Ligurian Food
20th September, 2009 - Posted by admin - Comments Off
Of course the typical Italian meal types prevail in Liguria.
These look roughly like this:
For breakfast Italians go to a bar and drink an espresso and eat a brioche (something sweet made from dough ( mostly a croissant or similar) ). This can also partly be while standing.
Later, at noon and in the evening, one sits at table as in the north, for lunch towards 1 p.m. at the earliest, in the evening hardly before 8.30 p.m.
Lack of a cozy breakfast atmosphere is in a certain way typical of the Mediterranean region. Instead the two main meal times turn out to be really detailed and lavish culinary affairs. Without a multiple-course menu during the day the average Italian feels lack of something.
The lunch (pranzo) therefore sometimes lasts for one and a half hours in the restaurant, the dinner (cena) also 2-3 hours.
A normal Italian dish contains the antipastos, the primo piatti, then the secondi and lastly i dolci.
And the Caffé (espresso) shouldn’t miss in the end of course. One can then also drink a grappa.
I primi
The usual German dishes of the type “veal or pork cutlet with mushroom, peppers, with pasta and salad” (the Italians call it the “piatto unico”) is not found in Italy. The Primi are usually noodle dishes (pasta) or rice dishes (risotto) which can be very different depending on the region.
I secondi
By “Secondi” one understands the meat or fish dishes. You will look for the combination of meat and fish with potatoes, pasta or rice, which is very much widespread in Germany, on an Italian menu in vain. You will find potatoes, vegetables and salads under “Contorni” (side dishes), where by the way there is neither noodles nor rice, after all that was already contained in the “primi”.
I dolci
The „Dolci“ are the icing on the cake for each meal: sweet dishes or rice. Further explanations are actually superfluous here. Even if you don’t understand much of what is listed on the menu card under this item, just try it out and enjoy…
Il caffè
After the meal the Caffè is a compulsory exercise for the Italian.
Every coffee has its time of the day in Italy.
Try to suppress your desire for a cappuccino at this point, otherwise you could completely slip down in reputation with the waiter. After getting up one drinks an espresso (or a caffè) if need be, at breakfast a cappuccino or a latte macchiato – and from noon onwards only espresso.
As a German this can this be very difficult at the beginning, that we are used to eating only one to two courses maximum during our meal times.
But it is not a problem in Italy either to skip the antipastos for example, to share a Primo and then to eat a Secondo of one’s own.
Here are a few different types of restaurants, so that you know exactly where to get what and when:
La pizzeria
Here you are on the safe side, because you get also that what you know from Germany: the pizza. And, if you avoid the combination frowned upon by the Italians pizza/wine, you will not be looked at with a lot of pity even by the waiter.
Il Ristorante pizzeria
Always found more frequently: There is both pizza and “Primi” and “Secondi”, that is spaghetti, Risotti, meat dishes and vegetables on the menu. Don’t expect any five star cuisine here, though.
L ‘ Osteria
The dictionary says: “Pub, tavern”. Mostly found in small towns and little villages, often frequented by mainly local natives. Normally you find a much reduced menu in this place, with simple dishes. Oddly enough even noble restaurants in large cities are these days disguising themselves with this title, just like if a Ferrari owner were to call his grand limousine “my small car”.
La Trattoria
Can most often be compared with the traditional “inn”. In terms of standard it is a little higher than the very traditional “Osteria”. The Trattoria restaurants often specialize in the local/regional cuisine. A real, and often also much cheaper alternative to the Ristorante.
Il Ristorante
The classical restaurant. You will not find pizza and also Panini here, as a matter of principle. Before you sit down at the table, you should look at the price list, though, because prices in the restaurants are usually higher in Italy than in Germany.
L ‘ Agriturismo
The word actually means “vacation on the farm”, something which is becoming more and more popular in Italy also. But most “Agriturimi” are a kind of Trattoria which however may offer mainly only foodstuffs from their own cultivation or their own breeding (and for that they have tax advantages as opposed to restaurants). An “Agriturismo” which then changes every day offers only a very limited choice of menu – sometimes there is even only one single menu which then changes every day – the quality is very good, though, as a matter of principle and there is hardly a better place to get to know the regional or local specialties. There are no deep-frozen dishes warmed up here. An Agriturismi, which can also be very big, often offers you a really pleasant family atmosphere.
Il Bar
Within the last few years many bars, especially in the large cities, have moved over to offering primi piatti (noodle and rice dishes), pizzette (small pizza pieces) and salads, apart from the classical panini which can already actually suffice as a quick lunch meal.
It is generally recommended on the ligurian coast for one to drive into the hinterland to the little villages and to go out to eat in a traditional restaurant there. Because it is very individual, cheap and delicious there. Besides, one gets the typical ligurian dishes there. Things are often inflated at the coast especially during the high season).
If one goes to a small restaurant in a small village, it can happen that one gets partly up to 10 courses with wine and including water (!) for €20 per person.
The Ligurian Cuisine
The ligurian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine in which the simple and unadulterated dishes from a healthy, balanced and nourishing cuisine are refined with olive oil, vegetables and tasty herbs.
Liguria is above all famous for its wines and the olive oil, which is especially produced around Imperia and other small villages in the provinces of Savona and La Spezia.
The most famous and by far most widespread dishes in the ligurian cuisine are the Pansoti, the Trofie, the Pesto, the Friscieu, the Focaccia with cheese and the Farinata.