Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking - Hardcover

Negrin, Micol

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0609609440 ISBN 13: 9780609609446

Publisher: Clarkson Potter, 2002

Synopsis

Americans have fallen in love with Italian regional food, from the casual fare of Tuscan trattorias to the more refined creations of high-end Piedmontese restaurants, from Sicily’s wonderful desserts to Emilia-Romagna’s superb cheeses and cured meats. Rustico is the first American book to explore the remarkable breadth of these richly varied cuisines, devoting equal attention to each of Italy’s twenty regions. This includes thorough treatment of such places as Val d’Aosta, high in the Alps, whose fare is an intriguing mix of northern Italian, French, and Swiss influences: truffled fondue or grappa-spiked venison stew will
transport you to the slopes of Monte Bianco. Or Trentino–Alto Adige, with the southernmost German-speaking towns in Europe, for goulasch and spaetzle. Or the scorched southern regions like Basilicata, known for their spicy dishes; the Veneto, with the aromatic foods that are a legacy of Venice’s reign as the spice capital; or Sardinia, with its Spanish-inflected cuisine.

For each of the twenty regions, Micol Negrin provides ten authentic, truly representative recipes, with a special focus on original, rustic dishes, encompassing the entire meal—antipasti to dolci. Each chapter is introduced by an overview of the region, its culinary influences, food staples, and important recipes; each includes information on specialty products like cheeses and wines; and each explores the traditions, preparations, and life of the region, not only through recipes but through anecdote, history, and captivating photos. Each chapter, in fact, is a book unto itself; and the sum total is the last Italian cookbook you’ll ever need.

About this title

About the Author

Micol Negrin was until recently the editor (and chief writer) of the Magazine of La Cucina Italiana and Italian Cooking & Living. She teaches regularly at the Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School) and has taught at the Italian Culinary Institute in New York City, the Culinary Institute of America, Johnson & Wales University, and the James Beard Foundation. Micol was born in Milan, moved to Montreal as a child, graduated from Canada’s premier college (McGill) and Canada’s premier culinary academy (Institut de Tourisme et d’Hotellerie du Québec), immediately started her own catering business in Montreal, and moved to New York in 1995. Visit Micol at www.rusticocooking.com.

From the Back Cover

“This well-researched book is a charming journey through Italy’s culinary past. Containing authentic old recipes from all twenty regions of the country, it also includes interesting sidebars that give historical perspective to these dishes that Micol Negrin hopes to protect and keep alive for future generations. Jerry Ruotolo’s photographs are a superb addition.”
—Jacques Pépin, author, teacher, and TV host

“Micol is one of the most passionate people I know about food, family, and life, and Rustico is filled with that passion.”
—Nick Stellino, author and TV host

“Micol’s knowledge of the food, traditions, and history of Italy is amazing. This informative and irresistible book, which has all the makings of a classic, belongs in the kitchen of every Italian-food lover.”
—Biba Caggiano, author of Biba’s Taste of Italy,
From Biba’s Kitchen, and many others

“Rustico e magnifico! Micol Negrin has written a most personal and captivating book of Italian cuisine, a magnificent journey of a scholar with great heart.”
—Rozanne Gold, author of Recipes 1-2-3,
Healthy 1-2-3, and Desserts 1-2-3

“Rustico is the next best thing to a culinary tour of Italy with an expert guide. Micol Negrin introduces us to great regional cooks, reveals treasured traditional recipes, and provides insight into the Italian way of living and eating. Brava, Micol, for this invaluable work!”
—Michele Scicolone, author of Italian Holiday Cooking

“Brava! Thank you, Micol. Not only did I enjoy browsing through your recipes, but I also learned a lot about real Italian cooking.”
—André Soltner, author of The Lutèce Cookbook

“Rustico brings Italian country cooking back to the front burner. This is comfort food as it should be, pure and simple, and Micol Negrin leads us on a personal gastronomic tour full of good food, good advice, and good fun.”
—Mary Ann Esposito, host of Ciao Italia and author of Ciao Italia: Bringing Italy Home

