Tag: food

New Life of ‘Nduja in the Kitchen

18.11.2018

A SLOW EVOLUTION 

From its beginning, a poor street salami, to the symbol of Calabrian gastronomy,  ‘nduja has become an almost international product, known not only in Spilinga, in the province of Vibo Valentia, but all over Italy and Europe, crossing regional borders in the last twenty years.

It is a food with a long history, so much so that the first traces lead to the nineteenth century. Very poor origin, even the etymology could date back to that period, with possible derivation from “andouille”; the hypothesis is based on the presence of the Napoleonic army in Calabria. That “andouille” was a French sausage based on tripe (and not only) pork.

Nowadays, ‘nduja is a sausage based on pork entrails which, once seasoned, is cut into slices, boiled, cut into small pieces and used to flavor soups (wild fennel, cabbage, beans).

Today the ‘nduja is produced throughout all the region of Calabria, is a spreadable salami demonized by dieticians for its fat content, unsuitable for palates not prone to spicy, loved by everyone else. Indeed, one of its basic ingredient is chilli pepper, which in Calabria is cultivated, especially, on the plateau of Monte Poro, where Spilinga stands.

 

THE RECIPE

The “recipe” of the ‘ndujais simple. Its realization is however complex: the play of balance between lean and fat meat, between sweet and spicy pepper and between meat, hot pepper and salt is made complicated by the degree of spiciness, which varies significantly even among fruits born from the same plant. The artisan can not follow precise doses and therefore to help him, more than the balance, are the experience and the taste.

It is its advantage the uselessness of adding preservatives of any kind: it is just the bactericidal function of the pepper to guarantee food safety.

At the contrary, certain excesses are an eventual defect of ‘nduja. Indeed, a very unbalanced portion  of salami or the amount of capsaicin (the substance that determines the degree of spiciness) can be often capable to cover the taste of meat and to anesthetize the palate throughout the meal.

It is not, as you might think, a choice made to reduce costs: the chilli, in fact, is much more expensive than meat. Therefore, the secret of a good ‘nduja lies in the correct balance between its components.

However, this is a necessary but not sufficient condition to obtain a perfect salami: in fact, another important role is played by duration of meat processing, which is used to prevent fat rancidity (a rather common defect in low-level products).

Then comes the time of packaging inside the “orba” (the small intestine of the pig, used for the larger size sausages, which are considered the best). Alternatively, is used the “crespone”, a thinner casing, suitable for small-cut nduja.

The bagging phase is completely manual.

The aging lasts from 45 to 90 days and is mainly used to dry the dough which, thanks to the high percentage of fat, is always soft. Some artisans add a further organoleptic note through a slight smoking that contributes to the roundness of taste.

The ‘nduja is not produced only in Spilinga, even if it is right here that a good number of quality craftsmen is concentrated there. In Acri, at the foot of the Sila, is indeed present a certain amount of companies; theirs is a small-scale activity and for this reason it can afford a very short supply chain: Calabrian black pigs reared at home and fed with cereals produced on the farm, sweet and spicy pepper grown in the land owned, small machines (al maximum 60 kg of dough at a time, to prevent it from heating up during preparation). The production phase is rapid: no more than a week passes from the time of slaughter to maturing.

 

THE NEW LIFE OF ‘NDUJA IN THE KITCHEN

The success of the ‘nduja also passes for its rediscovery by the chefs. ‘Nduja, bread and red wine are a typical combination which enriches plates of pasta with sauce of tomatoes and onions, taken at the market, adding also the perfume of mint and bay leaf.

‘Nduja shall be melt over a low flame, mixing it with the pasta in the sauce and at the end sprinkling it with smoked ricotta or semi-seasoned pecorino, being also recommends to never cook the salami but only to heat it, in such a way to facilitate its break-up.

These dishes are the reinterpretation of a traditional Sunday dish, the macaroni with underwire with pork sauce and ‘nduja.

In the home cooking, moreover, ‘nduja has many other uses: in bean soup, spread on bruschetta, mixed with sheep’s ricotta, in the salad of ripe tomatoes enriched by two other products symbol of Calabrian gardens like oregano and onion Tropea.

 

IN THE STREET FOOD

The decided taste of ‘nduja is also a protagonist in the street food world: calzoni, panzerotti, potato croquettes, arancini, supplì, pizzas.

