food | AboutUmbria Magazine

Soft and white inside, browned and slightly hardened on the outside, alone or as a side dish, the torta al testo has become a symbol of Umbria.

Bread has always been the fuel of the people, not just as a basic source of food, but also as a propulsion for the people’s revolts against tyranny and oppression. The rise of the price of bread has in many occasions throughout history been the pretext for uprisings and revolutions. Think of Chapter Eleven in Manzoni’s The Betrothed when the unreasoning crowd assaults the Forno delle Grucce baker’s shop, or the most notable sentence attributed to Mary Antoinette: «If they have no bread, let them eat cake». Within our regional borders, one may remember how the people of Perugia reacted to the papal victory of 1540 by boycotting his tax on salt, banishing it from the bread dough forever.

Though as the Nineteenth century approached with its industrial revolution bread became a common food, its preparation was still a long and laborious endeavor involving the entire family. Between one batch of bread and the other, 7 or 8 days could pass, because there were many ways stale bread could be employed and the mouths to feed were innumerous. The wait for more nutritious food could be very long especially for the peasants, bound to the hard work in the fields, so the torta al testo was born.

Torta al testo

The secret? How it is baked

Soft and white within, browned and slightly hardened on the outside, alone or as an accompaniment for the strong-flavored cheeses, the seasoned cured meats and the rich arrabbiata sauce used in the Umbrian tradition for meat stews – the torta al testo has become a symbol of our region. The dough is made with water, flour, salt and yeast – in the 1800s baking soda, sourdough or brewer’s yeast, in the 1900s idrolitina (baking soda and acid salt) was introduced, today ousted by baking powder. The name al testo refers to the half-inch thick disk used for baking.

Before gas stoves and cast-iron flat-pans became widespread, in the central-north areas of the region this disk was made of terracotta or river sand and clay and would be left to warm on a grill[1]. The testo – or panaro when in Gubbio and Città di Castello[2] – would have reached the perfect temperature when the flour doused on top turned yellow: then the bread, of the dimension and shape of the disk, would be laid on top to bake for about 15-20 minutes[3].

South of Todi, this white flat bread was cooked in the fireplace – previously warmed with the coals then brushed away – flipped and covered with warm ashes and cinder after it had browned. Half-way between the testo and the Terni-based fuoco morto (i.e. dead fire which cooks the pizza under the fire), were once more the peasants, who loved their torta al testo snacks in the fields. There, they could also pluck certain rock slabs, called dead or serene, later tempered to make sure it could resist heat and sudden changes in temperature[4] and turned into the perfect testo.

And if simplicity is not enough…

Creativity cannot be tied down and our forefathers knew this well, juggling restrictions and mouths to feed, they would refuse nothing that the land could offer. The torte al testo would sometimes include ciccioli[5] and pecorino cheese, olive oil – or pig fat -, eggs and grated pecorino cheese, diced bacon, raisins or dried plums, walnuts and yet again… pecorino, a prized ingredient in the mountainous areas where sheep herds were common.

The type of flour could also offer a curious variation, though today it has been abandoned for it is a painful recollection of a poor and difficult past[6]: corn flour was once used, mixed with wheat flour, salt and very hot water, forming a more granular dough which could only be kneaded by hand. This version of the torta would never be flipped and would cook for at least twenty minutes; it was often combined with cooked greens and potatoes, raw onions, beans and fava-beans.

A clarification

To be fair, Umbrians didn’t really invent this type of bread. In the way of cooking it, as in the dough and the shape, similar versions lost in the folds of time may be found, handed down from father to son, from conqueror to defeated.

If it is true that the torta al testo is originally nothing else but an unleavened bread, it is worth mentioning the Egyptian bread, which was similarly made out of spelt flour, water, salt and sometimes dates and coriander seeds. After some hours of rest, it was baked on a burning-hot stone, obtaining a bread with a «hard and shiny crust, dense, heavy and fragrant»[7].

Cato the Elder, in his De Agri Cultura dated 160 b.C., cites a certain placenta, similar in shape and lack of leavening to the torta al testo of the origins: «you shall carefully clean the fireplace, you will heat it to the right temperature, then you shall place the placenta. Cover it with a hot tile». Quite similar to the testuacium of Varro, similarly baked with the help of a roof tile, or to the panis artopticus, cooked under a bell[8].

Pliny the elder, on the other hand, offers a full list – though he himself specifies it is not complete – of the numerous types of bread available in Ancient Rome. One may note that for the Romans, there was no distinction between a focaccia (or pizza) and bread, especially when considering the panis subcinerinus or fucacius cooked under the cinder, the panis adipatus seasoned with bits of lard or bacon, or even the panis testicius, eaten by the legionaries after baking it on a clay tile, eloquent enough in its name[9].

