| Newsletter May 2009
Italy, Lazio: The South Pontino local gourmet guide ( Part III ) - Part I - Part II
Topic : Gastronomy - Wines
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Italy, Lazio: The South Pontino local gourmet guide
1. A journey to discover traditional Italian local
cuisine in southern Lazio
This chapter of our local gastronomy guide describes some unique gourmet routes to discover the South Pontino local delicacies among the hills and mountains of the two great Ausoni and Aurunci massifs in southern Lazio, Italy. Our Gourmet Guide aims to provide a good insight and advice for people searching for authentic traditional local cuisine and good food in Italy. We traveled enthusiastically along ancient gourmet routes to discover and enjoy the South Pontino local culinary traditions and delicacies in the areas of the Ausoni and Aurunci mountains and hills.
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Travelers in search of the local gastronomy in these mountain and hillside areas should try the mountain gastronomy based on ancient rural roots. The local cuisine preserved many traditions unchanged for centuries. This special report will unveil how traditional local ingredients and products are rearranged and transformed into simple but exquisite dishes found in the regional gastronomy of the cuisine in southern Lazio. Tradition and food are always accompanied by the territory and along our gastronomic routes we enjoy the scenery of the beautiful
South Pontino countryside .
The enjoyment of the local cuisine on these mountains is completed by the pleasure of driving and discovering a corner of Italy that not many foreigners have discovered quite yet. Few little villages are nestled and scattered between these mountains. Their isolation helped in keeping old culinary traditions alive and this is where travelers can find the authentic South Pontino mountain dishes and ingredients. Many families, obviously unthreatened by globalization, still manage to grow their own food by cultivating the land and farming animals to enjoy their home-made mountain ham and meat. Intensive farming is not practiced much here and domestic animals often roam free in and around the Aurunci Mountains Regional Park. The beef, lamb and pork meat on the mountains is excellent for its quality. Meat lovers will certainly be rewarded with an interesting gastronomic experience to recount.
So where did it start the unique love relationship between Italians and good food?
Did it all start with the Etruscans, or perhaps the Roman time shepherds and peasants or maybe earlier? Maybe it stemmed from the Catholicism under the Vatican when many of these mountains, hills and valley belonged to the Papal States? Could this be because here women tend to preserve traditional way to cook and there are still some expert house mammas who would stand for hours vigorously kneading water, egg and flour to make the dough used to make fresh home made lasagna, pappardelle or fettuccine? The latter may be the main reason why much of the typical traditional local cuisine has been kept alive until today.
In Italy, great part of territory is still outside of traditional and established tourist routes. This is an unknown Italy, familiar only to the locals, a precious social and cultural wealth of traditions made of small rural communities with less than 3,000-4,000 villagers.
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There are not many factories producing and preparing standardised food. Italy’s way of cooking is different from that of any other country for the variety of ingredients available locally in each season. There is an extraordinary variety of local ingredients and recipes that even most Italians know nothing of. Each region, county or town is home to ingredients and typical products that differ from town to town, or even from village to village. Each season produces its own products and this abundance, paired with the spontaneity of the preparation, makes almost impossible a fair and uniform mapping description of the local cuisine. This is what makes Italy’s local gastronomy incredibly unique, rich and diverse in each region and province.
This area of southern Lazio is no exception. Traveling here is like discovering a portion of hidden and true Italy, a valid and interesting alternative to the usual and much more crowded destinations (see Rome, Naples, Capri, Sorrento and Amalfi Coast.) of South Italy.
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Driving on roads like the SS82 and the nearby network of rural provincial roads will introduce travelers to the beauty of these mountains with picturesque villages and natural sceneries with views to the Mediterranean Soth Tyrrhenian Sea.
On the Aurunci and Ausoni Mountains in southern Lazio, there is a small number of hillside villages with ancient culinary traditions on their own. This territory is made up by harsh mountains degrading in lower hills with many small valleys in between and in some areas, large centenary-old forests coming close to the sea. Nestled on the top of hills, small, ancient villages often surrounded by mediaeval walls remained almost unchanged until 40 years ago’ and therefore preserving old gastronomic traditions linked to the territory and to whatever it has to offer and is readily available in each season.
In villages like Campodimele, Esperia, Monte San Biagio, Maranola, Pico, Lenola travelers can experience the real gastronomic delicacies found in the local mountain gastronomy.
Many villagers here still cultivate their gardens and fields along the mountain ridges, often crossed by small natural creek bed helping the irrigation ditches. Until not long ago’ the farmers reached their gardens and fields up the hills with many hours of walking every day on rural paths practicable only on foot or on a donkey. Each village adds its own unique cooking details and personal touches. However minor, small touches and differences are enough to create a distinctive end result. Many dishes are prepared with the same ingredients but each village has its own peculiar way to rearrange the same recipes. That's why this way to approach the cuisine produces an amazing diversity with slightly different versions, even though they are made essentially of similar ingredients.
