PRESENZA - Rediscovering the joy of eating

An Ingredient that Is Becoming Scarce

Dishes simmered for hours on the hearth, or baked or roasted in a wood-burning oven behind the house . . . for centuries, the only way to cook in the Italian countryside was over an open fire.

Copper pot on tripod Photo: Steven Darby, CMC CD2004-0245 D2004-6026
Copper pot
The Marches region, Italy
Before 1938
Used in Canada
Metal
Lent by Celestina Andrenacci

Tripod
Made by Sebastiano Sgromo
Canada
1972
Metal
Lent by Sebastiano Sgromo

This method of cooking has almost disappeared in Italy, and is equally rare among Italian Canadians, because it is not very practical. However, everyone agrees that when you take away the open fire, it is as if you remove an essential ingredient that gives many dishes their distinctive flavour. People from Friuli and Venetia will tell you that polenta develops the best aroma when it is cooked over an open fire, thus acquiring a slightly smoky taste. Those from Calabria claim that nothing beats a dish of beans and sausage simmered slowly in a terracotta pignata placed close to the fire, so that the smoke and ashes blend with the ingredients.

And who can dispute what a wood-burning oven does for the taste of bread, pizza, grilled dishes or porchetta (roasted suckling pig)?

Pignata - terracotta pot Photo: Steven Darby, CMC CD2004-1169 D2004-0245 D2004-6027
Pignata - terracotta pot
Molise region, Italy
c. 1900
Terracotta
Lent by Carmelina Corsi Cusano
Pignata - terracotta pot Photo: Steven Darby, CMC CD2004-0245 D2004-6028
Pignata - terracotta pot
Molise region, Italy
Before 1940
Terracotta
Lent by the Della Penta family

Soups, beans and other dishes were simmered slowly close to the hearth in this type of terracotta pot, known as a pignata. Although this method of cooking produces a unique flavour that is highly appreciated, it is not very practical, so it is rarely used in Italy and Canada today.