Veggies, veggies, & more veggies!

In Southern Italy especially, being a vegetarian would be pretty easy. A lot of the dishes that are traditional in the South have a basis of vegetables or legumes, while in the North, there is a stronger meat influence. Most of the appetizers in Southern Italy are vegetables, while in the North, they are mainly made up of local salumi. The first cookbook was Liber de Coquina, written anonymously in Naples from 1295 to 1309. The first chapter is about vegetables, but this is not  book for poor people because when veggies are cooked with different ingredient, they become more of a noble food.

In Italian cuisine, there is a huge selection of aromatic herbs. The most prominent type is macchia mediterranea that grows along the Mediterranean coast and they include alloro (bay leave), cappero (capers), rosmarino (rosemary), ginepro (juniper), origano (oregano), timo (thyme), and a few others. For many centuries, herbs are used for seasoning different dishes, but also for salads (mint, parsley, basil, fennel, sage, dill, chervil).  Another way herbs are used is in liquors. We tried a digestivo Cynar, an artichoke liquor. The flavor upfront was pleasant, but finished very bitter. The after taste continued with a bitter, but sweet note.  

I decided to look up vegetables that can only be found in Puglia Italy. Here is what I found:
1. Carrots from San vito: can be purple, yellow, red, and orange
They are sweeter than normal and and are harvested from December to March. I believe this is why they are so sweet because when things become cold and freeze, the sugars in them are more predominant when eaten. These carrots can be put into a carrot cake which sounds delicious. The amount of sugar would probably need to be adjusted in a regular recipe due to the sweetness of the carrots, but it would have a beautiful color.
2. Tomato Queen from Torre Canne
This tomato got its name because of the process of maturing: the stem tends to rise up, forming a crown. These tomatoes are a Slow Food product.
3. Carosello
This is a type of cucumber that dates back for centuries. It has a bitter flavor and are eaten in salads of tomato, oregano, and onion.
4. Lampascione
This is a herbaceous plant from a bulb in the ground. These date back to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans who ate them for a diuretic, laxative, and for purification. It is best prepared boiled.

In class, I made tiella di funghi e patate, a dish made with potatoes and mushrooms. It is stacked similar to a casserole with a layer of onions, then potatoes and mushrooms alternating until the top layer of bread crumbs. Each layer gets a little olive oil and a spring of salt, parsley, and garlic. Unfortunately, we added too much water, not considering that mushrooms and potatoes release water when cooking. This was a very simple dish that displayed a different way of cooking two ingredients that are often sauteed and roasted. 

My group also made scarola brasata which is escarole, garlic, and black olives. The black olives added a different flavor to the escarole which is often very bitter. This would be a good accompaniment to a heartier dish because of the lightness of this side.

 (Note: In Italy this is not really considered a side dish, but I am thinking about what I could do with it back in the states.) 

With love,

Baylee