Angela
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- Italian
Hunting and gathering have not at all disappeared from modern Europe, even if farming is, and has been, the major subsistence life style of choice in Europe for thousands of years now, as was alluded to in a far more serious thread. However, it has no correlation whatsoever, in my opinion, to the amount of WHG that modern Europeans possess. That post actually brought to mind a post I wrote quite a long time ago for a blog about Italy. In it, I described the “hunting and gathering” activities, although I didn’t refer to them in that way, in the area I know best, the region comprised of northwestern Tuscany and eastern Liguria, an area where the people probably have a paltry 15-16% WHG contribution! I thought it might amuse or at least interest some of you as a bit of armchair traveling, and as a break from sometimes headache inducing genetics analysis.
"As to hunting, the men are manic, obsessed hunters of any even remotely edible animal. Our local English expats (we are becoming an outpost of the Chiantishire of more southerly areas of Toscana) constantly bemoan the fact that we have so few songbirds. Alas, they are no match for our hunters, and have been pursued almost to extinction. They end up in tasty dishes much like the celebrated polenta e osei of northeastern Italy. I will spare the feelings of some of our more queasy readers and just post the link to a picture of this dish. The birds are so small that they must be eaten whole, bones, beak, and all. I was present when a dish much like it was brought to a table where some English people were dining with locals. One woman, I swear to God, passed out and fell to the ground as if she’d been felled with a sledge hammer, and another one had to hold a napkin to her mouth and run from the table! It was quite a scene. (In the interests of total disclosure, I must admit that I never order it. However, I’ve seen my male relatives eat them, usually picking them up by their little legs.)
http://www.komitee.de/sites/www.komitee.de/files/images/P1050875.jpg
It goes without saying that they hunt quail and wild rabbit and larger birds, but they also continue to hunt the much more dangerous wild boar. In fact, some of our signature dishes, and some of my own favorite dishes in the whole world are pappardelle al cinghiale, cinghiale in umido, and cured cinghiale sausage.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v7qCXg8kOGk/TyO-rki6H9I/AAAAAAAAAE0/Y7hiAlPdt_g/s1600/S73F4413.JPG
http://www.ideericette.it/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/particolare-spezzatino-di-cinghiale-in-umido.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v7qCXg8kOGk/TyO-rki6H9I/AAAAAAAAAE0/Y7hiAlPdt_g/s1600/S73F4413.JPG
We also draw heavily upon what grows wild in the fields and forests.
On his blog Wandering Italy, James Martin recounts an incident on a road in Italy when he was stuck for what seemed like hours because of a huge accident ahead of him. In addition to exiting their cars to chat with their similarly trapped neighbors, he saw a steady stream of people heading up into the fields and woods with sharp knives and baskets in hand. Eager to know whether there was homicide afoot, he followed them. They were looking for edible plants! You can always find something good to eat if you have the appropriate skills.
In the spring, young dandelion leaves make a tasty if astringent fresh salad when mixed with hard-boiled eggs. You can throw in some pancetta and croutons too, or wilt the dandelions in olive oil and garlic, poach some eggs in the same skillet, and top with grated cheese. That takes care of a few food groups.
http://italianhandful.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/poached-eggs-in-dandelion-greens.jpg
Many of our signature stuffed pasta dishes and savory tarts contain wild borage, campion, nettle, dandelion, wild radish leaves and other wild herbs whose names in English I don’t know. They are used only when the leaves are very young, and are added to chard, cheeses, breadcrumbs etc. to make fillings for dishes like pansoti and our savory vegetable tarts:
http://static.flickr.com/84/254084324_912f2ed0f9.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oofFbrZac48/ThNeMaEa4VI/AAAAAAAAAD8/5Hl2kd0qnrE/s1600/02072011242.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oofFbrZac48/ThNeMaEa4VI/AAAAAAAAAD8/5Hl2kd0qnrE/s1600/02072011242.jpg
True story, I heard one of our visitors say, after it was explained to him what was in the torta d’erbe he had just eaten, and enjoyed, by the way, “ I never thought I’d like a pie made out of grass and weeds.” Well, it’s by far not just grass and weeds, but I understood his point.
Our detractors, of whom there are many in other regions of Italy , say that Ligurians make so much use of these kinds of foodstuffs because they are so incredibly….thrifty. That’s not the word they use, but no matter. I think there’s probably some truth to that as I have a few relatives who I think probably have the first lire they ever made buried under some plaster or stonework somewhere, but it’s also a question of “needs must”. When you live off such a poor, if beautiful, terrain, you have to use all the resources at your disposal. There’s also the fact that the men were so often seamen, and they came home with their bodies pining for greens and fruits.
