The Cabinet of Curiosities | Issue 03
On seeking the perfect table, tough Broccoli with a tender heart & a special Roman tradition...
Welcome back to The Cabinet of Curiosities my fellow food lovers! To refresh your memory, cabinets of curiosities, or wunderkammers, were small collections of extraordinary objects created during the Renaissance. This is our very own Cabinet of Curiosities, dedicated to all the wonders and peculiarities of Italian food culture.
In this monthly newsletter, you can expect to find 3 pieces by alternating La Panza Piena contributors. Voices and people that you’ll meet gradually, through their narrations, stories on forgotten recipes, hidden gems, deep-dives into unique products and distinctive global perspectives on Italian food culture.
I can’t believe we’re at Issue 3 of the Cabinet of Curiosities. I’m thrilled to introduce you to three more contributors (now you’ve met almost all of them!) which one again bring such unique ideas and voices to the mix. Maria Luisa’s story on a certain element we all unconsciously seek is a beautiful, touching story; Alana’s quest into finding out the story behind one of Rome’s most celebrated restaurants is insightful and filled with knowledge and finally Ilaria’s detailed description of a unique product from Veneto is a testament to Italy’s immense biodiverse gastronomic heritage. Enjoy the read and check out our map filled with precious, yummy indirizzi!
- Carlotta Panza, founder of La Panza Piena
Un posto al sole
By Maria Luisa Ricci: Native Roman, passionate explorer of cultures, arts and cuisines and Italian gastronomic heritage lover.
Powerful and uniting, yet often overlooked. The sun, I mean. Lunching, brunching, sipping, eating, chit-chatting: all of man’s merest needs reach a heavenly different taste when executed under the sun.
It is common usage in Italy to prefer a stunted, anti-esthetic, little one-legged table in the sun, over a beautiful and comfortable loveseat in the shade. The sunshine vitamin attracts us so deeply that you often see people wandering around, looking for the sunniest spot of all before finally settling down to eat, read or relax.
It’s 1:30 pm. The sun is up and its light cascades over the tables, surrounded by mountains, squares, gardens, beaches… Tired tourists are finally sitting, grannies ask for the check, couples kiss in line. The meal is tastier, the wine more relaxing, the words more enjoyable. With a clear blue sky over their heads, they have no greater desire than to bask under the sun.
As legend has it, late Sunday October mornings are the best time of all. L’Ottobrata, as we say: that tricky period of the year when winter stalls, leaving space for a new, punctual - yet always unexpected - annual return of warm sunny days. Restaurateurs brace themselves for the late Friday calls that will clog up the lines from people desperately looking for the last posto al sole.
And then comes winter, with its freezing wind that demands everything but spending time outdoors. Yet even then, however cold it may be, a table under the sunshine’s rays will feel warm anyways. Indeed, you just can’t wait to get there. To sit, waiting for your date, warming the seat whilst the sun warms your cheeks. And if the date bails on you, it doesn't really matter, as you know you wouldn’t be alone anyway. After four billion years, the sun’s kisses still feel like the best kisses on earth.
The restaurant that safe-keeps Rome’s gastronomic heritage
By Alana Sabol: Sustainably-minded writer interested in the stories behind every dish.
Checchino Dal 1887 has been around for 136 years, tucked on the side of Monte Testaccio: a hill made entirely of pottery, dating back to the Roman Empire. Just steps away from the restaurant’s doors is the Mattatoio, a large slaughterhouse with whom Checchino worked closely until the facility’s closure in the 1970s. Thanks to the proximity and friendship, Checchino began creating cultural staple recipes in 1887, nearly 60 years before Italy was founded! As food habits changed, restaurants shifted away from serving quinto quarto cuts of meat, opting for more refined cuts like filet. Checchino on the other hand built a reputation for preserving centennial recipes and ingredients by centering its menu around them.
The restaurant offers an exclusive multi-course menu based on traditional Roman fare for customers who are interested in tasting history.
As I studied the menu, I was instantly intrigued by the unique proposal. Some courses were familiar, like bucatini alla gricia, pasta with pork cheek, black pepper, and Pecorino Romano: it has a place on nearly every restaurant menu in Rome. The antipasto however - a warm salad with carrots, celery, pinto beans, and… calf’s foot - plummeted me into unknown territory.
Though gelatinous and earthy in flavor, this dish, along with many of the other courses, was a representation of what Checchino has been doing for over a century: honoring the cuts of pork and beef that are destined to be discarded throughout the butchering process. The menu also featured rigatoni con pajata, pasta with unweaned calf intestine, as well as the now internationally-renowned dish of stewed oxtail known as coda alla vaccinara.
Although some turn their nose up when it comes to tasting quinto quarto, the recipes have survived generations and are great in all sorts of preparations: fried, stewed, broiled and sautéed, thanks to their complex and rich flavors.
Though they have fallen out of popularity, their continued existence has cemented an ongoing food culture that respects and uses all parts of livestock. The recipes reflect the economic status of Italians through the late 19th century and into wartime. Checchino dal 1887 remains a portal through time, an experience of a parallel world, where nothing should be wasted, and butcher and chef work as one.
Verona’s tough Broccolo with a soft heart
By Ilaria Belli: Storyteller, on a hunt to find taste, history and natural beauty on less traveled paths around Italy.
On Lake Garda’s southern shore - above picturesque hills covered with vineyards and olive trees - is a town called Custoza. The hamlet is primarily known for the battles that took place during the Italian Independence wars in the 1800s, and for the homonymous DOC white wine produced on the surrounding hills. Many are familiar with the local wine, historic battles and olive oil production, but few know about the local hidden gem: il Broccoletto di Custoza.
The unique vegetable is unlike the typical flower head of other broccoli varieties, but rather has a central group of large leaves. Paired with the rare product's shape is a story of love and dedication. Centuries ago, il Broccoletto di Custoza was placed as a complementary crop to vines planted in the rockiest soils and represented an extremely important source of vitamins and nutrients, especially in winter.
The production techniques have passed through generations and all processes remain manual to this day. Each year, farmers select the best specimens of their crops, harvest and dry them, extract the seeds and carefully sift them. Around the end of June, they manually sow the seeds in the seedbeds and at the beginning of September, they transplant the Broccoletti into the fields. The manual harvest only takes place once the Broccoletto has undergone a period of cold weather - which makes it tender and slightly sweet - so typically between December and February.
Il Broccoletto di Custoza risked becoming extinct during the economic boom of the 60s, with the rise of new modern crops and a sudden increase in vineyards and winemaking. It was entirely thanks to the hard work and passion of a small community of farmers - that today form the Associazione Produttori Broccoletto di Custoza - that the Broccoletto survived to our days.