Tag: Ligurian

Liguria: not only fish, here is the typical Ligurian meat – Italian Cuisine

We eat it to save it, because never as in this case, more than the meat itself, is the story and the territory behind it

The turning point of the Cabannina in the kitchen it starts with Roberto Panizza, known for his Pesto Rossi, a staunch supporter of the pesto in the mortar: "do it as you wish, but without a mortar there is no comparison". Owner of the Ristorante il Genovese, opened since 1912, where as a child he worked as a waiter, about a decade ago he felt the need to put some local meat on his menu, which being in Genoa, a seaside town, was more what else is fish based. This is how you remember her: the cabannina. Because as already demonstrated by the white cuisine, Liguria is not only sea, rather it is also and above all land. In fact, we forget too often that the Ligurians, rather than fishermen, are farmers and breeders; of goats, sheep and cabannine cows.

The small Ligurian cattle breed

There Cabannina is the only authentically Ligurian bovine breed, which takes its name from Cabanne, a fraction of the municipality of Rezzoaglio, in the upper Val d’Aveto. In the past it was simply called "nostrana", then it was renamed in honor of this area, because if it is still with us today, we must thank this valley, where the cabannines have been kept and kept hidden when barbarous laws imposed its replacement with races. more productive. The cabannina, in fact, has always been a dairy cow, which, however, produces very little milk, although of great quality. For this reason, after the war it was banned from being sold due to low profitability. Moreover, it has three main characteristics: it is very small, ideal for the restricted and inaccessible Ligurian lands; it is very rustic, it resists well in the wild, eating herbs and leaves and is well adapted (and selected) in the difficult mountains of the hinterland; finally, it has a dark mantle with reddish shades, with a characteristic light stripe on the back.

The cabannina in the kitchen

When about ten years ago Roberto Panizza set off on the trail of the cabannina, he discovered that only a little over 700 animals had remained in the territory of the Genoa area, or the area around the city that corresponds to the former Republic of Genoa. Initially starting from the recovery of its cheeses, being precisely a dairy cow: ricotta cheese, formaggetta, toma; or other more specific ones such as u Cabanin, Sarassu, one seasoned ricotta or the prescinseua, a fresh cheese, very delicate, with a typically Ligurian flavor, with raw milk without ferments, produced by a few like Paolo Castagnola ofCimma company. But being the purpose of Roberto to insert the meat, he decided to buy a 12-year-old cow and to prepare the only dish with which he could use all the parts, without waste: this is how the cabannina meatballs, which today are very successful on its menu. They are prepared with meat, eggs and bread, but the Ligurian touch that makes them different, besides the cabannina meat, is the marjoram, spice symbol of the Ligurian essence in the mouth. They are present both in the white version with the Cabannina cheese fondue; is red with the tuccu, the quintessential Genoese red sauce, prepared with a piece of meat that flakes in cooking along with pine nuts, onion and clove nails. And always with the Tuccu, Roberto has also included the cabannina ravioli.

Breeders, the Aparc, the Exhibition and the Presidium

From this moment on, attention is rekindled for this breed, both in breeding and in the kitchen. Certainly, we must thank all those breeders who have never abandoned it over time and have not stopped believing in it, leaving it free to pasture or hiding it among the valleys. Over the years, in addition to the milk and cheese production, we started thinking and improve the quality of its meat, even if they are always small, mostly family businesses, with few items; in short, in harmony with the Ligurian spirit, which is characterized, perhaps in everything, by small productions of great quality. The interest in cabannina has grown so much that it has become a Slow Food Presidium and the Aparc, the Cabannina Breed Breeders Producers Association, was born with Paolo Castagnola as President, that every September organizes a party in his honor, the Exhibition Razza Cabannina. It could not be otherwise given the devotion that his custodians, like him, have towards them: "the Cabannina has saved many people from the hunger in the Ligurian hinterland, only with milk and cheese. For this reason it is first of all a slice of our local culture, which would otherwise vanish".

The recipe of barbajuan, fried ravioli with Ligurian style – Italian Cuisine

Barbajuan or barn owl, there is Liguria, the Côte d'Azur, Provence in this delicious fried ravioli that chef Luigi Taglienti, a Michelin star, offers at the opening of his menu dedicated to Italian cuisine «of memory. Here is the recipe served at Milan's Lume.