The fall brings our beloved mushrooms. Virtually everyone goes out to their favorite (and secret) locations to pick them for home use or to sell to the restaurants in the area. They make for wonderful eating fresh, or dried for use throughout the year. We put them in many of our dishes. Pharmacies in the area all provide a service where they can tell you if what you have picked is safe to eat. The really old people rarely bother; they can tell by the look and the smell of the mushrooms.
http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs150/1102467033397/img/176.jpg?a=1111597566714
When the tourists get into the act, it can seem like a Shriners’ convention out there: http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs150/1102467033397/img/176.jpg?a=1111597566714
Be advised before trying it out yourself that you need to carry a walking stick of some kind to poke around in the underbrush before you approach, because we do have venomous snakes.
http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs150/1102467033397/img/176.jpg?a=1111597566714
There are even informal contests as to who has found the biggest ones, and it always makes the local papers. Of course, they never tell you precisely where they actually found it.
This brings me to that incredibly expensive, but extraordinarily delicious fungus, the truffle. Truffle hunting is an absolute mania wherever they are to be found, in France as well as in Italy. People come to blows with “poachers” onto their “secret” locations. Both dogs and pigs are trained to hunt for them. I could swoon just thinking of my favorite ways to eat truffles. How much do I love thee, dear truffle? Let me count some of the ways:
With polenta and eggs?
http://ricette.donnamoderna.com/var...rancione_dettaglio_ricette_slider_grande3.jpg
In pasta dishes?
http://www.enotecasanpietro.com/immagini/piatti/640_1243106519_Pennette_alla_norcina_con_tartufo.JPG
Truffle risotto?
http://www.lidiasitaly.com/images/recipes/truffle_risotto_940_f.jpg
Alas, some decisions are just too difficult.
Here is a truffle hunter extraordinaire with his trusty canine assistant: such trained animals are very expensive indeed.
http://stowawaymag.com/files/2013/04/truffles-0911.jpg
And then we come to the humble chestnut, without which the people of the Lunigiana, at many times in their history, could not have survived. My sainted, dearly beloved, now deceased, great-aunt (who lived to the age of 96 despite a life of much hardship) used to say that she ate so many of them during the war years that once it was over she never ate anything made with them ever again. Most people do eat them, in an infinite variety of ways. We have sagras totally devoted to eating products made from them.
Of course, when fresh they’re roasted. The fresh or dried version can be boiled, often in milk.
My mother often made a sort of soup for my lunch on cold, winter days that was made of chestnuts boiled in milk, sugar, and some lemon and/or orange peel . (Be advised, it’s fattening, so a little goes a long way.) That, or rice soup made in the same way. The men are known to sometimes add a shot of alcohol if it gets really cold.
The chestnut “soup” looked a lot like this, only not so many chestnuts:
http://ricette.donnamoderna.com/var...castagne_dettaglio_ricette_slider_grande3.jpg
Dried and ground into flour, they then produce bread, pasta , “pancakes”, and cake.
http://ricette.donnamoderna.com/var...castagne_dettaglio_ricette_slider_grande3.jpg
We call it Marocca bread because it’s so dark. To be honest, I’m not very fond of it. I find it too sweet as an accompaniment for regular food:
http://www.foresteriamuraglione.com/marocca_c.jpg
Pasta: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DLX1H7d5I...elle+di+Castagno+con+Zucca+e+Anacardi-1wm.jpg
Cake: http://www.discoveritalia.it/images/content/schede/1556.jpg
I like the chesnut flour pancakes, often served with a soft, fresh, local cheese and some of our honey, much better:
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/c8/90/a8/c890a80c0e9b9b2572843c90dd520bc4.jpg
The dried version, that we call gussoni, are also delicious, in my opinion, as a snack, although when I gave some to a dentist friend of mine, he said they should be banned as they are guaranteed to crack your teeth. I ignore him, and continue to eat them, just as I continue to eat rock hard torrone. You just have to suck on them for a while to soften them up. (I will admit, however, that when my baby teeth started to wobble, my mother would give me a few gussoni to eat . It's better than the string tied to the door technique, I think.)
http://www.terrecasentinesi.it/public/castagne_secche.jpg
You can see the tools you need to break off pieces from the traditional torrone blocks! The packaged “soft” torrone is for sissies!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3V7yXIPSX...62jmkoRzg/s1600/Torrone-San-Gennaro-Feast.JPG
Then there’s the pinoli nuts which do grow on trees, to which you can add some wild marjoram, grated cheese and olive oil and make a pesto for your pasta or fish, and did I ever tell you all how much I love what Italian-Americans call pignoli cookies?
http://lasvegasfoodadventures.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/pignoli21.jpg
I could go on and on, but I won’t, you’ll be pleased to hear.
