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Luscious
Liguria
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Get
a taste of Liguria in these two delicious recipes
- you'll be coming back for more!
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 Liguria,
with its 315 kilometres of coastline, is often,
and indeed rightly, considered to be a bridge
between Italy, and the rest of the Western World.
The mountains rise up dramatically from the coast
- around two thirds of inland Liguria is mountainous,
the rest hilly - making this a land of contrasts,
a unique place to be savoured slowly, just like
its renowned cuisine. Liguria has a long tradition
of cooking and dishes such as the sublime focaccia
from Recco,
which was first tasted during the Saracen invasions,
are famous all over the world. Legend goes that
during the 16th century Recco's beach
was often under Saracen attack. While the men stayed
along the coast to defend their towns, the women,
children, old and infirm fled to safety in the hills,
taking with them basic supplies of flour, oil and
salt. Once out of danger the women kneaded their
dough with water from the mountain springs while
the old people collected wood. The bread was then
cooked on a slab of slate over an open fire. One
day, tired of the same old bread, someone had the
bright idea of trading some salt for fresh mountain
cheese. The rest, as you say, is history . . .
Cheese focaccia
 Here
is one of our favourite focaccia recipes.
Pile some flour and a pinch of salt onto a
clean surface. Make a well in the flour and
pour in half a glass of oil and some warm
water. Knead the mixture to a soft, elastic
dough. Divide into two parts, cover and leave
aside for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the
oven. Knead the two parts once more then leave
aside for another 10 minutes. Roll them out
into very thin disks (12-15''). Place one
of the disks on an oiled baking tray. Cover
with soft cheese (use a cheese like stracchino,
if possible). Now place the other disk on
top. Trim the sides and roll the edges up
and around to seal the focaccia. Prick the
top with a fork and drizzle oil over the top.
Bake in a very hot oven for 5-6 minutes until
golden brown..
Another of Liguria's specialities is olive
oil, which is produced in large quantities
in the Imperia area, home of the well-loved
taggiasche olives. Taste them
at their best in this recipe.
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Rabbit with taggiasche olives and Vermentino
Ingredients:
1 1kg rabbit
70 g black olives in brine (if possible choose
taggiasche olives)
1 small onion
3/ 4 cloves of garlic
rosemary
thyme
bay leaves
a bottle of Vermentino wine
extra-virgin olive oil (from Liguria)
chilli pepper
salt.
Section the rabbit into medium-sized pieces,
then wash and dry well. Leave aside the sweetbreads
(liver, heart and kidneys). Heat the oil in
a terracotta pan and fry the onion, garlic,
chilli and herbs. Add the meat and brown for
approx. 10 minutes. Then add the sweetbreads
and cook, stirring all the time. Season and
cover with the wine. Cover with a lid and
cook gently until the meat is ready, adding
water if necessary - the sauce should be fairly
thick. Ten minutes before the end add the
olives. If the sauce is too liquid add some
flour, dissolved in water or stock and stir
into the stew.
Accompany with a bottle of Vermentino.
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| by
MARIA
LINARDI |
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July
2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
