Below the column you will find photos, video links, food links and more!! Enjoy!!
The Melting Pot: A look at the evolution of food in
Southwestern PA. Part 9 SOUTHERN Europeans Part 2 – CALABRIA
AND THE GRIKOS PEOPLE
The Italian
populations of Allegheny and Fayette counties are 17% and 14% respectively. The
main Italian groups who immigrated to western PA were from Sicily, Calabria, Abruzzi
and Campagna. Overpopulation, political and natural disasters were the main
reasons for immigration.
Calabrian cuisine: consists of salsicce (sausages) such as insaccati, capicolli,
sopressate and njudà (dried sausage with black/hot pepper and fennel seeds). In
addition, pork, goat meat and lamb are usually cooked in a sauce or on the
grill.
Pasta includes multiple
pastas and shapes with sauces of meat and tomato.
Fish is served in
coastal towns: prawns: shrimp, mackerel, calamari, octopus, swordfish,
carpaccio and mustica (sardines).The sardines are preserved in terra cotta
containers & the sauces are served with buttered bread.
Vegetables and
home-preserved vegetables are also typical of Calabrian cuisine: peppers (black,
hot and sweet) are used to flavor sun-dried tomatoes, courgettes (zucchini
squash) and wild mushrooms and are conserved in olive oil. Stuffed eggplants
and peppers are popular.
Three favorite
cheeses are caciocavallo (stretched-curd
cheese of sheep's or cow's milk in the shape of a gourd on a rope), buturri (small provolones with butter in the center) and
smoked Ricotta.
Wines such as Vibo,
Rossano, Bivongi, Greco di Biance, Lamezia, Melissa, Pollino, Savuto and Ciro
are musts when eating the food of Calabria.
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It is
impossible to talk about Calabria without mentioning the Grikos.
The Grikos people are an ethnic Greek community of southern Italy located in Calabria and Apulia (Puglia) and are believed to be
remnants of a once ancient and medieval Greek community.
Although most Greek inhabitants of southern Italy have become Italianized over the centuries the Grikos community has been
able to preserve their original Greek identity, heritage, language and distinct
culture to a degree.
Griko cuisine
is a blend of Italian and Greek cuisines:
The Griko
people are traditionally producers of cereals, vegetables, olives and legumes. Local Griko cuisine does not differ greatly from the local
Italian population, however there regional variations. Many typical Griko dishes
are still in use among the people.
Breads include
Pitta and Lestopitta. Also, there is Sceblasti (a hand-made bread), Aggute
(Greek-Calabrian Easter bread decorated with painted hard boiled eggs, similar
to the Greek Tsoureki).
Pastas and
pasta dishes include Ciceri e ttria (tagliatelle served with chickpeas), Cranu
stompatu (a wheat dish), Ricchiteddhe (pasta) Minchiarieddhi (long macaroni), sagnencannulate (a wide tagliatelle and triddhi (irregular shaped pasta used in broth).
Other dishes include Ricchiteddhe
cu lle rape (orecchiette with turnips).
Hot Chili peppers are popular and they are usually stored dry, or preserved in in jars of oil, with the addition of slivers of garlic, mint,
and capers.
Desserts/sweets
include Mendulata te cranu (a dessert pastry filled with cream cheese,
honey, sugar and vanilla), Le Cuddhure (Griko Easter cake) and Scardateddhi (Greek-Calabrian
wedding sweets made from flour, honey and anise seeds, shaped like small
doughnuts and sprinkled with brown
sugar).
Beverages are
wines and Greek-based: Retsina (Greek
white or rosé wine flavored with pine resin), tsipouro (brandy made from
Pomace - solid remains of grapes which are skins, pulp, seeds and stems)
or ouzo (combination of pressed grapes, herbs, berries including aniseed,
licorice, mint, wintergreen, fennel and hazelnut).
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Calabrian photos.
Calabrian food photos
Puglian photos
Puglian food photos.
CALABRIAN LINKS:
VIDEO (IN
ITALIAN): How to make sagne
ncannulate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqYa5wLUyec
Images for
sagne ncannulate: https://www.google.com/search?q=sagne+ncannulate&newwindow=1&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=w5J_U9HkB4SNyASRzYCIDA&ved=0CDYQ7Ak&biw=1483&bih=700
Images for Calabrian pastas: https://www.google.com/search?q=photos+of+calabrian+pastas&newwindow=1&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=_ZZ_U462NsyYqAais4GoCA&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1536&bih=741
THE PUGLIA AKA APULIA LINKS:
THE GRIKO PEOPLE LINKS:
Grikos food photos