The legend says that we owe the birth of the barbajuan to a certain Mr. Jean, evidently beyond the border of Ventimiglia and probably Provençal. Ravioli that in the absence of sauce, decided to fry for the joy of the guests: they were to find the name of the new dish, Barba Juan, or uncle Jean in Monaco. Watch case 'U' barba 'is synonymous with the' uncle 'also in Liguria, not for blood but in tribute to his wisdom. It is evident that this is a transnational and transregional ravioli, which It is cooked at home, in the trattorias and even in the most famous restaurant in Montecarlo: the tristellato Hotel de Paris. Obviously it does not have a codified recipe, only elements in common are the flour for the dough and the frying in olive oil. On the filling there is a fading, in short: Alain Ducasse for example he prepares it by joining peeled white onions, leeks and green leeks, spinach leaves, ricotta, grated parmesan and a couple of eggs.

Stellate, as an aperitif

To recover – proudly – the barbajuan in Italy could only be Luigi Taglienti: most ligurian-modern among Italian cooks (but also one of the most 'French', since the cuisine of the West and that of the French Riviera have a sea of common points), never so careful to the recovery of the regional and Italian tradition in general. It is not surprising to see this 'raviolo' so particular at the opening of the tasting 'Taglienti tells Taglienti', set entirely on his vision of many recipes of memory. «I discovered the barbajuan when I was working in my area in my youth – explains the chef – and I saw them served, ready, as an aperitif. It was the expression of the true Ligurian cuisine, that inland, and were characteristic of the Val Nervia, guardacaso bordering France. Finding them even in the premises of Menton was normal

It is no longer time to brussu (a cheese)

The weak point (or strong, at the same time) is the presence of the brussu in the filling of the original barbajuan: it is a typical cheese of the Ligurian and Piedmontese peasant culture, especially of the poorer areas. In ancient times it was produced by fermenting crusts or pieces of other cheeses (often also moldy) in the pomace distillate that the farmers produced on their own. Today it is obtained from sheep's or goat's milk, with different techniques, but it remains a creamy product with an intense flavor. «Too much to start a lunch or a dinner, then I replaced it with lighter and more delicate foods – says Taglienti – following my concept of not losing tradition but serving it with elegance, in a path aimed at enhancing our cuisine historical "

The chef's recipe

Its recipe – for 4 people – provides for the dough 220 g of flour, 10 g of water, 10 g of oil, 5 g of Lumassina wine, 2 g salt. Leave it to rest in the fridge for at least four hours. For the filling that must be homogeneous, 100 g of pumpkin, 20 g of butter, 10 g of chinotto mustard, 10 g of boiled rice and marjoram. «The dough should be pulled very thin, then after filling it, you will obtain small ravioli with a diameter of 3 cm. It is fried in plenty of oil and once drained, it can be served explains the chef of Lume. With a large bubble, Italian and French, immediately put in a good mood.

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Ligurian Ravioli | Salt and pepper – Italian Cuisine

Ingredients for 6 people

How to prepare Ligurian Ravioli

1) Prepare the filling. Boil the vegetables, drain and squeeze them. Cut the underfelt into pieces and brown it with a knob of butter and pine nuts. Scald the stern, the entrails and the sausage in boiling water; drain and keep the stock aside. Mince vegetables, meat and entrails. Arrange everything in a bowl and knead with the eggs and egg yolks, the breadcrumbs soaked in the broth kept aside and chopped, Parmesan cheese and minced garlic with marjoram. Room and keep in the fridge.

2) Prepare the pasta. Place the flour in a fountain, shell the eggs in the middle, add a pinch of salt and start kneading. Then add water, a little at a time, until you get a homogeneous paste; then spread it to a thickness of 1.5 mm in an even number of sheets of similar size. Arrange many filling hazelnuts well spaced on half of the sheets.

3) Cover with the remaining sheets, press with your fingers all around the filling and then carve the ravioli with the notched wheel. Leave them to rest on baking paper for 2-3 hours, lightly flouring them. Boil them in boiling water for 6-10 minutes. They should be seasoned with a sauce of meat that provides a good sauté in oil, butter and marrow, 500 g of minced beef and 25 g of soaked dried mushrooms, white wine and a little tomato sauce, broth and 1 tablespoon of flour. Everything to cook slowly.