Tag: Marche

Frascarelli: poor dish from the Marche region – Italian cuisine – Italian Cuisine

Frascarelli are one of the traditional dishes of the Marche region and are also called polenta rice. Here's how to prepare them

Frascarelli are one of the oldest recipes in the Marche cuisine, a traditional peasant dish that has endured over time, easy to prepare and rich in substance and taste.

It is a dish made from rice and flour and its name most likely derives from the "bough“, The wooden stick with the tricuspid tip that was used in ancient times to mix the doughs. THE frascarelli, unlike the polenta in which the flour must not present lumps, they are characterized precisely by the inhomogeneity of the dough which, in this case, gives the dish an even better consistency and taste.

Usually accompanies a tasty sauce, for example made with pork, precisely because it had to be a dish that gave ai farmers the energy to face a heavy day of work in the fields.

The traditional recipe of frascarelli

Ingredients

To prepare this dish of the Marche cuisine you will need: 150 g of white rice, 250 g of flour 0, 200 g of pork, 1 kg of tomato pulp, 1 onion, salt, extra virgin olive oil (chilli pepper)

Method

To prepare the frascarelli you start with the sauce that will be used to season them. In a pot, therefore, we begin to prepare the sauté with extra virgin olive oil, the onion cut into slices e there pork meat cut into strips and add the tomato pulp, a little water and a pinch of salt when the meat is well browned. The sauce must cook on a low heat with the lid on for about 30 minutes.

In another pot, bring the water to a boil for rice and cook it for about 10 minutes. At this point add the flour and do not worry if some are formed lumps. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Keep on cook the rice with flour for about 25 minutes.

Season with salt and, with a ladle, pour the rice and flour polenta on a plate, add the sauce and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

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Marche: the history and recipe of the imperial soup – Italian Cuisine

It needs a lot of care, time and a lot. The colored soup, as they say among friends, but more correctly the imperial soup, is an ancient tradition of the Marche cuisine

In the Marche region, a dish is still being prepared which, from its name, gives you an idea of its importance: the imperial soup, or colorful for friends. "Once upon a time it was for weddings, now you don't get married anymore and therefore you do at most for birthdays." This is how Emidia tells us, for everyone Mimina from Montalto Marche, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, among the few ladies left to prepare it according to the ancient original recipe. In fact, if it can happen to find i colored cubes of imperial soup in the various pasta factories from Matelica to Offida, quite different is the homemade soup according to the traditional method which requires hours and hours of time.

What is imperial soup?

The imperial soup is a dish widespread in all the Marches, in particular between the province of Macerata, Fermo and Ascoli Piceno. It is a mixture of eggs, flour, parmesan, lemon, nutmeg, which is then divided into three different parts and colors with the addition of spinach and tomato paste. THE three different colors they are only an aesthetic question, most likely a reference to the Italian flag. Its peculiarity lies precisely in the cooking: in fact, it cooks for hours and hours (at least three) in a cotton sack closed with string, to then be cut into cubes; for this the ideal would be to prepare the dough the day before consumption. In the past, when it was prepared in large quantities, the three doughs were cooked in three large pots. If the quantity is for a few people, however, it is not possible because the dough would stick to the bag and therefore today they are also cooked together. Given the length and complexity of the preparation, over the years it is becoming less and less, or other methods are preferred, such as cooking in the oven which significantly shortens the time. "But it's not good in the oven", explains Mimina "because it dries too much and becomes hard, while prepared in the traditional way it becomes soft and spongy as it should be, without being too compact". The flavor vaguely resembles that of the passatelli, from which it differs however for consistency, shape and color.

The Gregori family

As mentioned, the imperial soup has been the dish par excellence of weddings for years. Mimina always prepared it when she was called, together with her sister Annunziatina, to cook at weddings. Mimina and Annunziatina, in fact, were among the first forms of catering in history, still famous today in the country as the sisters who always cooked well. This same passion for the world of food Mimina has also passed on to the family, in particular to his two grandchildren: Stephen opened the company Olive Gregori, among the few a produce Ascoli olives, which we remember that before being the well-known fried fish are the local cultivar of Ascoli Piceno; the brother Lucainstead, he is completing his studies in Agriculture to then devote himself to the activity. It will be because they grew up educated to the priceless value of their land, the Marche region, and to the importance of continuing to devote time to food production, whether in the countryside or in the kitchen. And in fact Mimina "the imperial soup buy he has never tried it ", but has continued to prepare it at home according to the long times of tradition.

Imperial pasta / colored sack

The traditional recipe … for 40 people

Precisely because of this long preparation, imperial soup is a dish to eat in many. Almost always a part is left over, which freezes to consume it later. The following recipe, therefore, is for 40 people, also because as Mimina says: «It is always better to prepare more than less, no?.

