl with
two (entire) eggs previously beaten, the marrows with their sauce and
some pepper. Mix all the ingredients and put everything in a pan on
a low flame until the eggs thicken, complete the dish with grated
cow and
sheep cheese.
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