FOOD GLOSSARY
Basilico Genovese Genoa’s indigenous basil variety, with small oval leaves and an intense perfume
Cima alla Genovese Genoese-style stuffed veal flank, supposedly invented in the 16th century so that people could save money on meat by filling plates with less expensive ingredients. Served in slices, it is made up of a slim pocket of veal stuffed with minced offal, breadcrumbs soaked in broth, spring vegetables, grated cheese, diced Mortadella and eggs Farinata One of the oldest Genoese recipes. A thin, unleavened pancake made from chickpea flour, water, salt and olive oil cooked in a wood oven Friggitoria A shop specialising in fried food to take away
Gallette del marinaio ‘Sailor’s crackers’ – a thin, round bread, baked twice, that remains crispy for at least a year. Still used in some traditional recipes like the seafood salad capponada, you can buy them at the Maccarini bakery in nearby San Rocco di Camogli (via San Rocco 46), which has been baking them according to the original recipe since 1885 Panissa Fried sticks of chickpea flour, a very popular snack in Genoa and Liguria. The ingredients are those of farinata, except for extra virgin olive oil. It is similar to cecina in Pisa and socca in Nice, France
Pesto The Genoese sauce par excellence, famous all over the world. According to tradition, it is made with Basilico Genovese, Vessalico garlic (an ancient variety from the mountains near a village of the same name), pine nuts, coarse sea salt, extra virgin olive oil,
Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino
Pissa A traditional Genoese speciality (full name: pissalandrea) whose origin goes back to the end of the 15th century. Originally called Pissa d’Andrea, which became pissalandrea, allegedly from the name of Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, who was very fond of it. The first version consisted of white focaccia bread covered with chopped onions, anchovies and soft cheese. Over the centuries, the recipe was enriched with ingredients such as tomato, olives and oregano. The pissalandrea is still very diffused all over western Liguria as well as in the South of France, where it’s known as pissaladière
Polpettone A vegetable bake, typical of the Italian Riviera. Be careful, though: in the rest of the country, polpettone means meat loaf Prescinsêua Local curd cheese used in dishes from filled pasta to pies Sciamadda Genoese eatery specialising in vegetable pies and farinata Scucussun A type of pasta traditionally used to make minestrone.
Similar to Sardinian fregola and couscous
Torta Pasqualina Perhaps the most famous of Genoese savoury herb pies – puff pastry filled with Swiss chard or artichokes, courgettes, spring herbs, egg and cheese