Time.news – Italy has an immense catalog of food excellence. The latest census of local specialties performed by Coldiretti, it has plumbed every nook and cranny of the agri-food sector bringing to light 1,521 types of bread, pasta and biscuits; 1,424 fresh and processed vegetables; 791 salami, hams, fresh meats and sausages; 497 cheeses, 147 liqueurs, beers and spirits and non-alcoholic drinks; 167 products of animal origin including honey and other dairy specialties. Also surveyed 159 preparations of fish, molluscs and crustaceans, and well 253 typical dishes or gastronomy products.
But the priceless traditional heritage of our Italian cuisine is not made only of edible products, they also fall within this wealth of excellence. the cooking tools necessary for the success of regional specialties. In fact, each preparation has its own pot. But who are the stars of our regional kitchens?
The pan that is the symbol of Made in Italy
Let’s start with a pot that unites North and South, without distinction: the pan. You may never have noticed, but no utensil represents Made in Italy in the kitchen like this tool. Creams, jumps, twists: Italian cuisine is made up, like no other, of dynamic gestures and games of the wrist. It would not make sense to ascribe its use to a single preparation or to a specific region, the pan only deserves one recognition: that of the undisputed queen of our culinary tradition.
The cauldron
The cauldron has always been the master of Lombard cuisine. It is a large, bottom copper vessel with an arched handle that serves to hang in the center of the fireplace. Polenta is cooked in the cauldron, an ancient and sumptuous preparation typical of Northern Italy based on water and corn flour.
Excellent as a single dish, an example above all, the polenta concia enriched with a mix of tasty cheeses, or perfect as a side dish to stews and meat stews. Polenta requires a long and slow cooking, hence the need to use a copper container that guarantees prolonged cooking at low temperatures.
© Agfu
A pot for polenta
The text
The text is a cast iron plate, but it can also be in terracotta or clay, designed to bake flat, unleavened focaccia. With or without a lid, this sort of frying pan without edges is used in particular in Liguria and in the upper Lunigiana for the preparation of testaroli, a kind of large malty, a typical dish of these poor kitchens.
Always in Liguria, but in the hinterland, the text is accompanied by a slightly conical lid and it is used to bake cakes, focaccia, but also meats. In Romagna, on the other hand, this instrument is mainly in earthenware and is indispensable for the preparation of wraps, a typical dish that needs no introduction.
In Modena the same tool is used for tigelle, a characteristic bread. Going down, we find the text also in Umbria, where it is used for the Torta al testo, a Perugian specialty to be served with salami and vegetables.
Terracotta pan
The terracotta pan is perfect for all those long preparations and it is ideal for cooking those foods that require “gentle cooking”, over low heat and without sudden changes in temperature.
The earthenware pot, a material that heats up slowly in a uniform and gradual way and that just as slowly releases the heat, is particularly recommended for cooking minestrone and vegetable soups, risottos, sauces, meat and vegetable stews, legumes and cereals. in general, it is also exceptional in the preparation of fish stews that require slow cooking. Consider its characteristics the “shard” makes half of Italy agree.
Ideal for Tuscan preparations such as cacciucco, a tasty fish soup typical of the Livorno area, or ribollita, a soup based on winter vegetables, the terracotta pot is the right tool to cook, or it would be better to say, “pippiare”, ragù, the meat-based sauce in the typical declination of the Neapolitan tradition.
Pignata
Also in terracotta but with a more rounded shape and with two handles, there is the pignata. What if terracotta remains a guarantee of perfect long cooking, the different format lends itself to new regional preparations. This is the case, for example, of the “Purpu alla pignata”, a typical Salento dish that sees the octopus cook slowly in a tomato and onion sauce.
Moving from Puglia to Basilicata, the pignata is the protagonist of various typical preparations. One of the most famous recipes is the “cutturiedd”, a dish based on lamb or sheep meat cooked inside the pignata together with vegetables, onion and oil. But still today this pot is very common in Lucanian kitchens used above all to prepare soups and sauces.
Couscoussiera
Couscous is a food consisting of steamed grains of wheat semolina typical of the Maghreb but also widespread in Italy, in particular in Sicily in the Trapani area where it is cooked in a special pot that has nothing to do with the triple bottom pot which is used for the Moroccan recipe. The couscoussiera in the Italian style, but it would be more correct to say in the Trapani style, in fact it is a terracotta pan with a perforated bottom that serves the grains together with the fish at heart.
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