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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.
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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)?
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Pignata - terracotta pot
Molise region, Italy
c. 1900
Terracotta
Lent by Carmelina Corsi Cusano
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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. |
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