The Cabinet of Curiosities | Issue 06
Of ancient ricotta remedies for jellyfish stings in Sicily; historic festivals that celebrate special tortellini and a hidden gem in the Dolomites.
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.
Summer is approaching and so it is only fitting that this month’s pieces are filled with tips on hidden gems and places to visit, from the Dolomites to the Sicilian coast through Veneto. Flora Igoe opens this issue of The Cabinet of Curiosities with a wonderful narration of a jellyfish sting that turned into a sweet surprise in Taormina. Next is a returning author to the newsletter, Ilaria Riva, who shares the story of the nodi d'amore, the love-knots Tortellini from Valeggio sul Mincio. Last but not least, Alberto Trame shares one of the places of his heart, a Malga high up on mountain pastures, which makes the most incredible chilometro zero food. Enjoy the read!
- Carlotta Panza, founder of La Panza Piena
A cannolo a day… keeps the sting away
By Flora Igoe: Graciously greedy - Irish born, Italy based - human, with a knack for discovering good food.
The story started with a sharp sting. A jellyfish punctured my arm off the coast of Sicily’s Taormina.
A local digs up tomatoes from her picnic bag and ferociously squeezes them over the swelling. Another stoops out from the beach bar and motions for me. Inside, I sit on a chair as she vigorously rubs my arm with a towel to remove the sting. It’s surely not the first time she’s done this.
“Zucchero,” she chimes, “hai bisogno di zucchero”. Yes, I agree, I need sugar. My ears prick at “cannolo”, singular for cannoli. Originating from Sicily’s largest city, Palermo, cannoli are deep fried tube-shaped shells stuffed with a sweet cheese filling. They are thought to have originated with the Saracens introduction of sugar cane to the region around the 800s.
I fumble through her directions to Laboratorio Pasticceria Roberto. Roberto himself welcomes me with a wide grin, perched behind a counter laden with marzipan fruits and other delicacies.
From behind the counter comes a bowl of sweet ricotta paste, its creaminess thanks to Roberto’s strict use of sheep’s milk ricotta, never cow’s. The cannolo shell is made with lard and bitter red wine. Roberto demonstrates how his mother would swiftly tuck ricotta paste into its shell with two swipes of her fingers. He uses a spatula these days, but everything else is just as it was. Roberto even uses sugarcane tubes to form and fry the cannolo shell, not the metallic cylinders seen today.
He rolls each ricotta-laden cannolo end in chopped pralines and reaches across the counter. “Eat now, pay later. Then, you will pay with a smile on your face!” And it goes just like that. My teeth crunch through the shell and sink into its filling. The throb in my arm dulls and I return to Roberto’s counter grinning back at him. “Un altro, per favore”
The knot of love: Tortellini di Valeggio
By Ilaria Riva: Storyteller, on a hunt to find taste, history and natural beauty on less traveled paths around Italy.
Most of you are familiar with Bologna’s version of tortellini and tortelli, yet Italy has a bounty of ring-shaped filled pasta, each with its unique story and recipe. There is one particular variety, named after the picturesque town of Valeggio sul Mincio in Veneto, that has a rich history and a meticulous artistry behind it: i tortellini di Valeggio.
As you enter Guido and Luciana’s pastificio, your senses are captivated by a cloud of wonderful aromas, and the colorful pasta fresca counter - where tiny handmade jewels shine - attracts your undivided attention. Moving away from the enchanting shop and through the restaurant, we reach the laboratory upstairs. As the kitchen staff prepares the pasta’s filling, a woman in the adjoining room is rolling out the dough with ample and precise movements, thinning it to the point it is almost transparent. Simultaneously, a group of skillful women sit around a big table and rapidly cut a thin square of dough, adding some filling and shaping the tortellini, transforming them into consistently perfect gems or nodi d’amore, as they call them here. The harmony and precision you witness is captivating, as if every expert pasta artisan was part of an intricate and graceful dance.
Guido and Luciana dedicated their lives to the preservation of a culinary tradition they learnt from Nonna Mora. They both grew up on a farm, growing fruit, vegetables and raising cattle, so are familiar with the importance of favoring high quality ingredients. Their tortellini production is the result of a virtuous cycle between local farmers and artisans.
What sets apart Tortellini di Valeggio from the rest, besides the thinness of the dough, is the filling, which consists of braised minced beef, veal, pork and chicken, whisked together with only one egg. No cheese nor any type of ham is added, unlike Bologna’s tortellini (where more eggs, mortadella, Prosciutto Crudo and Parmigiano Reggiano are added). Nonetheless, the explosion of taste which occurs with every bite you take is surprising and remarkable. Similarly to other tortellini, they are traditionally served in capon and beef broth or with butter and sage, a delicate sauce that exalts their full flavor.
The town of Valeggio sul Mincio holds an annual spectacular tortellini festival which will take place on the 20th of June this year. Don’t miss the next newsletter to discover the legend behind the Tortellini di Valeggio and this incredible event!
Home is where the mountains (and strudel) are
By Alberto Trame: Passionate about Italy’s gastronomic and wine heritage; curious about every story in the realm of food culture.
Malga Sassopiatto is a place of the heart. A regular stop on my summer wanderings in the Dolomites, whether it's for a treat after one of my running workouts, or as a culinary destination for an easy day of trekking with friends.
Nestled between Val di Fassa and Val Gardena, at the foot of the imposing and towering mountain face that gives it its name, this typical mountain malga has always been managed by the Kasseroler family since its opening.
Franziska Kasseroler’s smile warmly welcomes every hiker, and Karl's skills at the stoves know how to lull and spoil guests with delicacies: from their alpine dairy products to all to all the yummy titbits from Südtirol’s cuisine.
Every product is, of course, a chilometro zero. From the meat of their animals - the goats and cows that graze freely in the mountain pastures that surround the Malga, to the bread, still warm from the oven, and the homemade grappas served on tap.
Their recipes feature a selection of ingredients that cannot be found elsewhere, from homemade cheese such as graukäse, a Slow Food Presidia with an ancient history which is made without rennet and coagulates with acid, to their ricotta, yoghurt, berries and juices. Oh my goodness, and their cakes! Their incredible strudel, made with shortcrust pastry (and not with pasta matta) as tradition dictates in Trentino-Alto Adige, is something to die for!
Whether you are looking for some peace while basking in the sun, or a warm shelter from a raging summer storm, Malga Sassopiatto is the place for you. A place in which you truly perceive and savour the value and hospitality of a family who makes you feel at home.
Home is where your heart is, or even better, home is where the mountains are.