The queen of the Umbrian table

Whether deriving from Ancient Rome or from the mefa made with flour, water and salt mentioned in the Tavole Eugubine, the torta al testo is the true queen of the Umbrian table. Easy, quick and tasty, it has the merit of deriving from a peasant’s meal and becoming a typical Umbrian dish. In its simplicity it is the expression of the local household and of the afternoons in the fields, with the sun shining on the bent backs and the lunch baskets full of this fragrant bread cooked on a testo.

[1] Cfr. R. Boini, La torta al testo, in «Percorsi umbri», n. 2-3 June 2006.

[2] In Gubbio the torta al testo is known as crescia (risen) because in the baking process it rises and thickens.

[3] Cfr. R. Boini, op.cit.

[4] The place where the blocks of stone were smoothened were called schiacciaie (“flatteners”) and the bread originally was called schiaccia (“flattened”). Cfr. O. Fillanti, La torta al testo in Umbria, Perugia, Promocamera, 2011.

[5] The ciccioli are the tiny bits of meat residual to the extraction of the pig fat, cfr. I. Trotta, Perugia a Tavola, Perugia, Morlacchi Editore, 2017.

[6] Cfr. R. Boini, La cucina umbra, Ponte San Giovanni (PG), Calzetti Mariucci, 1995.

[7] Cfr. www.vitantica.net, consulted on August 21^st, 2019.

[8] Cfr. www.cerealialudi.org, consulted on August 20^th, 2019.

[9] Cfr. www.taccuinigastrosofici.it, consultato il 19/8/2019.

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Culinary traditions of Perugia: “Perugia a tavola”

Gennaio 17, 2019

Culture Food and Wine Literature

Eleonora Cesaretti

It is not the first (and surely, not even the last) adventure in “perugino dialect” for Ida Trotta, author of five other books about the Umbrian cuisine.

The passion of the author, that allowed her to win two challenges thanks to her own recipes, so as to teach at the Mantignana’s Easter Cake School. Ida considers food as a collective good and eating good food as an expression of education and respect: all elements which find their roots in the umbrian excellence.
The Umbrian cuisine – with its rustic nobility and so hospitable, warm and relaxed (to paraphrase the author) – has demonstrated how its excellence derives from simple and genuine ingredients; it is the same simplicity that today distinguished chefs are looking for, removing elements from the elaborate dishes of the past. But Umbria, has always had this characteristics in its culinary tradition since ancient times. Ida describes this world recalling the typical aromas and flavors experienced during her childhood spent at her grandparents’ house.

The book continues with her personal recipes, but Perugia a Tavola is not a simple collection of recipes: every creation which belongs to the culinary tradition of Perugia, is accompanied by a presentation in verse, strictly in perugino dialect, with many curiosities about umbrian customs and traditions. Ida is also the author of the illustrations of the first part of the book which is about appetizers, bread and savory pies, pasta dishes, soups, vegetable soups, second courses, side dishes, omelettes, cured meats and desserts.

But the book reserves another surprise too. At the bottom of this recipe book, there are the Minima culinaria, poems written in the local dialect of Perugia, approved by the Academy of Donca: the “donca” is, emblematically, the peculiar inflection which characterizes the area of Perugia and which identifies, the dialect itself. The section is curated by Sandro Allegrini, author of the preface.

To close the volume, a more touristic appendix: the author selected a series of places dua se magna bene (where you can eat well): a series of restaurants selected due to their way of interpreting and presenting the same recipes of the tradition mentioned in the book. The other criterion to choose these restaurants was their ability to promote and describe the territory. In a nutshell, a unique work by Ida Trotta, a true ambassador of the Umbrian cuisine and and the “perugino dialect”.

“Perugia a tavola – Tradizione, identità, cultura”

By Ida Trotta

Publishing House: Morlacchi Editore

Perugia 2017

369 pages

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Fried eggs with hops

Maggio 17, 2018

Columns Food and Wine Recipes

Rita Boini

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE

100 g of hop tops
6 eggs
1 fresh spring onion
1 clove of garlic
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

PREPARATION:

Wash the tops of hops, dry and cut them into pieces about 3 cm long; peel garlic and spring onion and chop finely. Put the mixture in a pan for omelettes with oil, add flavor, then add the tops of hops. Cook over low heat and pour, if necessary, a drop of hot water; lightly salt, then add the beaten eggs, to which you have added a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Let bind on both sides; the omelette can be served hot or cold.

The omelette with hops was widespread especially in the area of Terni. In dialect they call hops li lupari.

Courtesy of Calzetti & Mariucci

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The martyr’s donut

Gennaio 29, 2018

Culture Events Food and Wine Spare Time

Eleonora Cesaretti

From a symbol of martyrdom to that of marriage: the curious story of the Torcolo di San Costanzo.

