The restaurant of the Spigaroli brothers, Massimo and Luciano, was born as a tavern at the landing place of a ferry on the embankment of the river Po, in the Parma lowlands, and even today that has become a star-studded restaurant it somehow preserves its atmosphere. "In Parma it is difficult to live," said the Duchess Maria Luigia, "provided you know how to give reason to the interlocutor in a musical or gastronomic discussion". In these parts, in fact, all are foodies and musicophiles in their own way, if only because Busseto is a stone's throw away and Giuseppe Verdi is considered first of all a fellow villager. It is no coincidence that the Buon Ricordo plate of the house, Capon Supreme by Giuseppe Verdi, is a tribute to the great composer, who despite the worldwide fame has always personally managed the family farm. In the extraordinary food scenario of Emilia, these lands on the lower border between Parma and Piacenza are the home of the noblest salami, the culatello di Zibello, which reigns supreme over a varied court of other cured meats – Parma ham, cooked shoulder of San Second, staple, coppa, pancetta – and then the salami: gentile, cresponetto, mariola, strolghino … The Spigaroli themselves breed pigs of the ancient Black Parmigiana breed, of Spanish ancestry, and produce internationally renowned cured meats, destined for big names of catering, as can be seen from the visit to the basement of the Corte Pallavicina, a stone's throw from Cavallino Bianco, where the precious culatelli season impeccably, according to those concerned, thanks to the Po valley fog. But that's not all, because every type of vegetable and fruit comes from the farm, as well as white beef from the Po valley, chickens and ducks, geese that flock in meadows … As for wines, it occurs a singular separation between hills and plains, because if the best-known productions come from the first Apennines in the Bassa, we discover the use of accompanying local salami with Malvasia, a white in a rough version, as with Fortana, a red equally prone to sparkling.

A waltz menu

Scrolling through the calendar of the Cavallino Bianco is like jumping into a round of brilliant Verdi waltzes. Each season has its events, nicely declined to the gerund: the first mention belongs to the winter appointment with Maialando, dedicated to meats and sausages that are the pride of the company, but similar events are dedicated to the snail, the river fish, the frog , duck, grilled, cold cuts, pumpkin and goose. In short, a tour de force with a review that then summarizes it, Recalling, gastronomic elegy of the past.

Capon Supreme by Giuseppe Verdi: the specialty of Buon Ricordo

These are the lands of Giuseppe Verdi: in Busseto we visit the places dear to the master, and then we move to Polesine Parmense, on the banks of the Po, to the Spigaroli brothers, the most suitable people to reveal their flavors and secrets. Having said that, we understand the proposal of this suprême, a specialty of French cuisine discovered by Verdi at the table of large hotels and re-proposed on special occasions also in the villa of Sant’Agata. The big capon, the capon, not plus ultra of white meat, honored by the truffle, white or black depending on the season, undiscovered richness of the Bassa. The dish requires a certain amount of chicken sauce to prepare in advance: take the leftovers from the breasts or whatever and brown them with chopped aromatic vegetables, then wet with broth and let boil for three to four hours; once filtered, what is found is the base which can be used as a base for the sauce of the supreme. A concentrate of meat will avoid this preliminary, but the difference will be very evident.

Ingredients for 6 people

6 local capon breasts
50 g of chopped leek white or black truffle
1 dl of Champagne
100 g of chicken sauce
100 g of butter
50 g of flour

For the flan
300 g of boiled zucchini
1⁄2 liter of milk
80 g of white flour
50 g of butter
100 g of grated Parmesan cheese
3 eggs
pepper

Method

Melt the butter in a saucepan and brown the leek; flour the capon breasts and add them on the fire; when they have browned, add the champagne, let it evaporate and add the chicken sauce, then put everything in the oven for a quarter of an hour. Remove the breasts from the saucepan and put it back on the fire to reduce the cooking bottom by one third; add part of the sliced ​​truffle. Cut the breast into transverse slices, arranging them in a row on the plate, slightly overlapping; evenly distribute the sauce obtained and complete with a few slices of truffle.

Serve with a small courgette flan prepared in this way: use milk, flour and butter for a béchamel, to which mix the grated cheese, eggs and courgettes, which you have previously cut into cubes and cooked in butter or oil. Pour the mixture into buttered or non-stick single-portion molds, to be put in the oven for cooking in a bain-marie at 130 degrees.

Recommended wine: Gutturnio dei Colli Piacentini Doc lively