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TYPICAL CALABRIAN PRODUCTS

TYPICAL CALABRIAN PRODUCTS

Over the centuries. Wheat, oil and wine have characterised the region's gastronomy for centuries in modern and contemporary times.
From the 11th century onwards, the Arabs introduced, in addition to sugar cane, different varieties of fruit and aubergines, which are still used today.
Fruit and aubergines, which are still a staple of Calabrian gastronomy today.
But it is with the spread in modern times of products from the New World (maize, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and chilli peppers) that Calabrian cuisine takes on its current appearance.

Traditional flavours

Bread and pasta

Bread is a staple food; the bread produced in Altomonte, Cutro, Rogliano and Cerchiara di Calabria is particularly prized. Homemade pasta made with durum wheat flour (lagane, tagghiarini, fusiddi, fileja, cavateddi, scialateddi, maccaruni al ferretto,maccaruni 'e zita) are a real delicacy.

In addition, artisan bread comes in many territorial versions: the 'pizzata' bread from Mammola, made with maize flour, the wheat bread from Seminara, the loaves from Platì, the 'pittà', a typical bread from Catanzaro, the famous bread from Cerchiara and many others, which are multiplied on the occasion of festivities and anniversaries. Such as the sguta, the Easter bread.

The typical recipes also include very substantial recipes, such as pasta 'ncasciata (macaroni dressed with meat sauce, boiled eggs, salami, caciocavallo cheese, fried aubergines), but also vegetarian dishes of recovery, such as Calabrian aubergine meatballs and also include the use of stockfish, cod and offal in the main courses.

Processed meats

Sausages, soppressata and pancetta, almost always preserved with chilli pepper, are among the tastiest sausages in Italy, recognised by the PDO mark.

The 'nduja, prepared in Spilinga and other villages in the Poro area with the fatty parts of the pig and plenty of sweet and spicy peppers, is very famous.  Nduja or 'nnuglia is also known in many areas as a pork liver sausage; 'nciervellata is a sausage made from pork lung.

pork lung. Capocollo is obtained from the back of the pig, soaked in wine and vinegar and then seasoned; particularly renowned is the capicollo azze anca grecanico, Slow Food Presidium.

Prosciutto di suino nero di Calabria is produced from an indigenous breed of pig raised in the wild. The morseddu of Catanzaro is a sauce made from veal entrails, cooked in tomato sauce with hot chilli peppers and put in pitta, a soft flatbread.

Also worth mentioning are the black salami ham, bacon and the rare 'buccularu'.

Fish

Calabria is famous for swordfish, caught between Scilla and Marina di Palmi, and tuna, which is fished mainly between Tropea and Pizzo. Typical of Crùcoli, Diamante, Acri, MirtoCrosìa, the sardella or mustica is made from small fish, dried and put in oil with with chilli pepper.

Cod and stockfish are very common: the soaked stockfish from Mammola is famous.

• Cheeses

Among the dairy products are: sheep's ricotta prepared in Sila, Crotonese, Serre, Poro and Aspromonte; caciocavallo silano Dop and from the Sibari plain and butirro, a small caciocavallo that contains a knob of butter; pecorino produced in the Crotonese, Poro and some Serre and Aspromonte villages; goat's cheese from Limina; smoked ricotta: goat's cheese from Mammola and Mammola, and smoked ricotta from the Poro.produced in the Crotonese area, in the Poro area and in some towns in the Serre and Aspromonte areas, the Limina goat cheese, smoked ricotta: goat cheese from Mammola and smoked ricotta from the Crotonese area, and salted ricottone and salted and dried ricottelle, very tasty to grate, which can be found throughout the Locride and Reggio areas.  Felciata is a special cheese made from goat's milk to which the sprigs of fern on the curd give it a unique aroma. A very typical cheese with religious connotations is the Musulupu, a raw cheese that is only eaten in the area of Calabria Grecanica.

• Vegetables and fruit

Among the vegetables, the red onions of Tropea, the potatoes of Sila, the russet beans of Calabria, and the red onions of Calabria stand out. Sila potatoes, russujanchi (red-white) beans from Serre. Famous are the tomatoes of Belmonte also known as 'bull's heart' because of their characteristic shape. Among the many varieties of fruit, the citrus fruits (citron, clementine and bergamot are highly prized), and Cosentino figs, dried and then stuffed with walnuts and almonds (the 'crocette'), Zibibbo grapes from Pizzo and chestnuts. Also typical are the panicelli d'uva sultanas, grapes placed in citron leaves and then in the oven.

• Typical products

Quality mushrooms from the Serre and Sila, honey and olives preserved in brine or in oil. Calabrian oil is also excellent in terms of quality and flavour: Olio Alto Crotonese, Lametia and Bruzio, produced in the province of Cosenza, have been awarded PDO status; Olio della Lòcride is awaiting recognition by the European Union.Worthy of note is the artisanal preparation of vegetable preserves (peppers, tomatoes, aubergines) in oil, vinegar and salt. Chilli is a distinctive feature of Calabrian cuisine: there are few dishes in which it is not used, either fresh or preserved. Excellent quality quality liquorice, which grows wild in the clay soils of the Alto Ionio cosentino.Traditional desserts:
They are simple and with recurring ingredients: flour, eggs, sugar, honey, oil, but also almonds and mustard. Of particular note are those made at Christmas (turdiddi or pignolata, crispelle, nacatole, giurgiulena, zeppole, susumelle) and Easter (cudduri, taralli, cuzzupe). Among the biscuits, the mostaccioli of Soriano Calabro are renowned, with anthropomorphic or animal shapes, the buccunotti of Mormanno, with chocolate and almonds like the varchiglie, and the collaccio, a biscuit made of flour, eggs and honey. The production of torroni (nougats) is remarkable, especially in Bagnara Calabra, Serra San Bruno and Soriano; the ice-creams of Pizzo are tasty, especially the famous truffle, and those of Reggio and the surrounding area, where they are prepared with bergamot.Calabrian winesInternationally renowned is the Cirò Rosso Doc, while the fine Savuto Rosso Doc is made from grapes grown in the Rogliano, Martirano, Conflenti and Nocera Terinese areas. Doc of Bivongi, Donnici, Lamezia, Melissa, Pollino, Scavigna and Verbicaro wines are also DOC quality red, white and rosé wines. White, sweet and liqueur-like, Zibibbo is produced in various locations in Calabria (Briàtico, Pizzo, Verbicaro) from dried grapes of the vine of the same name. Greco di Bianco is a fine dessert wine, produced with grapes dried on mats. dried on mats.

•  Sweets 

The same variety of typical Calabrian recipes can be found in the desserts sector: if you love ice cream, don't miss the crema reggina flavour, a speciality of the province of Reggio Calabria (cream with alchermes). Among the delicacies not to be missed is the Pizzo truffle, in chocolate or white chocolate.As far as sweets linked to traditions and festivities are concerned, Carnival Pignolata is the most famous, followed by Easter cuddhuraci, with decorations and hard-boiled eggs, Christmas petrals (which are short pastry with figs, walnuts, almonds and candied oranges) and then the famous torroni (those from Bagnara have been granted protected geographical indication).Continuing with the dessert theme, Calabrian figs are a speciality of dried figs stuffed with local citrus fruits.