Reviews

As the former editor of the Magazine of La Cucina Italiana and Italian Cooking & Living, Negrin could have churned out any number of recipes for well-known classic dishes from Italy's 20 regions and left it at that. But Negrin set herself a larger challenge and succeeded admirably. She has bypassed the more familiar regional specialties to focus on lesser-known gems and has made an effort to eschew frou-frou cooking for home-style dishes. In doing so, she points up yet again why Italian cuisine is one of the world's best it offers a seemingly unending supply of surprising, fresh and delicious traditional dishes. Take a region such as Tuscany, which has been trampled by millions of tourists and has been the subject of so many cookbooks. There, Negrin finds Deep-Fried Sage Leaves, which sandwich bits of anchovy, Chestnut Flour Polenta with Sausage and Scallions, and Braised Squid with Chili, Greens, and Tomatoes. So often in regional Italian books, less glamorous regions are paired with overpowering neighbors, so that it is rare to read about the minuscule region of Molise (about a third the size of Rhode Island), but Negrin has taken the time to tease out the differences and has discovered thrifty specialties such as Hand-Cut Pasta Squares in Asparagus Cream with homemade pasta that finishes cooking in an asparagus puree. Negrin has also avoided the trap of focusing too much on Italy's deservedly famous first courses and offers in abundance antipasti (Spicy Robiola Cheese and Onion Spread from Piedmont), breads (Cheese-Stuffed Focaccia from Recco in Liguria), second courses (the Aeolian Islands' Herb-Stuffed Tuna Bundles from Sicily) and desserts (Nut-and-Fruit "Snake" of the Capuchin Nuns from Umbria). Recipes are lucid and easy to follow, and chapter introductions stylishly and accurately convey a sense of place, while sidebars offer bits of folklore. (Sept.) Forecasts: This is a truly outstanding take original enough to revive what sometimes feels like a tired subject. With this comprehensive volume her first Negrin stands poised to become an Italian expert on the level of Faith Willinger or even Marcella Hazan. Expect robust sales.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As Milan-born Negrin observes, regional identity has always been an important aspect of the Italian character and remains so today. But as prosperity, globalization, and the European Union blur regional boundaries and local dialects disappear, Negrin fears that "the various dialects of Italian cuisine are [also] endangered." Thus, her cookbook/guidebook offers a tour of Italy's 20 regions, with ten carefully chosen recipes for each. Some are "signature" dishes intimately associated with a particular region, but more are what she describes as lesser-known "regional gems." Each chapter opens with a brief, scene-setting introduction and a list of favorite restaurants and shops; boxes on all sorts of topics, from "A Typical Day in Prewar Val d'Aosta" to "The Italian Capital of Chocolate," are scattered throughout. Scenic photographs by Negrin and her husband illustrate the text, and there are also photographs of many of the regional specialties she lovingly presents. Although far from the only cookbook on regional Italian cooking, this is an attractive one and a good choice for most collections.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Val d'Aosta

Fonduta alla Valdostana
Creamy Fonduta over Fried Polenta

Frittelle di Fontina con Spinaci Stufati
Fontina Fritters with Wilted Spinach

Insalata di Lamponi con Polenta
Wine-Macerated Raspberries over Polenta

Seuppa Valpellinentze
Cabbage and Whole Wheat Bread Soup from Valpelline

Seuppa de Cogne
Bread, Rice, and Fontina Soup from Cogne

Costolette alla Valdostana
Fontina-Stuffed Breaded Veal Chops

Cervo Brasato con la Grappa
Braised Venison in Creamy Grappa Sauce

Insalata Verde con Pancetta Affumicata
Young Greens in Warm Bacon Dressing

Lou Mécoulen
Raisin-Studded Sweet Bread

La Coppa dell'Amicizia
The Cup of Friendship

Imagine yourself in a lush valley. It is summer and the sun warms the grass beneath your feet. The Alpine flowers are in bloom, the air is crisp, carrying the scents of tarragon and sage, and your cows are grazing in the meadow. At nightfall, you make the two-hour journey home, the sound of cow bells announcing your arrival. Before your dinner of boiled chestnuts, a hunk of bread, and a bowl of leek soup, you milk your cows, leaving the pails of warm liquid to settle near the butter churner by the wood pile.

