The authentic taste of Italy with preserved foods
It’s deliciously practical to make Oil-Preserved Butternut Squash With Mint or creamy, sweet Buttermilk Ricotta in your own cucina, Laura Brehaut writes.
Mediterranean produce is perfectly suited to preserving. Ripe summer tomatoes, citrus, sour cherries, artichokes and rapini — the Italian table is replete with preserved foods that represent a spirit of creativity and resourcefulness.
From classic giardiniera and tomato passata (purée), to amarene sotto spirito (sour cherries in boozy syrup), and fennel in agrodolce, Italian preserves illustrate a delicious commitment to practicality.
“When you sit down to a meal in Italy, everything from the beginning of the meal — the salumi and the cheeses — to the end of the meal — the liqueur, the digestivo — there’s a spectrum of preserved foods on the table,” author Domenica Marchetti says.
Her most recent of seven books on Italian cooking, Preserving Italy (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016), celebrates the rich tradition of food preservation that remains integral to the cuisine.
“(Preserved foods), really are central in Italian cooking and I felt like they hadn’t got their due,” she says.
Preserving Italy includes six essays on Italian food artisans, and more than 150 recipes for a broad range of preserves: foods preserved in oil and vinegar, sweet preserves, tomatoes and sauce, infused oils, vinegars, and condiments, fresh cheeses and simple cured meats, syrups, liqueurs, and fruits preserved in alcohol, and confections.
“Life has changed everywhere, including Italy, so not as many people put up (preserve), like they once did. But I still found when I was researching that it’s a very important ritual with many cooks and many families,” she says.
In Italy, everything from the beginning of the meal — the salumi and the cheeses — to the end of the meal — the liqueur, the digestivo — there’s a spectrum of preserved foods. Domenica Marchetti