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Sweet
onions and hot peppers
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Throughout
its history Calabria has been crossed by Greeks,
Arabs, Normans, Swabians, Bourbons and Aragonese.
They have all left their mark on its cuisine which
successfully mixes simple ingredients with sophisticated
recipes. Read on for a taste of Calabria . .
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FOOD
TRAILS AND FESTIVALS
Chilli Pepper Festival: September. Diamante
(Cosenza). No-one
uses chilli pepper better than the Calabrians so
come along and fire up your taste-buds at this festival
organised by the Accademia Italiana del Peperoncino
(Italian Chilli Pepper Academy).
Fig
Festival: September. Luzzi (Cosenza).
Try the endless variations of this wonderful fruit:
baked, dried, honeyed, chocolate covered, stuffed
or served with cured ham from Sila - simply delicious.
KNOW
YOUR ONIONS
Easy on the digestive system, delicious
in salads and equally good when cooked, Tropea
onions have a distinctively sweet flavour thanks
to the high quantity of sugar they contain. They
are grown all over Capo Vaticano and are appreciated
throughout Italy as well as abroad.
 Tropea
Onion Soup
Ingredients
300 g Tropea onions (thinly sliced)
30 g sardines
400 ml of vegetable or fish stock
6 slices of home-made bread
100 g hard cheese
marjoram
garlic
oil
salt
pepper
Gently cook the onions with the oil, sardines, garlic
and marjoram until softened. Add the broth and bring
to the boil. Put the bread in a tureen and add the
soup when cooked. Sprinkle with cheese and drizzle
over some oil. Adjust seasoning if necessary and
garnish with a sprig of fresh marjoram.
RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS
Chilli peppers are widely used in Calabrian cooking,
flavouring dishes from cured meats to cheeses and
tomato-based sauces as well as being savoured on
their own, preserved in oil - chilli oil is known
as "holy oil". The following recipe, originally
from Calabria, has become a classic of Italian cuisine.
 Spaghetti
with garlic, oil and chilli pepper
Ingredients
400 g spaghetti
half a glass of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
2 dried red chilli peppers
parsley
grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water. Five
minutes before it is ready heat the garlic and chilli
peppers in the oil. Drain the pasta, and put in
a serving dish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and
grated cheese. Remove garlic from the oil and pour
over the spaghetti. Stir and serve piping hot.
Cook like a Calabrian
Learn to cook like a Calabrian with the courses
organised by I Brasiliani, a holiday
farm in Torre di Ruggiero (CS), Tenuta dei Martelli
di San Basile. Many of the ingredients are produced
on the farm itself.
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MARIA LINARDI |
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August
2001
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THE SURVIVOR'S 