Studying the first centuries of Christian cult, it is easier to come across the so-called historical martyrologists, in which the names of the saints and the place of their death were reported. Later, to these lists was added the life – of the martyr or of the confessor – and a description of the death: the undoubtedly most famous document is the Geronimian Martyrology.

San Costanzo

The Antonines and the anti-imperials

In this ancient document, compiled in Rome in the fourth century, the name of San Costanzo appears, one of the three patrons saint of the city of Perugia together with San Lorenzo and Sant’Ercolano. Traditionally celebrated on January 29th and therefore called “the saint of the great cold”, to indicate the low temperatures of the period. The first Christians were persecuted for their anti-imperial attitude, responsible for a rather tense civil climate, in short, for political crimes. This is the case of Constantius, the first bishop and protector of Perugia.
The consul Lucio made him immerse in a cauldron of boiling water, from which the future saint came out practically unharmed; after being taken to prison, he managed to escape by converting the keepers. Arrested again, he was condemned to beheaded, a penalty that was imposed around 170 in Foligno, in a place known as Il Trivio. It seems that in this area – called the Campaign of Saint Costanzo, there was a church dedicated to him, demolished in 1527.
After martyrdom, Costanzo’s remains were moved to a place called Areola, outside Porta San Pietro in Perugia, and there they found burial. The church, named after him, was consecrated in that area in 1205. It is in that same building that the unmarried girls, every 29 January, asked the image of the saint about their possibilities to get engaged and to marry.
It seems that, for particular games of refraction, the Saint winks at girls destined for marriage, but only to those unmarried and virgins. For the others there was a consolation prize, necessarily donated by the engaged couple: the Torcolo di San Costanzo.

La luminaria, photo by Umbria24

Forms that speak

The shape of this bundt cake, enriched with tasty as rare ingredients, candied citron, raisins, pine nuts, aniseed seeds, recalls a wedding ring; but other interpretations state that it represents the crown of flowers affixed to the reconstituted body of Constantius: a necklace of precious stones untied during the decapitation. For some scholars, the shape of a donut would have only facilitated transport during fairs and markets: you could put several “torcoli” along simple poles. And perhaps, it is no coincidence that San Costanzo, in the official iconography, is represented with a stick. A further interpretation assimilates the hole to the cut neck of the saint, while the five incisions on the surface, which reveal the precious composition, recall the five entrance doors of the city of Perugia. Five are also the gifts donated, every year, by the civil authorities.
Symbols of concord, the laurel wreath from the Municipal Police, the candle from the Mayor, the incense from the Parish Pastoral Council, the “holy wine” and the “torcolo of San Costanzo” from the local artisans, are offered before the traditional illumination inside the Basilica. To follow the Great Fair takes place in Borgo XX Giugno and, of course, the tasting of the delicious torcolo.

The recipe (by Rita Boini)

Ingredients:

500 g of flour

125 g of sugar

100 g of olive oil

75 g of candied cedar made into small pieces

125 g of raisins

50 g of pine nuts

12 g of aniseed seeds

30 g of brewer’s yeast

A pinch of salt

Preparation:

Pour the flour on the pastry board, place inside the yeast dissolved in a little ‘warm water, knead the whole flour with warm water in sufficient quantity to obtain a dough from the consistency of the bread and place it in a terrine capable. Cover with a clean cloth and keep it in a warm place away from drafts, at least until the dough volume is doubled. Pour it on the pastry board and add the other ingredients. Work well and give it the shape of a donut, which you will place in a greased pan. Let rise for two to three hours, then bake at 180 °and cook for 40-45 minutes.

The torcolo of San Costanzo was consummated in Perugia on 29 January, in the Patron Saint’s day, Sometimes it was prepared at home, but more often it was bought from bakers, as this is a typical baking cake. The girls from Perugia used to give one, as a gift, to their boyfriend on this occasion. The custom of the torcolo of San Costanzo is still felt in the city and, even now, that it is on the market all year round, on 29 January bakeries and pastry shops are filled with torcoli. Other similar cakes are the torcolo of San Biagio, in Pianello, where it is prepared on the saint Patron’day: 3^rd February saint is prepared and the torcolo of St. Joseph, which is consumed in Montone. It differs from the first two only because of the lack of aniseed and due to the fact that it is not consumed for the feast of the patron saint.

Sources:

www.stradadeivinicantico.com

www.turismo.comune.perugia.it

www.santiebeati.it

Trotta, Diary (gastronomic) of Umbria, Perugia, Aguaplano, 2011.

