Culinary Tour of Southern Italy

When I recently embarked on a food and wine trade mission in the province of Benevento, I had no idea what to expect. My taste buds were ready for some new flavors, and my mind was definitely ready for some creative diversions. Arriving late in Naples (often called the capital of the Mediterranean) one hot summer nite ready for action. Down the cobblestone winding streets no bigger than a sidewalk in Minnesota, we found a restaurant that was hectic even at the late hour we were roaming about. It was here we experienced THE Pizza (the capital letter is compulsory) If there was any one food symbolic of the Neapolitan food, it was Pizza. The term comes from a latin word “pitta” (meaning squashed) but it’s name needs no translation since Pizza is known around the world and is called Pizza in every language. It is main gastronomic treasure of Naples and the locals eat it for breakfast, as a snack, lunch and for dinner. The original is believed by culinary historians to be the Margherita – it was made  by a pizza chef who invented it and dedicated it to the Queen of Italy, Margherita di Savoia.

The next morning we boarded a bus with ten other food and wine experts to experience a side of Italy unseen by most tourists. We had a schedule that would daunt even the most experienced food traveler, but we had a lot of ground to cover and only a few days to do it. With a region that has over 300 typical products, our job was to find the best.

The countryside of the Campania region reminds me of the rolling hills of California. Mt. Vesuvio’s presence is constant as we roll by the aristocratic residences that have been here since the 1600’s. Because of the separate interest of some food and some wine people, we made alternate stops- food, wine, food wine, so the food people could digest and the wine people could make notes and discuss the findings. This made for a very loud bus most of the time, but we were all in our element, so it was a grand experience to share each others knowledge.

The orgins of pasta

Campania is the area where pasta rules. Dry, fresh or homemade, it is the main food. Almost always the basic ingredient of the first course. Served with a traditional tomato sauce (in the region known as “ragout” it is complemented with most often seafood. Always produced with durum wheat. The Torre Annunziata and Gragnano are the largest production areas that have taken pasta from the farmhouse to the factory. Entrepreneurs have never changed their standards with their growth, the quality is always guaranteed by the best selection of wheat.

Best eaten “al dente” which means that it is quite firm and not overcooked.

As our gastronomy odyssey continued, we visited family businesses that had third and fourth generations carrying on the passion of the dream once started many years ago. During the day, we traveled up and down to places I thought only mountain goats would go, they were so high up. But the vistas were breathtaking and we got a real feel for what the countryside was like. Vineyards as far as the eye could see for the most part, dotted with olive trees. They are a good pair to plant together. Artichokes and chestnuts also grow well in the region.

A product that had top billing on almost every table we ate at was the famed fresh Mozzarella.

“Only real mozzarella is true if made from buffalo milk from Campanian Buffaloes. For the expert, all others are just “fresh stringy cheeses”. Often served very simply on a cutting board as a snack, or with sliced tomatoes (Caprese” Salad), the star ingredient on pizza, or even dessert. Once you have the real silky smooth taste and rich texture, you will be spoiled. Although buffalo Mozzarella with the queen of cheese, the region does produce some other beautiful cheeses such as provolone del Monaco, manteca, smoked provola and scamorza.

As our travels came to an end each day, we raced back to our rooms to change and head out for a real Italian style dinner- which meant not starting to eat before 9 p.m. and big multicourse affairs to pair our samples from the vineyards to the local foods. In the Campania region, fish based dishes are a separate distinct part of food that may be called “tastes from the sea on our table”

The variations of the dishes changed rapidly as we traveled from town to town, but one thing was for sure, it was all impeccably fresh because Italians are true lovers of sea food dishes. Dishes like spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with clams) insalata di polpo (octopus salad) and insalata di mare (seafood salad) is just a short list of the endless courses of seafood that we ate.

Farm tours and “Agritourismos”  are really hot right now in Italy. They are county inns that must produce the foods served to the guests.By Italian government standards to qualify. Agritourismo is extraordinary option for rural tourism. Yes, the frantic bustle of Rome and Naples are nice, but to really relax in get immersed in a totally different culture, the countryside of Campagnia is for you. These farms are almost always run by families which are always interested in sharing their knowledge, and if they find out you like to cook, undoubtedly you always end up in the kitchen cooking something together.