This was life for most Valdostani until fifty or sixty years ago: lived in rhythm with the seasons, the mountains defining not only where you could go, but what you ate and who you knew and how you earned your daily bread. Each of the valleys that coast the Dora Baltea River was isolated from the others for much of the year, and their inhabitants lived autonomously, making the most of what they could grow in the steep soil surrounding their homes and from the milk provided by their cows. They developed a subsistence cuisine that would carry them through the difficult winter, a cuisine handed down from generation to generation, much like the guillotine-shaped copapan used to slice the heavy, dark wheels of bread baked in communal ovens by village women.

Perhaps it's because of its geographic configuration-dizzyingly high mountains, jagged snow-capped peaks, permanent glaciers-that Val d'Aosta remains something of a mystery to the rest of Italy. The Valdostani have long lived in a state of semi-isolation, cut off from others when the region 's mountain passes were covered in ice.

Val d'Aosta, Italy's smallest region, was originally settled by the Salassi, a tribe of Celts, and later annexed by the Romans, who founded its capital, Aosta, in 24 b.c. Known as "The Rome of the Alps," Aosta and its surrounding land became part of the Burgundian and Frankish Kingdoms after the fall of the Roman Empire, then fell to the House of Savoy century and eventually became encompassed in Piedmont. In 1927, the province of Turin was divided, and part of it formed a new province, still under Piedmontese rule, called Aosta. Two decades later, the autonomous region of Val d'Aosta was created and bilingualism was officially instituted to preserve its uniquely French culture. Schools teach French and Italian, and most inhabitants speak a French dialect.

All of this might lead you to believe that Val d'Aosta feels like a part of France—but it doesn't. Even if the language spoken by old-timers sounds more like French than Italian and if the cuisine has more in common with nearby Savoie than Italy, there is no doubt that Val d'Aosta is Italian through and through. Just visit the city of Aosta, where a third of the population lives, and you'll instantly understand: there is a joyous exuberance, a festive atmosphere, a friendliness that is utterly Italian. Sit in a caf and the noise level will let you know that you are, indeed, on Italian soil.

Milk, butter, and cheese; hearty grains like corn, buckwheat, and rye; herbs, chestnuts, mushrooms, and honey . . . these are the mainstays of the Valdostano diet. The harsh climate doesn't allow olive trees to thrive, but the Valdostani don't miss olive oil: they prefer unsalted farmhouse butter redolent of Alpine grasses and lard from the family pig to flavor their food and give their bodies energy.

Favorite Restaurants, Shops, and Places

. Bertolin, Via Nazionale 11, Arnad, 0125.966127. Lard of Saint Arnad and Mocetta made from beef, horse, and chamois, among other cured meats for sale.

. La Cave Valdôtaine, Via de Tillier 9, Aosta, 0165.44164. Enoteca where you can buy wines and liqueurs, including génepy and grappa.

. La Maison de la Fontine Borney-Lale Gerard, Via de Sales 2, Aosta, 0165.35639. Fontina aged to perfection.

. Lo Grand Baou, Località  Jovençan di Vertosan, Avise. Gorgeous panorama, excellent cured meats and polenta.

. Locanda la Clusaz, Località  la Clusaz, Gignod, 0165.56075. Home of the best seuppa valpellinentze and an award-winning wine list.

. Lou Ressignon, Rue Mines de Cogne 23, Cogne, 0165.74034. Rustic mountain restaurant with exceptional meats and seuppetta de Cogne.

. Ristorante Vecchia Aosta, Via Porta Pretoriana 4, Aosta, 0165.361186. Restaurant dug in the old Roman walls of Aosta.


