Tag: Modena

Calzagatti, the Modena snack that “chases cats away” – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

The history of cat socks begins with the classic once upon a time… a “rezdora” from Modena who, in the context of a vernacular legend, was preparing polenta in a cauldron. In another pot, our rezdora (this is what Modena calls the person who holds ancient knowledge that he transmits through culture and the art of cooking) was also cooking beans on a wood stove. When it was time to bring the legumes to the table, she would stumble upon her cat crouching on the floor. In this way, the beans would have ended up in the polenta pot: the rezdora, in order not to make her family skip dinner, would have thus invented the cat socks. The cat, in fact, terrified by this tumult, would have run away and hence the name of the new recipe, which chases cats away.

Calzagatti, the poor cuisine of Modena

It may be because of this bizarre name, or because in times of almost austerity we are moving closer to simple, nutritious and economical recipes, but stockings seem to enjoy more attention lately. They bring together the two emblematic ingredients of poor cuisine: beans and polenta, which together enrich each other. The optional final frying transforms the dish into a truly delicious snack.

From a symbolic dish of the gastronomy of Modena and Reggio in the process of becoming extinct, this recipe – especially in the snack version, to meet today’s lifestyles – is returning to occupy the menus of village festivals, restaurants, blogs and mentions in television programs . Most of the stockings that you will find around involve the use of bacon or lard in the sautéed beans and lard as fat for frying, but the homemade ones can be equally delicious even in a vegan version, without meat and fried in the vegetable oil.

The dish is called in different ways, depending on the areas of the Modena province: damnbut also daddy, ciribusla or bagia. It also comes in different variations, like any traditional dish. There are those who add a little cream and parmesan to the polenta or those who, instead of corn flour, use chestnut flour.

They are consumed without cutlery, as an aperitif, paired with a good ketchup sauce and a glass of Lambrusco di Sorbara. Or served on a plate, in the company of a soft cheese, as at Luca Marchini’s Trattoria Pomposa, in Modena, where the calzagatti are placed on quenelles of ricotta.

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Modena in… party with Zampone and Cotechino Modena Igp – Italian Cuisine

A weekend, the one from 11 to 12 December 2021, with a very Christmas flavor – it should be said – Modena is celebrated as the capital of Zampone and Cotechino Modena Igp by hosting the tenth edition of the festival of the same name in Piazza Roma. The greedy anniversary is celebrated with two days full of … special ingredients: concerts, shows, special guests and, of course, the two absolute protagonists, Zampone and Cotechino Modena Igp.

Saturday 11 December / Special Edition 2021

The National Cooking Competition returns this year too "The Zampone and Cotechino Modena PGI of the chefs of tomorrow": A special edition that from 10.30 will see the students of the 6 winning institutes of past editions participate, with their recipes based on Zampone and Cotechino Modena Igp.

The showcooking will be accompanied by the live preparation of zamponi and cotechini, stuffed and tied by hand by expert butchers.

The young chefs will be judged once again, together with other experts and representatives of institutions, the three-starred chef Massimo Bottura which with its Osteria Francescana has won – the first Italian restaurant ever – the title of Number One in the world twice (2016 and 2018) in the illustrious list drawn up by 'The World's best 50 Restaurants Awards'.

The competition "The Zampone and Cotechino Modena PGI of the chefs of tomorrow"Aims to enhance and stimulate the creativity of young cooks: each class will participate with its own recipe, using the originality, competence and unscrupulousness with which, in previous editions, it deserved the victory. Creations that have amazed and enthralled such as the Zampastiera (or the typical Neapolitan sweet marries the fragrance of the Zampone), the Cous cous of Cotechino, the Tartare of Cotechino and scampi, the Zamburger, the Rizampbollita or the Cubo di Cotechino Modena Igp and heart of Chestnut.

New ways to enjoy these two excellence of the territory in an original, tasty and fun way.

“Every year the kids amaze us with their ingenuity and creativity and it is increasingly difficult to choose who to reward. This, for them, is an important stage, because it puts them in front of a competition with other schools and because Massimo Bottura is judging their performance. Their emotion in front of the great chef is palpable”- affirms the President of the Zampone and Cotechino Modena Igp Consortium, Paolo Ferrari.

