In the name there is already a clue, but not everyone can intuitively realize it. Especially if you were born far from Bari, a southern subway where the "tiella”Of potatoes, rice and mussels has always represented a mix of original taste, imitated at every latitude, but par excellence symbol of traditional cuisine in the shadow of the Basilica of San Nicola. And yet, behind the term "tiella", there is a story with a Spanish accent that not everyone knows from Bari. History that in the alleys of the city, however, is very well known: the Bari dish par excellence is the son of Bourbon domination in the South.
One word, many kitchens
Tiella, not surprisingly, is a term used also in Lazio, Campania and Abruzzo (and even in the Modena area, where its derivative "tigella" is the name of a small-sized muffin stuffed at the first firing), where they all agree in attributing its origin to the Bourbon age. TO Gaeta there is the typical and famous tiella with products of the land and freshly caught, in Bari there is another one in the oven, with a similar recipe. At least in the intentions, given that it foresees mussels and potatoes on the same plate, almost to symbolize the magic of a territory halfway between cultivated land and beaches, with a good part of the population dedicated, for work, to turn their gaze daily towards the horizon. And another good part engaged with the work of the land. Here, then, how the typical dish on the Bari tables puts everyone in agreement.
Spain and Italy united by rice
Compared to the simple and original recipe, in addition to the tomatoes, they can be added seafood and onion, according to taste. You therefore appear decidedly intuitive to deduce how the proximity to the paella is not just a legend. The rice remains the lowest common denominator, while all the rest of the recipe is taken from how good nature has been able to give to the Iberian peninsula and "heel" of the Belpaese. That way, if it comes to paella Valenciana, you can cook meat, vegetables, beans and even molluscs or cuttlefish in the same pot. From here, however, the Apulian mussels and the Agro Bari potatoes have almost the monopoly in the oven, with a series of additions arrived in the twentieth century with the Italian well-being that in the south is not necessarily synonymous with distancing oneself from one's origins. Rather, here tradition is preferred.
An unmistakable name and fragrance
Moreover, even the tiella, just like paella, owes its name to the pan in which it is cooked (in the Bari dialect)tied", Literally" teglia "). Pan that according to tradition must be from terracotta, tall and circular. When the oven at home was a luxury, there was no Sunday morning without fathers around Bari with trays set at home and cooked in small shops with a wood oven, dedicated to this romantic work: giving yourself a rest lunch with the local dish par excellence was a great satisfaction. Luckily the rulers of the Bourbons wanted to give this luxury to their subjects, careful in handing it down from generation to generation.
Variations of land and sea
Today the scent on the streets of the city is the same every week, even if with novelties, in some cases, among the aromas and colors. In fact, the initial combination, still in support of the theory that wants to attribute the origin of the pan to 1600 Spanish in Italy, remains that of rice and potatoes, poor dish prepared with the ingredients always present in the homes of farmers. Over the years, the recipe was then enriched with mussels, a kind of catch that was still cheap, while even later on, even artichokes, courgettes or the octopus, another synonym of "baresity".
Raw Bari
But the layers that make up the typical tiella have also changed over the years, almost in step with the increasingly affluent economic conditions of the southern people. The more ingredients there are, the taller the pie is, to the great satisfaction of the head of the table. The important thing is that every addition ends up in the oven "raw": the real tiella of potatoes, rice and mussels is based on this principle, woe to forget it. A principle that makes it a dish with a decidedly long cooking time. But waiting, sometimes, is really worth it.
