Unique products, age-old recipes, simple flavors: the essence of Ligurian cuisine is tasted away from the sea and from the dishes found everywhere. Here are the places to enjoy it to the top
One says Liguria and thinks of the sea, the Levant and the West, the fish. In fact, i red prawns of Santa Margherita and Sanremo are increasingly rare, but remain at the top in the Mediterranean, Monterosso anchovies – fried, with a drizzle of oil or in the famous one bagnun – are exceptional, i gianchetti (in season) pancake preparations make your head spin. And there are traditional recipes of great impact: the ciupin (the fish soup), the brandacujun del Ponente based on potatoes and stockfish, the rich lean capon with vegetables, the greedy frisceu of cod. Everything to enhance the fish products and the tradition linked to the Ligurian Sea.
Pasqualina, savory pie par excellence
But Liguria at the table is a different story: a land kitchen, basically poor, which makes the best use of vegetables with asparagus and artichoke on all, the herbs (marjoram, borage, basil and wild ones for the preboggion), i typical cheeses as the Brussu of the Arroscia Valley and the prescinseua destined for the focaccia di Recco, the rabbit and the game in season. There is no sumptuousness or abundance, if anything, simplicity and direct taste in preparations with more than one contamination with neighboring Provence. A kitchen where an important role is played from savory pies, to be consumed even days after preparation. There Pasqualina it is the summit for history (legend, perhaps) and fame, even outside Liguria. But the region is very rich: there are those stuffed with artichokes, chard, pumpkin, onions; those based on rice and vegetables of all kinds; those with potatoes, with very old specialties such as frandura imperiese or la baciocca Genoese. And yet the green cakes, with local peculiarities such as the turtun of the Alta Val Nervia that looks like a wheel.
Mistress focaccia
The street food par excellence is the focaccia: that of Recco with cheese, the Genoese fugassa, the one with potatoes or onion. The latter was born as a food in the most popular neighborhoods of Genoa where it is called a fugàssa co-e çiòule. It was the usual breakfast of the harbor unloaders, very cheap and able to satiate a lot, as the onion blocks the hunger stimulus receptors. With a glass of white wine – u gianchettu – gives the best. The farinata, made from chickpeas, is no less passionate, Food spread throughout Italy with various names. But legend has it that it was born by pure chance in 1284, when Genoa defeated Pisa in the battle of Meloria. With the same ingredients as the farinata, except for the Ligurian extra virgin olive oil, of course, the panissa not to be confused with the Piedmontese rice dish. The farinata can be enriched with rosemary, spring onion, pumpkin.
The poetry of pesto
The first courses have in the trofie with pesto (other Ligurian typicality, which cannot be more terricolous) e in the pansotti with walnut sauce the cult dishes. But there are other pastas to taste like the trenette – linguine with an ovoid section – or the Genoese corzetti, the testaieu of the Val Graveglia and the testaroli of the Lunigiana, the mescciua spezzina (soup of leguni and cereals) and the famous Genoese minestrone. There is ancient history in tuccu zeneize: the ragù prepared with only one piece of meat – a touch in fact – cooked for a long time in (little) tomato sauce. The ideal is to combine them with mandilli, handkerchiefs of egg pasta, imported from the Arabs with whom the Genoese had commercial relationships. If the rabbit is the king of meats, the most famous recipe in the region is the Genoese top which consists of a piece of veal belly, cut so as to form a pocket and stuffed with numerous and varied ingredients. Poor cuisine that becomes rich.
Ancient sweets
Beyond the thousand local specialties, two are the symbolic sweets of Ligurian cuisine. The first is the Sacripantina, the soft and fortified cake once served during the holidays and which was born in 1851 to the renowned Preti pastry shop. All Genoese delight, it is composed of ingredients from sponge cake soaked in rum, marsala and sugar and covered with different butter creams. The pandolce it was born around the 16th century under the Lanterna, following a competition between pastry chefs called by the doge Andrea Doria, interested in finding a dessert that was long-lasting and representative of the Republic of Genoa. Praise be to the anonymous winner and for having found a dessert you would never tire of: raisins, fennel, pine nuts and candied fruit embrace this brick of pasta, sweetening it and softening its consistency. It well represents the soul of Ligurian cuisine, rough only in appearance, but engaging. Like the "lasagne da fiddià ai quattru tucchi" sung in the marvelous Crêuza de mä by the unforgettable Fabrizio De André. You will surely find it in the premises of our very personal selection.
La Brinca – Ne
For many it is the best Ligurian trattoria – it is a historic Slow Food Snail – favored by a splendid view. The Circella family offers the whole repertoire of specialties, Genoese in the first place. The cellar is famous.
Da Fiorella – Ortonovo
The ravioli in various recipes are a strength of a 1950s-style tavern, which is located among the olive groves on the border between Liguria and Tuscany. But the typical appetizers and meat main courses are also worth tasting.
House and Shop – Dolceacqua
A pleasant place furnished with a curious mix of vintage and modern pieces. The cuisine is not exempt from fish, but offers unique specialties such as the gran pisteu – the wheat soup – and the Rossese zabaione ice cream.
Caccia C’a Bugge – Campo Ligure
Raw materials from the area and great respect for tradition in this restaurant in the Stura Valley. Among the best dishes there are the pesto mandilli, the Genoese top and the tripe served with beans.
Antica Locanda Luigina – Carrodano
A few kilometers from the Cinque Terre, an evocative inn where you can taste many local dishes, also offered in two tasting sessions. To taste local cold cuts and cheeses, first courses and lamb dishes.
The Friends – Varese Ligure
In Val di Vara – bio zone par excellence – there are many good places. The most famous is that of the Marcone family. Super seasonal cuisine, apart from some classics such as corzetti with chopped pine nuts.
Mse Entirely – Calizzano
The tavern on the first floor of the historic building in the center is also suggestive. The cuisine is good at revisiting Western dishes, from smoked polenta with cheese to sheep's ricotta mousse.
Da Pippi – Masone
Establishment of the area, with a century of activity, offers Ligurian cuisine with some Piedmontese contamination. The Ligurian rabbit is not to be missed as much as the homemade desserts. Level cellar. Tel. 010.9269126.
Cian de Bià – Badalucco
It can only be reached on foot, but it's worth it. Two rustic rooms where you can taste after a taste of brandaujun, the first home-made, stewed tripe and grandma's pudding. Encyclopedic wine list.
Il Castagneto – Castiglion Chiavarese
A farm in Val Petronio that offers quality cuisine, based on raw materials all found in the area. Direct dishes: ancient prebuggion, risotto with Prescinseua, veal tip with aromatic herbs.
