Italian Food (3)
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Italian Food (3)

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food

STROZZAPRETI (ROMAGNOLI)

Region: Emilia-Romagna.

It’s made with water and a mixture of 00 and semolina flour. The shape is loosely twisted and of medium length. Strozzapreti is actually a funny name because it’s a compound word (strozza and preti) that literally means chokepriests. The etymology is debated. According to the linguistic theory, strozza and preti come from two Greek verbs, straggàlao and prepto. They mean to roll and to hollow out respectively. That makes sense, as they refer to the technique of making strozzapreti. However, it’s not nearly as fascinating as the next theory, or myth I should say. Legend has it that in the Middle Ages, in what is now Emilia-Romagna, priests used to confiscate eggs. The local women resented this, so they would offer the priests homemade pasta in the hope they would choke on it. Which theory do you support? I find the second story too amusing not to believe😆.

PICI

Region: Tuscany.

Pici is a staple food in Tuscany. It’s made with 00 flour and water and cut into long, thick cylinders. The most traditional dish is Pici all’aglione; aglione literally means big garlic. The recipe calls for a sauce made with tomatoes, aglione cloves and chilli peppers. Although aglione looks like a big bulb of garlic, it’s technically a variety of leek. According to the official website, aglione has a rounder flavour profile than garlic.

MALTAGLIATI

Region: Tuscany, Lazio, Abbruzzo and probably Marche and Umbria too.

I use maltagliati as an umbrella term. Each region has its own name, shape and recipe. The most representative version is made with water and semolina flour and cut into thin, square shapes. Maltagliati goes well with soups. Try it with bean soup or chickpea soup.

STRANGOZZI

Region: Umbria, Marche, Abbruzzo, southern Lazio.

The dough is made with water, olive oil and a mixture of 00 and semolina flour. It’s shaped into long, thin strips. Depending on the size of the strips, strangozzi can either resemble fettucine or pappardelle. In Umbria, strangozzi is traditionally served with local black truffles, porcini mushrooms and asparagus. Indeed, Umbria is famous throughout the world for its fine black truffles. Alternatively, it can be served with tomato sauce. If you understand Italian, you might’ve picked up on the name. Yes, strangozzi probably comes from strozzapreti.

To be continued...

Headline image by andersjilden on Unsplash

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