Fonduta alla Valdostana
Creamy Fonduta over Fried Polenta

This is one of Val d'Aosta's defining dishes, shared with nearby Piedmont. It is similar to French and Swiss fondue, but a few key differences give it a distinct character. First and foremost is the use of Fontina; second is that the Fontina is soaked in milk for hours before it is melted, which gives it a silky texture; third is the addition of egg yolks, beaten in at the end to ensure a velvety mouthfeel; and finally, there is the preference for pouring the fonduta over fried polenta, as below. Needless to say, you should only use Fontina from Val d'Aosta here; it has a compact texture with tiny holes and a nutty fragrance and can be identified by the mark of its consortium, which is stamped on each wheel. If the urge for truffles is there but the season has passed, drizzle the fonduta-topped polenta with white truffle oil (see Sources, page 372, for fresh truffles and truffle oil).

Serves 8

1/2 recipe Polenta (page 371)

Extra-virgin olive oil for greasing the baking sheet

1 1/2 pounds Fontina from Val d'Aosta, rind removed, cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 cups whole milk

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

4 extra-large egg yolks

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

2 tablespoons dry white wine (optional)

1 white truffle (optional)

Make the polenta according to instructions on page 371. Pour it while still hot onto an oiled 11 x 17-inch baking sheet, smooth with a rubber spatula, and cool until set. Cut into 3-inch triangles and set aside.

Meanwhile, place the diced Fontina in a bowl and pour on the milk; set aside at room temperature for 3 hours (or refrigerate for up to 24 hours).

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a double boiler over medium heat, then whisk in the Fontina and milk; cook until the Fontina melts, about 10 minutes. Still whisking, beat in the egg yolks one at a time; the mixture should never come to a boil or it might curdle. After 3 minutes or so, the mixture will thicken. Beat in 2 tablespoons of the butter and season with the pepper. Keep warm over the lowest possible flame.

In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter until foaming. Add the reserved polenta triangles in a single layer and cook until golden and crisp on both sides, turning once, about 5 minutes per side. Divide among 8 plates.

If you are using the truffle, pour the wine on a towel and rub the truffle with it (this dislodges dirt and gives the truffle a subtle aroma). Serve the polenta hot, topped with the fonduta, shaving the truffle over it with a truffle slicer.

Preparation tips: The polenta can be cooked up to 2 days ahead, cooled, cut, and refrigerated until you are ready to fry it.


Seuppa Valpellinentze
Cabbage and Whole Wheat Bread Soup from Valpelline

The Valdostani are so fond of soup that they are apt to recite the following proverb: "Sette cose fa la zuppa, cava fame e sete attuta, empie il ventre, netta il dente, fa dormire, fa smaltire, e la guancia fa arrossire." ("Soup does seven things, it calms hunger and quenches thirst, fills the belly, cleans the teeth, makes you sleep, makes you lean, and gives color to your cheek.") Originally conceived to serve as one-dish meals, Val d'Aosta's soups are now considered first courses. Most feature vegetables and rice or bread, like this recipe from Valpelline. To achieve the proper texture, dense country bread is a must; also important is resisting the temptation to drown the bread, cabbage, and Fontina in broth, since this is more of a thick bread porridge than a soup in the ordinary sense. This version is from Maurizio Grange, owner of Locanda La Clusaz in Gignod.

Serves 4

4 cups (1 quart) Beef Broth (page 368)

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 large Savoy cabbage leaves

5 ounces day-old whole wheat country bread, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

5 ounces day-old white country bread, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

3/4 pound Fontina from Val d'Aosta, rind removed, thinly sliced

Pinch ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Bring the broth to a boil in a medium pot and season with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Add the cabbage leaves and cook 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate (reserve the broth), cool, and cut into long, thin strips.

Meanwhile, spread out both types of bread in a single layer on an 11 x 17-inch baking sheet and toast in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, or until aromatic but not dry.

Line a shallow round 11-inch ovenproof dish with half of the slices of the whole w...

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0609609440
• ISBN 13: 9780609609446
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416