I’m sure there are similar recipes from all over Europe. In the past, you used all your resources to survive, and useful recipes were used for hundreds if not thousands of years.
And now I'm off!
"As to hunting, the men are manic, obsessed hunters of any even remotely edible animal. Our local English expats (we are becoming an outpost of the Chiantishire of more southerly areas of Toscana) constantly bemoan the fact that we have so few songbirds. Alas, they are no match for our hunters, and have been pursued almost to extinction. They end up in tasty dishes much like the celebrated polenta e osei of northeastern Italy. I will spare the feelings of some of our more queasy readers and just post the link to a picture of this dish. The birds are so small that they must be eaten whole, bones, beak, and all. I was present when a dish much like it was brought to a table where some English people were dining with locals. One woman, I swear to God, passed out and fell to the ground as if she’d been felled with a sledge hammer, and another one had to hold a napkin to her mouth and run from the table! It was quite a scene. (In the interests of total disclosure, I must admit that I never order it. However, I’ve seen my male relatives eat them, usually picking them up by their little legs.)
http://www.komitee.de/sites/www.komitee.de/files/images/P1050875.jpg
It goes without saying that they hunt quail and wild rabbit and larger birds, but they also continue to hunt the much more dangerous wild boar. In fact, some of our signature dishes, and some of my own favorite dishes in the whole world are pappardelle al cinghiale, cinghiale in umido, and cured cinghiale sausage.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v7qCXg8kOGk/TyO-rki6H9I/AAAAAAAAAE0/Y7hiAlPdt_g/s1600/S73F4413.JPG
http://www.ideericette.it/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/particolare-spezzatino-di-cinghiale-in-umido.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v7qCXg8kOGk/TyO-rki6H9I/AAAAAAAAAE0/Y7hiAlPdt_g/s1600/S73F4413.JPG
We also draw heavily upon what grows wild in the fields and forests.
On his blog Wandering Italy, James Martin recounts an incident on a road in Italy when he was stuck for what seemed like hours because of a huge accident ahead of him. In addition to exiting their cars to chat with their similarly trapped neighbors, he saw a steady stream of people heading up into the fields and woods with sharp knives and baskets in hand. Eager to know whether there was homicide afoot, he followed them. They were looking for edible plants! You can always find something good to eat if you have the appropriate skills.
In the spring, young dandelion leaves make a tasty if astringent fresh salad when mixed with hard-boiled eggs. You can throw in some pancetta and croutons too, or wilt the dandelions in olive oil and garlic, poach some eggs in the same skillet, and top with grated cheese. That takes care of a few food groups.
http://italianhandful.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/poached-eggs-in-dandelion-greens.jpg
Many of our signature stuffed pasta dishes and savory tarts contain wild borage, campion, nettle, dandelion, wild radish leaves and other wild herbs whose names in English I don’t know. They are used only when the leaves are very young, and are added to chard, cheeses, breadcrumbs etc. to make fillings for dishes like pansoti and our savory vegetable tarts:
http://static.flickr.com/84/254084324_912f2ed0f9.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oofFbrZac48/ThNeMaEa4VI/AAAAAAAAAD8/5Hl2kd0qnrE/s1600/02072011242.jpghttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oofFbrZac48/ThNeMaEa4VI/AAAAAAAAAD8/5Hl2kd0qnrE/s1600/02072011242.jpg
True story, I heard one of our visitors say, after it was explained to him what was in the torta d’erbe he had just eaten, and enjoyed, by the way, “ I never thought I’d like a pie made out of grass and weeds.” Well, it’s by far not just grass and weeds, but I understood his point.
Our detractors, of whom there are many in other regions of Italy , say that Ligurians make so much use of these kinds of foodstuffs because they are so incredibly….thrifty. That’s not the word they use, but no matter. I think there’s probably some truth to that as I have a few relatives who I think probably have the first lire they ever made buried under some plaster or stonework somewhere, but it’s also a question of “needs must”. When you live off such a poor, if beautiful, terrain, you have to use all the resources at your disposal. There’s also the fact that the men were so often seamen, and they came home with their bodies pining for greens and fruits.
