Abruzzo: Food, Wine, Strong and Gentle. Sharing the Flavor, episode 16
‘Despite it being on the cost, Abruzzo isn’t really a seaside region. It is a necessary background though, the sweet-scented Adriatic. Walk a few hundred meters away and there begins Abruzzo proper. Strong, gentle and stocky. Beautiful but not the beauty of, say, the Alps – that can take your breath away without even trying. Abruzzo’s beauty is not for everyone. Every corner is not a picture-postcard as certain more famous places in Tuscany or the lakes in the North. It’s not snobby, not chic. Let’s say that if Saint Tropez or Portofino are for you, you probably will not find your earthly heaven here.
Its beauty instead offers you the best of itself freely. It will let you into its forests, rivers, mountains of pure rock, even its wooden fishing huts, ‘trabocchi’, which seem almost like expressions of fatalism on this coast of west Europe’s greenest region. Strong and gentle, that’s Abruzzo. It’ll touch something solid inside, if you are willing to let it.
As will many of its people, (although things are changing there as well. The bi-forcation of resources: socialism for the wealthy, a sort of corporate fascism for the rest of us. Our brave new world…) The men in these parts after a certain age begin to resemble the territory from which they came, even when they emigrate. Their faces take on more and more the appearance of the shapes of the rocks and mountains, their bodies often become a bit like the trunks of trees, low but broad and strong. They grow old well. Women often posses more or less an infinite supply of physical energy and are loaded with practical intelligence, kind of like Madonna. Which is to be expected. They worked hard here, nothing came for free. And they still work, when they can find work. You need hearty food for all that hard labor…’ link to Zio Silvio's Abruzzo
In this episode we continue our Italian Road Trip trip heading south to visit Abruzzo, east of Rome. The region extends from the Apennine mountains to the Adriatic Sea and includes spectacular landscapes including Campo Imperatore that many of you will have seen in movies from Ladyhawke to the The Name of the Rose to so many spaghetti westerns. It has a long connection with the papacy as well which can be seen in towns and cities such as l'Aquila that date back to the Middle Ages. Along the Adriatic you will find the coastal port city of Pescara, not the prettiest of places but so very friendly and tied to the sea that you wont care.
While not a widely know region for culinary items, Abruzzo has made its contributions to cuisine of Italy and is well known for its high quality Saffron of l'Aquila, Colline Termane Olive Oil, Liquorice of Atri, Honey and other excellent products. Lately, several traditional dishes have been growing in both national and global popularity including crepes in broth, timballo and fried egg and cheese balls in tomato sauce. But come the weekend, arrosticini (lamb skewers grilled over wood charcoal) dominate, of course.
Check out this video on the honey of Abruzzo.
Abruzzo is also known for salumi like Mortadella di Campotosto as well as spaghetti alla chitarra and torrone. To make spaghetti alla chitarra you usually use a Pasta Chitarra (Guitar).
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Enjoy!