Sunday 12 December / Excellent tastings

To end the weekend in beauty and taste, from 10 the Consorzio Zampone and Cotechino Modena Igp, in collaboration with Piacere Modena – GUSTI.A.MO la solidarity, will accompany visitors in a gastronomic journey to the roots of the Modenese PDO and PGI products, ambassadors of stories, people and the culture of the territory.

In compliance with the containment measures of the pandemic, it will be possible to access the tensile structure in Piazza Roma from 10.30, subject to availability and after checking the Green Pass and measuring the temperature.

Info and program: 059/208672 www.piaceremodena.it

The complete program is available on www.modenaigp.it

The event will be broadcast live on TRC TV (Emilia-Romagna digital terrestrial channel 11) and on ER 24 (Sky channel 518).

December 2021

Francesca Tagliabue

Modena: how to eat at Bottura's – Italian Cuisine

Historian (Casa Maria Luigia), casual (Franceschetta 58), like a fan of the Rossa (Al Cavallino). Three ways to eat Modena in "his" way

At the end of the story of my "With a little help from my friends", Massimo Bottura's new menu at the Osteria Francescana in Modena, I made an appointment for you to visit his other interpretations. Three to be precise if we want to stay in the city and its immediate surroundings, because if we moved to Florence or Dubai, things would be more complicated at least from a logistical point of view. But we stay, and it is a great pleasure to be, a Modena.

And suppose you are, like me, aficionados of the gastronomy of the mood. That is to say that one day you want to eat with a group of friends, another in a tête-à-tête; one day you want to have daring experiences, another to give you a reassuring moment, yet another to experience a "great restaurant". And, in our case, always with the same cook.

How to eat at Casa Maria Luigia

So, just a few kilometers away from each other, Massimo Bottura offers you different cuisines and atmospheres. Let's suppose, for example, that rather, why not, before tackling his new revolutionary menu in Osteria Francescana, you want to get to know the "classics", the ones that for twenty-five years have marked "his" way. So 10 minutes from the center, but already in the green, there is Maria Luigia house, guest house and restaurant. Like saying a vacation home in the city. In what used to be the stables of a country residence, now furnished with common tables and great works by Damien Hirst on the walls, you can experience the encyclopedia of Bottura's emblematic dishes, a fundamental step in getting to know his cuisine. Nine courses, three and a half hours duration, the timing from college (you start eating when all the guests have arrived, the price is 310 euros. Those who arrive late skip the courses already served), the open kitchen that allows to follow all the preparations, fun (and fundamental) the story of the genesis of each dish. Most locavore: The 5 seasons of Parmigiano Reggiano in different textures and temperatures; the greediest: The crunchy part of the lasagna; the most pictorial: Camouflage, inspired by Picasso; the most instagrammed: Oops, I dropped my lemon tart, which is also the most Botturian in the sense that it arises precisely from that incident that occurred in the kitchen. But: "the right idea comes from the mistake," he says.

Casa Maria Luigia – Massimo Bottura with Jessica Rosval

A stop at Franceschetta 58

Then there is the Franceschetta 58, younger sister of the Franciscan woman, who in the panorama of "gastronomy of the state of mind", can occupy various moments: lunch with friends, tête-à-tête, business lunch; aunt's birthday. In the sense that, for instance, you can choose, in a space of great beauty and fun, between the ease ofHamburger (in its own way) and the gustatory sophistication of the Ravioli with bitter herbs, chamomile, black and goat garlic, or of the Cacciatore grouper. The price division is Spartan: 12 appetizers, 14 first courses, 18 second courses. For each other. And, for those visiting the city, I recommend the sensational one I love Modena, seven courses for 72 euros with citations in dialect.

(ph Giovanni Habib and Michele Ercolani)

Fast like Ferrari

And if you want to combine a now legendary chef with an even more mythical place, then go to Maranello at the Cavallino, the restaurant founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1950, renovated to make Reds fans dream. Among ailerons, engine parts, historical photos and memorabilia, you will eat the best sellers of an Emilian: fried dumplings, tagliatelle with meat sauce, cotechino alla Rossini, trifle. The five-course course costs 65 euros. All of Botturian quality.