Colder Weather Brings Warmer Food
There’s no doubt about it, everything changes in October. Fall, of course, and the clocks go back on the 25th and suddenly the days are shorter, and cooler and wetter. Concert seasons are in full swing, not to mention galleries and exhibitions. It almost seems that Milan finds its natural identity in the cold weather. All of a sudden, its culinary specialties begin to have some sense, such as piping hot risotto, the high-alcohol, high-calorie classic Milan cocktail, the Negroni, and delectable cups of cioccolata calda con panna, in which the hot chocolate is so thick that the teaspoon almost stands up in it. Actually, October kicks off with the city’s contribution to a global event, World Vegetarian Week (see www.vegetarianweek.org), running from 1 to 7 October. On Saturday 3rd, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., there will be a stall in Via Dante where the street opens into Piazza Cairoli, offering vegetarian tastings, with information on campaigns such as the humane treatment of animals and the fight against global warming. The event is aptly close to the feast day (October 4th) of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy, animals and the environment. Francis was perhaps the first naturalist, preaching respect for all creatures, animal and human, in a period (he died on 3rd October 1226) in which man treated animals with even more cruelty than he dealt out to his fellow men.
One of Milan’s pleasant vegetarian specialties is caldarroste, roasted chestnuts that can be found sold in kiosks on the streets. The smell of roasting chestnuts in the air brings warmth amidst the cold. Instead of the usual pistachio gelato, carrying a small paper bag filled with this simple snack can warm up frozen fingers.
But of course it’s risotto that’s the real star of the show in this city. Saffron rice. The recipe starts with gently frying rice, from the farms near Pavia or Vercelli, in butter, with chopped onion. Not olive oil. Lombardy has a massive dairy industry and butter was historically the key ingredient for many recipes. In fact Milan’s cooking features many other yellowish products, such as cheese and cornmeal, to the point that it has been dubbed the “Golden cuisine.” Many Milanese dishes are finished with a sprinkle of Grana Padano, one of the local cheeses famous worldwide. No surprise, then, that Milan’s supposedly “first concept restaurant” was named Gold.
The uniqueness of risotto alla Milanese is due to the saffron, which turns the rice into a deep yellow, adding a distinctive, yet subtle flavor. According to Milanese legend, the traditional Milanese risotto was invented during the construction of the Cathedral. It is said that a worker using saffron to color the stained-glass windows decided to put some saffron into a plate of risotto – clearly a joke, but it turned out to be an ingenious addition. Saffron risotto is now a regional favorite. In Italy there is a saying, “Il riso nasce nell’acqua e muore nel vino,” which literally translates to “The rice is born in water and dies in wine.” So make sure to add white wine to the recipe while enjoying a glass of red wine. In fact, Milan has its own vineyards located 40 km south-east of the city. Around San Colombano al Lambro, a mosaic of vineyards on a sloping hill 500 feet above the otherwise flat terrain makes it possible to enjoy wine from Milan’s own province.
Up to here, we’ve already lost the vegans, but in fact risotto alla milanese is no-go for vegetarians as well, because the original recipe calls for the progressive addition of beef stock. And this brings us to another classic of local culinary traditions: veal. Ossobuco, a popular dish in Milan, features the veal shank. The name translates into the “hole with a bone around” due to the marrow, which brings a unique flavor to the dish. Another popular secondo piatto is orecchia di elefante. Though the dish’s name means “elephant’s ear,” there are no elephants in the recipe, but veal rib chops. Italians are finding it harder to prepare these dishes due to their tediously long preparation process, but the results are worth the effort.
Another golden ingredient found in north Italian kitchens, more palatable to vegetarians but enjoyed by virtually everyone, is polenta, normally made with ground yellow cornmeal. Lombardy, however boasts a polenta variation made with Saracen wheat (buckwheat). A traditional story attributes this unique difference to the Saracen – Arabian – women who were kidnapped, presumably during the Crusades, and brought back to the Alpine regions north of Milan. The women brought some of their own variety of wheat, which today is still used to make the whiter version of polenta, in the recipe known as polenta taragna.
As the temperature continues to drop, there are yet more super-calorific Milanese specialities to keep you going, such as rostin negàa, veal chops braised in a wine sauce, and the ferociously invigorating barbagliata, a blend of espresso and chocolate topped with cream, virtually impossible to find nowadays. But more about these in the winter issues!
By Liza Giambra and Sharon Yi
Ingredients for 4:
4 veal shanks
100 grams of butter
350 grams of bacon, diced
2 ripe tomatoes (optional)
1 carrot
1 onion
1 celery
1 glass of white wine
1 clove of garlic
lemon rind, chopped
white flour, salt, pepper
Fry the butter and bacon together. Roll the veal in the flour and cook until brown. Then mix in the wine until it evaporates. Add the carrots, celery, onion and tomatoes and cook until golden. Cover and cook for 75 minutes. When the meat is tender, the dish is ready. Sprinkle on a garnish of parsley, garlic and lemon. Leave the tomatoes out for ossobuco alla Milanese.
Ingredients for 4:
400 grams of rice
150 grams of butter
1.5 liters of beef stock
1 onion, sliced
½ glass of white wine
1 small packet of saffron
grated Grana Padano cheese
salt
Cook the onion with butter until transparent. Add rice and stir. Then pour in the wine. Reduce it by half. Add saffron to the rice. Then add boiling beef stock ladle by ladle. Stir continuously until the rice is fully cooked. Take the pan away from the fire and add butter or a splash of cream and cheese. Stir and cover, letting it sit for a few minutes before being ready to eat.
Ingredients for 6:
Polenta
1.750 liters of salted water
500 grams of yellow flour
150 grams of butter
300 grams of crumbled sausage
200 grams of grated Parmesan cheese
30 grams of dry mushrooms, softened in warm water
½ liter of milk
1 onion, chopped
3 spoons of white flour
pepper, nutmeg
Boil the water with salt. Using a strainer, slowly stir the polenta into the boiling water. Cook for 45 minutes. Remove polenta from the heat. In a separate pan, prepare the béchamel: fry the onion in butter, add flour and cook over low heat. Slowly, pour in boiling milk, add cheese, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Stir until a dense white sauce has been made. Add crumbled sausage and softened mushrooms. Cook for 15 minutes. Make layers with the polenta slices and béchamel. Then cook in the oven at 180° Celsius for 45 minutes.