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The riches of the poor cuisine
La Cucina Povera
When we talk about Southern Italian cuisine, we often refer to la cucina povera, the "poor mans' kitchen." The further you travel down the boot, the poorer the environment generally becomes. This is also reflected in the culinary traditions. However, this does not mean that the cuisine is not rich in extravagant flavors! On the contrary, a good dish from the cucina povera is truly delicious!
Ingredients
Cucina povera refers to a cuisine with economical dishes. That is, dishes with simple ingredients, often locally grown or produced, and relatively little meat or cheaper cuts of meat. Important ingredients of the cucina povera are bread, locally grown vegetables such as cabbage, pumpkin, and tomatoes, wild plants, cheese (as a source of animal protein and as a way to preserve milk), and pork fat.
Simply Good
One of the most characteristic examples of cucina povera from the south is eggless pasta. In the richer north – for example, Bologna or Florence – many pastas are made with eggs (all’uovo). Pasta from the south, on the other hand, is made with only water and (durum) wheat flour. Moreover, as with all dishes from cucina povera, it is essential to use good wheat flour. That is the secret of cucina povera; a small number of honest, pure ingredients of highest quality.
Cacio e Pepe
A typical dish from cucina povera is cacio e pepe. A dish with only 4 ingredients: pasta, pecorino cheese, black pepper, and salt. It is amazing how you can create a fantastic dish with so few ingredients and a bit of technique. Curious? Take a look at our Pasta alla Gricia recipe. Cacio e pepe is made in the same way, but without adding the guanciale.
Crazy Water
One of the weirdest dishes we encountered in cucina povera is pesce all’acqua pazza, which translates to “fish in crazy water.” It is said that this dish was made by poor fishermen on the island of Ponza who could not afford salt and thus poached their fish in flavored seawater. Long ago, there were sky-high taxes on salt in Italy because, salt was a valuable ingredient used to preserve food (e.g., by pickling). Remnants of this are still visible in old advertisements on the facades of kiosks that were official salt sales points. For the dish pesce all’acqua pazza, a whole fish is briefly fried in olive oil and then poached in salted water flavored with tomatoes, parsley, garlic, white wine, pepper, and of course salt – or rather a bit of seawater? This results in a wonderfully simple summer dish, for which you only need some rustic bread to dip in!
The Cuisine of Southern Italy
In all regions of Southern Italy, typical dishes from cucina povera can be found. In Puglia, we find the famous eggless “little ears” pasta called orecchiette with broccoli rabe and sausage (doesn't this sound fantastic? Believe us, it is!). In Calabria, they make ‘nduja, a spreadable spicy sausage which is made with about 20% sweet and spicy peppers and just a little meat. Naples, in the Campania region, is known for the best pizza in Italy, a typical cucina povera dish of bread dough and all other ingredients you happen to have. Each one delicious dishes, which depend on the quality of the ingredients.
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Organic Wine
Many small winemakers in Italy work organically. This means that the grapes they use to make wine are grown without using chemical products such as fertilizers and pesticides. Almost all of our winemakers work completely organically, but this does not always mean that they have the BIO certificate. In Italy, and in many other countries, obtaining this certificate is a bureaucratic and expensive process. As a result, some of our winemakers choose not to obtain the certificate, but this does not make their wine any less organic.
Scarcity leads to higher prices and more tampering.
The price of olive oil has skyrocketed in recent years, with the last year setting an absolute record. Unfortunately, our farmers are also feeling the pinch, leading to increased prices for us as well. This surge has many causes. Harvests are being affected by droughts in Southern Europe and by increasing olive diseases spread by insects. Moreover, labor costs for olive picking are rising, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to find people for this task. Together, these factors contribute to a high price of the basic product: the olive. Additionally, producers are facing inflation in packaging materials and the energy required in the production process. Price hikes are evident across the entire market spectrum, affecting both small-scale quality oil production and mass-produced supermarket varieties.
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Linda in the Mezzogiorno
Two years ago, I decided to turn my life around. I have always worked for large corporations in the tech industry. Over the years, I have discovered that I need more freedom in making my own decisions than can be offered by these companies. But what was I going to do then? Suddenly, the world is at your feet, and that is very complicated. I decided to take a big trip through Central America with Eric, my boyfriend.
We have always been adventurous travelers and have seen much of the world, but the country that we have been drawn to time and time again is not even that far away. That country is our beloved Italy. During our 'sabbatical' - as you could call it - the idea arose to bring a small piece of beautiful Italy to the Netherlands. I have always been interested in cooking and know quite a bit about Italian cuisine, its ingredients, and techniques. And what is more Italian than indulging in a lavish meal with great, high quality ingredients? Surprisingly to us, it's still difficult to find most of these great ingredients in the north of Europe. That's when we decided to start an online platform where beautiful products are made available directly from the farm in Italy!