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Pesce azzurro (anchovies, sardines and mackerel)
At Cesenatico, the smell of the sea air mixes with the intense fragrances from kitchens and from the fires of restaurants and trattorias. The smell of fish has always predominated. Fish from the Adriatic Sea: mantis shrimps, squid, soles, turbot, clams, mullet and, above all "pesce azzurro" (anchovies, sardines and mackerel), what the locals on the two sides of the canal harbour have always called e'pés turchin (turquoise fish). For far too long, and unjustly, this was considered a humble fish. It was eaten above all by the fishermen, who were certainly not rich. On returning from their fishing trips, they were in the habit of eating freshly-caught "pesce azzurro" directly on the pier (while the higher-quality varieties were sold), grilled on improvised barbecues: "i foconi". These continue to be indispensable today for cooking a real "rustida": "pesce azzurro" grilled in breadcrumbs, to be eaten boiling hot with your hands, "a scottadito", as they say on the coast of Romagna.
Sprats, anchovies, mackerels and sardines are fished in abundance in this part of the Adriatic Sea. The flesh is tasty and of great nutritional value. The fact that an extensive range of local recipes exists for cooking "pesce azzurro", each one better than the other, and some very refined, can be attributed to the inexhaustible cooking fantasy of the restaurant owners of Cesenatico, who today reinterpret traditions with a cuisine that has acquired wide renown. In point of fact the gastronomic vocation of this old sea town has always been well known, as we are told in the 1st century B.C. by the Greek Polybius in his Historia: here the art of good eating dates back at least two thousand years. |
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Formaggio di fossa (cave-aged cheese)
Produced only in the Rubicone and Marecchia valleys, on the border between Romagna and Marche, this is a sheep's milk or mixed cheese left to mature for about three months "in holes in the ground". These "holes" (fosse) are in fact underground cellars dug out of the tufa rock. They are of Medieval origin, generally flask-shaped, about three metres deep and two metres across.
At Sogliano, the custom of "burying" cheese has been practised for hundreds of years. In August the "fosse" are opened and lined with straw, canes and wood to accommodate the cheeses wrapped in white canvas bags, piled one on top of the other as far as the opening, which is sealed with gypsum and slabs until the cellars are re-opened in November, when the cheese will have finally reacquired all its flavour. The microclimate of the cellars gives the cheese a very special taste and fragrance, with bitterish veins and hints of undergrowth, mushroom and truffle.
The shape of the cheeses tends to be irregular due to the pressure of the cellar; the rind is often hard to tell from the cheese, which is compact and flaky with an amber/white or slight straw yellow colour. This product is highly digestible, which makes it even more inestimable. It is a meditation cheese to be eaten a little at a time and chewed slowly. It is ideal with savor, saba, honey, fruit jam, caramelised figs, balsamic vinegar and perfect as an ingredient in Romagna pasta dishes. |
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