Voltaire, Philosophical Dictionary, 1764, in https://www.scribd.com/doc/98861647/Voltaire-Dictionary

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Cornmeal mush with ribs

Gennaio 9, 2018

Columns Recipes

Rita Boini

INGREDIENTS FOR CORNMEAL MUSH:

500 g of cornmeal
salt

INGREDIENTS FOR SEASONING:

12 pork ribs
500 g of wild mushrooms
500 g of tomato puree
2 cloves of garlic
1 glass of dry white wine
8 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

PREPARATION:

Prepare a normal cornmeal mush. Place a peeled garlic clove in a saucepan with a little oil; let it flavour, then add the sliced mushrooms. Add salt and let them lose excess water for 10-15 minutes. In a pan, put the remaining clove of garlic and remaining oil, let it fry and add the ribs broken in two. Leave to brown, sprinkle with wine and, when it has evaporated, add the tomato puree and mushrooms. Add salt and pepper and finish cooking. Turn out the polenta, cover with the sauce and serve.

Cornmeal mush with pork ribs and mushrooms is typical of the Terni area, but it is eaten all over Umbria. In the past, only wild mushrooms were used.

Courtesy of Calzetti – Mariucci Editore

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Cappelletti

Dicembre 14, 2017

Columns Recipes

Rita Boini

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THE FILLING:

1 kg of mixed meat (pork, turkey, veal)
150 g of Parmesan cheese
1 carrot
1 celery
1 onion
1 bay leaf
4 eggs
30 g of butter
a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper

INGREDIENTS TO MAKE PASTA:

1 kg flour
10 eggs
salt

Capon broth

PREPARATION:

Cut the meat into small pieces, chop onion, carrot and celery, place it in a pan with butter, oil and then fry. Add the meat and the bay leaf, let it brown, then add salt and pepper and finish cooking. Grind the meat and their cooking sauce, let cool and then add the Parmesan, eggs and a piece of butter. Put the dough on the stove for a few minutes, adjusting with salt and pepper. Prepare a dough and, with the filling in many balls, prepare the cappelletti.

These cappelletti, whose dough in more recent times someone has begun to add the mortadella, they are served in stock on Christmas day. The broth was, inevitably, made with capon. In any case, a good meat broth is essential. The processing of cappelletti began a few days before Christmas and they made large quantities, so that they could be enough for several days. In Gubbio rich families did, and in some cases still do, cappelletti according to a recipe that Cùnsolo considers the richest stuffed pasta expressed by Italian cuisine. In addition to boiled capon meat, from which the broth is made, enter into the stuffed pork loin, sausage, pigeons and beef brains.

Per gentile concessione di Calzetti – Mariucci Editore

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Olives with oranges

Ottobre 31, 2017

Columns Recipes

Rita Boini

INGREDIENTS:

1 Kg of black olives
2 cloves of garlic
peel (only the orange part) of untreated half-orange
½ glass of extra virgin olive oil
salt

PREPARATION:

Put the black olives to dry in a cloth bag, and attach it near a source of heat (one time it was near the fireplace). Let it rest for at least 8 days, then put the olives in a bowl and pour over boiling water. Leave them rest for a couple of hours, then drain them and dry them. Season with minced garlic and orange peel, oil and salt. Mix well and place in a glass jar. They can be stored for a month.

This preparation is spread throughout Umbria.

Courtesy of Calzetti-Mariucci Editore

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Canapées with Chicken Offal

Settembre 21, 2017

Recipes

Rita Boini

INGREDIENTS:

600 g of chicken liver and ventricles
1 tablespoon of pickled capers
1 small onion
1 little carrott
1 piece of celery
4 – 5 juniper berries
1 untreated lemon
1 tablespoon of vinegar
some slices of homemade bread
salt

PREPARATION:

Place water in a medium size pan, together with peeled lemon slices and a spoonful of vinegar. Add salt, bring to the boiling point, then immerse offal for a few minutes. Drain. Chop onion, carrot and celery and fry them in a saucepan together with a few tablespoons of oil. Combine the offal, cook for ten minutes in medium heat and salt. Take offal from the casserole, take them to mince, along with capers and juniper berries, and cook the cream. Add salt, add a few drops of oil, if necessary, and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes. Cover slices of slightly baked bread with this delicious cream.

Canapées with chicken offal or chicken rigaglie are spread throughout Umbria and are typical dish of central Italy. They could be made in several ways, depending on the areas and families. In some modern versions, you can also cut some pickled gherkins together with the other ingredients. At least until 1940, for example during wedding or during threshing period, canapées were made with goose giblets. They put in a saucepan a chopped onion, carrot, celery, sage, lemon peel, and a few spoonfuls of oil. They made them fry lightly, then they added chopped goose giblets, let them season, and in the end they put salt, pepper and a spoonful of vinegar. When the vinegar was evaporated, a drop of dry white wine was poured and they cooked it for about 40 minutes, pouring occasionally a drop of white wine. Giblets where then minced with their cooking bottom, mixing for a while, and finally they obtained a cream that was to be spread on a slice of bread.

Courtesy of Calzetti-Mariucci Editori