In the street it is a truly extraordinary dish, tasting ‘nduja in combination with a glass of “Pecorello”, an indigenous white vine, or with another local wine, Abbruzzino, accompanying it with an excellent bread kneaded with ‘nduja and, in the autumn, with an emulsion of porcini mushrooms.

A Greek passito wine: Greco di Bianco

24.1.2018

This magnificent wine comes from the zone of Bianco, a little town on the Ionian coast, in Calabria, in front of a sparkling sea with an intense blue color, but also from a larger area covering the villages of Bovalino, Africo and generally the Ionian coast, the southern part towards Reggio Calabria, even further south from Locri and Gerace.

Effectively, Greco di Bianco is the term that indicates the typical grape variety of the coastal strip of Reggio Calabria on the Ionian side in the municipality of Bianco (RC), and there the homonymous DOC wine is protected.

However, DOC protection allows production in the same province of Reggio di Calabria and in the neighboring municipalities.

The variety of Greco is also used in two other DOCs of southern Italy, namely Greco of Gravina, in Basilicata, and Greco di Tufo, in Campania.

 

HISTORY OF A GREEK WINE

The name of “Greco di Bianco” easily recalls the Greek origin of the vine. Greco di Bianco is considered the oldest wine in Italy together with “Moscato di Siracusa”.

The wine is obtained from the white Greek vine, poor in fruit and originating from Greece, from where it was imported around the VIII century a. C. Precisely, when the Greeks landed at the promontory Zefirio (today called Capo Bruzzano).

The antiquity of the wine is confirmed by a legend, according to which a force of 10,000 Locrians took sufficient strength and courage from copious draughts of the local wine to defeat an army of 130,000 men from Croton in 560 BC. Further, the myth talks of such wonderful nectar. The mythological tradition gives credit to divine as well as enological assistance, for Castor and Pollux were said to have been sent by Apollo to fight at the side of the Locrians.

In 1966 the Greco di Bianco reached a very low level of production, which is why any local agricultural cooperatives were founded in Bianco, with the aim of enhancing and standardizing its production. The success was reached in 1980, when Greco di Bianco received the DOC brand protection.

Greco di Bianco, created as a DOC title in 1980, is now one of very few Calabrian DOC white wines and outstanding dessert wines.

 

THE LAND OF THE WINE

The plant found in the land of Bianco any climatic conditions similar to those of origin. The vineyards in front of the sea capture at the most light and heat. The production begins with the drying phase of the grapes, when the wine absorbs minerals and fragrant substances.

The bunch of the Greco B. di Bianco vine is long, loose, and can reach a maximum length of 60 centimeters. The berries are small and round, very developed grape seeds and, therefore, with little pulp and very thin skin.

The most used breeding system is the bilateral horizontal spur cord. The shoots reach up to 7 meters in length and are adorned with lobate leaves, shiny on the upper page, typical of these vines. Another system of breeding, now practiced only on old vineyards, is the tree.

The vine has an average yield of fresh grapes of about 100 q / ha. Before being squeezed, the grapes are dried on reeds until a minimum reduction of 35% is recorded.

THE FEATURES

Greco di Bianco is a must of Mediterranean and Calabrian wine production. This wine, made from Greco grapes and produced in the seaside resort of Bianco in southeastern Calabria, is also known as Greco di Gerace, given that the latter is near. Nevertheless, Greco di Bianco is arguably the most interesting wine style produced in Calabria, southern Italy.

It is a copper-hued dessert wine, made from partially dried grapes, and stands out from Calabria’s other wines, most of which are dry, often over-alcoholic table wines with little to distinguish them.

Greco di Bianco is produced as a passito-style wine, meaning that the grapes are partially dried before they are pressed and fermented. This process concentrates the natural sugars, and increases the potential alcohol level of the must to 17% or more.

Therefore, Greco di Bianco is considered one of the rarest-of Italian dessert wines, with its unique amber color, coming from the high levels of phenolic development in the over-ripe grapes.

It is luscious, rich and velvety in texture; it exhibits an aromatic bouquet reminiscent of orange flowers, citrus fruit and underlying herbal notes that become more accentuated with age. Further, its straw-yellow color with amber reflections, has ethereal scent, flavor tending to liqueur, alcoholic smell, and characteristics of a soft, warm, harmonious and persistent taste.

The olfactory impact has sweet notes of apricot, orange blossom, honey and candied orange.

Conclusively, it is an excellent meditation wine, well suited to desserts with dried fruit, creams, jams, pastries, Sicilian cassata, fruit, biscuits and spicy hard cheeses.