Ingredients

40 eggs
500 g parmesan
600 g 00 flour
grated peel of 2 lemons
nutmeg to taste
salt to taste
butter to taste

Method

1. Prepare a chicken broth (better) or beef.
2. Start preparing the dough by beating the eggs with all the other ingredients. Apart from boiling the spinach, then mash and whisk.
3. Divide the dough into three parts: in one add the spinach, in the other the tomato paste and in the last nothing, so as to obtain three different colors (green, orange and yellow).
4. Put all three parts of the dough in a cotton sack or other equally resistant and flared fabric, close with string and cook in boiling water for about 3 hours.
5. Once ready, make sure that the middle part is also well cooked. Then remove the bag from the boiling water and let it cool down without opening it on a tray under a weight for about an hour.
6. When it has cooled, gently remove the dough from the bag and cut into cubes.
7. Throw the diced soup into the chicken stock for a few minutes (it is already cooked) and serve boiling hot.

the Marche among the best tourist destinations for 2020 – Italian Cuisine

Lonely Planet chooses the Marche as the best destination of 2020, second only to the "Silk Road" in Central Asia. Among art, nature and good food here are some tips on what to visit and what to eat

The famous guide Lonely Planet has included an Italian region among the best destinations of 2020, in the ranking Best in travel 2020 – Top ten regions. The only one that declines its name in the plural, but perhaps also one of the least known: le Marche. According to the team of the Australian publishing house it is the second best destination after the "Silk Road" in Central Asia. But if the name of this region does not remind you of anything so striking in terms of tourism, it will suffice to mention a few key points: it is the first Italian region for longevity and life expectancy at birth, with one of the highest incidences of organic farming compared to the total of agricultural production. A treasure chest of culture that is expressed in over one hundred secular theaters, including the beautiful Sferisterio of Macerata; city-castle surrounded by intact medieval walls (Jesi), Renaissance artistic capitals such as Urbino, elegant squares decorated with marble (Ascoli Piceno) and natural wonders like the Frasassi Caves. And then the Cònero, the only mountainous promontory on the shore of the central Adriatic sea, which contains Caribbean sceneries such as the beach of Two sisters, reachable only by sea. The Marches are also famous for fashion: the shoes of the Fermo and Macerata district and the hats made in Montappone. Or, again, religious tourism, with Loreto the Marian capital, where its sanctuary is a pilgrimage destination from all over Europe. Visiting this region requires a good deal of curiosity and an aptitude for research. The most suggestive places are precisely sought after and to be fully enjoyed the best thing would be to rent a car. In this way it is possible to cross roads that lead from the sea to the high mountains, passing between campaigns that are designed as mosaics. Without losing the secondary streets, which are often the most beautiful.

The kitchen is "at home"

The cuisine of the Marche is a cuisine linked to the share-making and popular tradition. Doses "by eye", as taught by the experience of the "vergare", the true matriarchs of peasants, and great attention to homemade pasta. From these assumptions, fishing in the inland products, the menus of the great Italian chefs were born, such as Mauro Uliassi is Moreno Cedroni, both fellow citizens of that Senigallia with its velvet beach, the real capital of today's great author cuisine.

Things to eat (and drink) absolutely in the Marche

Ascoli olives

Olives stuffed with meat wrapped in a crunchy breading whose recipe dates back to 1800. The preparation takes several hours and in Ascoli Piceno each family has its own version. The differences come from the choice of meat, from the use of spices or lemon, from breading and, of course, from the type of olive. Traditionally they are made with the "tenera Ascolana", one of the three Italian PDOs, but the production is particularly limited. To be enjoyed as street food or in the Italian mixed appetizer, ubiquitous in the menus of the restaurants of the region.

Il Ciauscolo

The Marche salami par excellence; spreadable, made with a mixture of pork, and worked with garlic and white wine. The Marches, against any territorial rivalry, are proud of it.

The Vincisgrassi

The ancient lasagna of the Marche countryside. Seven layers of pasta rolled by hand, dipped in homemade béchamel and an old-style ragù, where the flavor of the regattas dominates. It is the dish of Sunday, that of the grandmother. Born between Ancona and Macerata at the end of the eighteenth century.

The wild "moscioli" of Portonovo

The moscioli are “wild” mussels and are the gastronomic symbol of one of the most beautiful bays in the Adriatic, in the municipality of Ancona in the Parco del monte Cònero. On beaches with white pebbles as big as eggs, bordered by Mediterranean vegetation, gourmet kiosks are hidden amidst the scent of juniper and arbutus.

Fish soup: the sailors' soup

The brodetto was born as a poor dish, from the need to also use the fish less demanded by the market, less valuable and in small quantities, first of all by the sailors, who cooked it on board, with the few ingredients they had available.

The prized white truffle of Acqualagna

In autumn you should miss a white truffle truffle from Acqualagna. In the north of the Marche, but also on the entire Apennine ridge, it is possible to eat this delicious tuber. To taste with homemade tagliatelle, or in a simpler omelette, at the restaurant like at home.

The Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi and the unmissable reds

The most awarded wine in Italy. A white that behaves like a red and whose versatility is combined with both fish and meat. A leading wine for seafood cuisine, it has improved over the years and is exported all over the world. A particularly prized wine, as a limited edition is the Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, the red that smells of rose, and the Vernaccia di Serrapetrona, red sparkling wine particularly suitable for cold cuts or desserts.