On the hillside villages, pasta, the genuine good homemade pasta, still manages to be on the menu as local pride in certain small restaurants. Some of these small family-managed restaurants are in countryside areas along secondary roads while others are usually found on the outskirts of the village on the main road. Let’s see what dishes make the local cuisine competing at the highest level among of one of the greatest culinary traditionalists in history.
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3. Traditional southern Lazio mountain and land gastronomy
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The typical local menu’ will satisfy fully the organic meat lovers who should not miss trying the local ‘arrosto misto’ (mixed roast meat) with roasted veal, lamb, pork, rabbit and chicken always accompanied by delicious side dishes based on vegetables of all sorts. The starters are typically large and varied with a range of local cheeses such as the delicious Marzolina (fresh or hard goat cheese), caciotta di pecora (farmer sheep cheese) and the queer her majesty
mozzarella di bufala
(water buffaloes mozzarella cheese), an experience on its own for its unique fresh and milky taste.Cheeses are always accompanied by a wide choice of cold cured meat like prosciutto di montagna (mountain pork ham) or prosciutto and salame di chinghiale (wild boar ham or salami), coppa (the upperpart of pork shoulder ham), salame piccante (hot salami with hot red peppers), bresaola (beef ham) and many others.
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Full antipasto misto (mixed starter) is tempting and viciously dangerous for your stomach! It can be a great meal on its own, because you approach it at the very peak of your hanger. What a great way to start your Italian feast. The image of a well arranged antipasto (starter) reinforces the view that Italy’s strongest tradition historically has been that the pleasure of eating is directly linked to the pleasure of living. Starters like these invite to having the excellent local home made bread and few glasses of wine. Hence, beware to maintain yourself and make sure that there is enough space for the following main courses primo and secondo piatto* - *(the two main courses in Italian cuisine, defined as ‘primo’ or ‘secondo piatto’ ‘the first and second dish’)
Although winter time causes often the inconveniences of the colder climate it also offer positive aspects of cheering up with good food that helps to pass this period of the year with harmony and cheerfulness. For example, from a culinary point of view, during winter time the appetite seems to increase and the simple pleasure to be together at table enjoying delicacies seem also to increase along with the season.
On these mountains, summer is very hot and sunny but
winter can be harsh
at times. This must be the reason why local soups are numerous. They are consumed hot in the winter while some other soups can be even enjoyed cold with raw
extra virgin olive oil
during the hot, sunny summer days. The number of soup recipes in endless and would be a titanic work to make a complete list because of all the various preparations different in each area. Some of the most remarkable are those made with legumes such as beans and lentils with either rice or pasta.
Many of them are defined with the olden term ‘acquecotte’ (means literally cooked water) and have their roots in the poverty of people who often had only wild herbs to full their stomachs. These interesting soups are based mostly on typical varieties of wild herbs with boiled with other more common domestic vegetables like green peas, broad beans, lentils, chick peas and tomatoes.
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4. Suggested itineraries and typical dishes on the menu’
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A real local soup must include many types of wild herbs typical of the "misticanza romana" with different varieties of wild rockets (rucola silvatica and diplotaxis), Lamb's Lettuce (Valerianella olitoria), Common wild chicory (Cichorium intybus), dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor) Catsear (Hypochaeris radicata), also known as cat's ear or false dandelion, bellflower or campanula (Campanula rapunculus). In olden times the baskets of women and young girls was filled not only with these edible herbs for the home salad but also with wild asparagus (Asparagus acutifolius), Butcher's broom’s shoots (Ruscus aculeatus), Bladder Campion (Silene vulgaris ), starflower (Borago officinalis).
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Most typical local dishes of South Pontino mountain and land gastronomy included in restaurant menus
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Among the aromatic wild herbs thee is Thyme, satureja (Satureja hortensis), wild rosmarin and oregano (Origanum vulgare), common myrtle (Myrtus communis) and the mytical Roman lesser catmint or nepitella (Nepeta calamintha) which add so much taste to many Roman dishes with artichokes, mushrooms and snails.
Today, the knowledge of using wild herbs in the local soups is left mostly in the hands of old mammas with white hair. On your discovery trips in the countryside of South Pontino at this time of year, you should see quite a number of elderly locals out in force gathering these delicious wild ingredients. Depending on the time that you have, you might even have had a go yourself among the valleys of beautiful countryside of the
Aurunci
and Ausoni Mountains to find these wild herbs among
wild flowers
and use them to enhance the taste of your soups and surprise your friends and guests.