The fall brings our beloved mushrooms. Virtually everyone goes out to their favorite (and secret) locations to pick them for home use or to sell to the restaurants in the area. They make for wonderful eating fresh, or dried for use throughout the year. We put them in many of our dishes. Pharmacies in the area all provide a service where they can tell you if what you have picked is safe to eat. The really old people rarely bother; they can tell by the look and the smell of the mushrooms.
http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs150/1102467033397/img/176.jpg?a=1111597566714
When the tourists get into the act, it can seem like a Shriners’ convention out there: http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs150/1102467033397/img/176.jpg?a=1111597566714
Be advised before trying it out yourself that you need to carry a walking stick of some kind to poke around in the underbrush before you approach, because we do have venomous snakes.
http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs150/1102467033397/img/176.jpg?a=1111597566714
There are even informal contests as to who has found the biggest ones, and it always makes the local papers. Of course, they never tell you precisely where they actually found it.
This brings me to that incredibly expensive, but extraordinarily delicious fungus, the truffle. Truffle hunting is an absolute mania wherever they are to be found, in France as well as in Italy. People come to blows with “poachers” onto their “secret” locations. Both dogs and pigs are trained to hunt for them. I could swoon just thinking of my favorite ways to eat truffles. How much do I love thee, dear truffle? Let me count some of the ways:
With polenta and eggs?
http://ricette.donnamoderna.com/var...rancione_dettaglio_ricette_slider_grande3.jpg
In pasta dishes?
http://www.enotecasanpietro.com/immagini/piatti/640_1243106519_Pennette_alla_norcina_con_tartufo.JPG
Truffle risotto?
http://www.lidiasitaly.com/images/recipes/truffle_risotto_940_f.jpg
Alas, some decisions are just too difficult.
Here is a truffle hunter extraordinaire with his trusty canine assistant: such trained animals are very expensive indeed.
http://stowawaymag.com/files/2013/04/truffles-0911.jpg
And then we come to the humble chestnut, without which the people of the Lunigiana, at many times in their history, could not have survived. My sainted, dearly beloved, now deceased, great-aunt (who lived to the age of 96 despite a life of much hardship) used to say that she ate so many of them during the war years that once it was over she never ate anything made with them ever again. Most people do eat them, in an infinite variety of ways. We have sagras totally devoted to eating products made from them.
Of course, when fresh they’re roasted. The fresh or dried version can be boiled, often in milk.
My mother often made a sort of soup for my lunch on cold, winter days that was made of chestnuts boiled in milk, sugar, and some lemon and/or orange peel . (Be advised, it’s fattening, so a little goes a long way.) That, or rice soup made in the same way. The men are known to sometimes add a shot of alcohol if it gets really cold.
The chestnut “soup” looked a lot like this, only not so many chestnuts:
http://ricette.donnamoderna.com/var...castagne_dettaglio_ricette_slider_grande3.jpg
Dried and ground into flour, they then produce bread, pasta , “pancakes”, and cake.
http://ricette.donnamoderna.com/var...castagne_dettaglio_ricette_slider_grande3.jpg
We call it Marocca bread because it’s so dark. To be honest, I’m not very fond of it. I find it too sweet as an accompaniment for regular food:
http://www.foresteriamuraglione.com/marocca_c.jpg
Pasta: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_DLX1H7d5I...elle+di+Castagno+con+Zucca+e+Anacardi-1wm.jpg
Cake: http://www.discoveritalia.it/images/content/schede/1556.jpg
I like the chesnut flour pancakes, often served with a soft, fresh, local cheese and some of our honey, much better:
http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/236x/c8/90/a8/c890a80c0e9b9b2572843c90dd520bc4.jpg
The dried version, that we call gussoni, are also delicious, in my opinion, as a snack, although when I gave some to a dentist friend of mine, he said they should be banned as they are guaranteed to crack your teeth. I ignore him, and continue to eat them, just as I continue to eat rock hard torrone. You just have to suck on them for a while to soften them up. (I will admit, however, that when my baby teeth started to wobble, my mother would give me a few gussoni to eat . It's better than the string tied to the door technique, I think.)
http://www.terrecasentinesi.it/public/castagne_secche.jpg
You can see the tools you need to break off pieces from the traditional torrone blocks! The packaged “soft” torrone is for sissies!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3V7yXIPSX...62jmkoRzg/s1600/Torrone-San-Gennaro-Feast.JPG
Then there’s the pinoli nuts which do grow on trees, to which you can add some wild marjoram, grated cheese and olive oil and make a pesto for your pasta or fish, and did I ever tell you all how much I love what Italian-Americans call pignoli cookies?
http://lasvegasfoodadventures.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/pignoli21.jpg
I could go on and on, but I won’t, you’ll be pleased to hear.
I’m sure there are similar recipes from all over Europe. In the past, you used all your resources to survive, and useful recipes were used for hundreds if not thousands of years.
And now I'm off!