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Primi piatti - traditional 1st main course of southern Lazio Mountain gastronomy | |
The hills and
valleys in the countryside
of South Pontino are surrounded by
olive trees
and its cultivation in these areas has millennium-old origins: millions of olive trees cover the hills and piedmont terracing of the villages in this territories, representing an important economic resource locally. Olive tree’s natural habitat is perfect to the gentle South Pontino Mediterranean climate with mild winters and hot, dry summers. Along these hills, the cultivation of olive trees dates back to the Etruscans. The olive trees and the farms practicing the ancient work of extracting oil from the olives are to be found in every corner of this region. Hills and olive trees, these two elements have always been fundamental parts of the Italian landscapes and culture, providing common and popular frame to the typical image of Italy linking of tradition, economy, art and culture.
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Here we make the suggestion of three itineraries to discover the South Pontino mountain and land gastronomy among Mediterranean landscapes. Nothing better for travelers wishing cultural discovery than adopting an empirical approach and ending up in these small, family-owned restaurants and enjoy the local cuisine as we did. This an ancient and noble wealth that deserves not only to be rediscovered but also preserved for the future generations because the rural culture of these little villages is part of the Italian bucolic heritage.
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5. Suggested Restaurants for mountain and land cuisine
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Itinerary 1 :
from Gaeta take Via Appia SS7 in direction of the hillside town of Itri.
Time: approx. 15 minutes from Gaeta
Destination:
Itri - Small hillside town with medieval castle and historic district to visit at 170 m altitude with 8.749 inhabitants (Itrani)- - 11.3 Km - (7 miles) from Gaeta
Suggested restaurant:
‘Taverna Frà Diavolo’ –small restaurant right in the middle of the town with very good choice of genuine mountain and land gastronomy dishes. Excellent the wild boar based dishes. Make sure to call and ask their opening times.
Address: Piazza Diaz, no.7, 04020, Itri (LT)
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Telephone: 0771 727141
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Secondi piatti, 2nd main courses (often based on meat) of traditional southern Lazio mountain gastronomy
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Itinerary 2 :
from Gaeta take Via Appia SS7 in direction of the hillside town of Itri then in Itri take SS82 in direction of Campodimele, then just before Campodimele take road SS637, the Road between Frosinone and Gaeta will take you to Via Ambrifi 13 Lenola, Lazio, Latina, 04025, IT
Time: approx. 50 minutes from Gaeta
Destination: Ambrifi near Lenola – Lenola is a pretty medieval hillside village with castle at 425 m altitude with 4.131 inhabitants (Lenolesi) – 40.5 Km – (25.15 miles) Lenola from Gaeta and 43.0 Km Ambrifi from Gaeta.
Suggested restaurant:
‘Ristorante L’Ambrifano’ – restaurant on the road in the middle of the South Pontino countryside, near the ruins of the Castle of Ambrifi and between the northern Ausoni and Aurunci Mountains. Beautiful sceneries on way and all around.
Address: Via Ambrifi 13, 04025, Ambrifi di Lenola, Lenola (LT) - Telephone: 0771-589808
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Most common side dishes - Assorted season vegetables roasted, grilled, boiled or fresh and raw | |
Itinerary 3 :
from Gaeta take Via SS213 in direction of the town of Formia then you pass the town in dirction of south in Itri take SS630 Strada Provinciale Ausonia/Via Provinciale Grata/Strada Provinciale Spigno Saturnia in direction of Spigno Saturnia, then just 5 or 6 Km along the SS630 turn on the right to take the VIA CAPODACQUA. From here the road will climb the Aurunci hills with beautiful views and take you to Sprigno Saturnia Superiore (the Old village of Spigno, about less than 300 inhabitants)
Time: approx. 30 minutes from Gaeta
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Destination: Spigno Saturnia Superiore – an ancient hillside village at 375 m altitude the view is absolutely breathtaking, the ruins of an ancient 8th century castle and with less than 300 hundred inhabitants (Spignesi) – 23,6 Km – (14.65 miles) from Gaeta.
Suggested restaurant:
‘Osteria O Re Burlone’ , Executive Chef Antonio Remigio Scipione. Fantastic food and interesting menu with many delicacies of mountain cuisine. The meats and, especially the lamb is simply superb here.
Not far away, at about 50 meters away on the opposite side of the road and with suggestive view of the valleys under the village you can also try the Capra Blu restaurant with a great selection of genuine local dishes. Address: Via Roma no.33, Spigno Saturnia Superiore also known as Spigno Vecchio (old Spigno)
- Telephone: 0771-64257
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