QUALITALY 138

Januar y/Februar y 2024 XIV MAGAZINE delicate flavour, pleasantly bitter and with a hint of hazelnut. There are also many traditional local dishes. The one that most represents this region is cjarsons, a pasta made with wheat flour or potatoes. They are similar to agnolotti, or ravioli and their filling varies depending on where they are made. They can contain sultanas, dark chocolate, cinnamon, spinach, chives, ricotta, jam, rum, grappa, parsley, dry biscuits, eggs and milk. They are seasoned with butter and smoked ricotta cheese or just with ont , butter produced in the mountain pastures of Friuli and Carnia obtained from obtained from cream surfacing (it is cooked and left to rest, resulting in a product that has a slight cooked taste and can be stored for a long time at a low temperature). But FVG is also a land of legumes and soups: jota, for the natives, is a must. It is a typical soup of Trieste cuisine, a very ancient preparation based on borlotti beans, flavoured with pork ribs, pork rind or other smoked or unsmoked pork, cumin seeds and bay leaves. Another traditional Friulian dish is panade ( which the locals call panada) . It is an easily digestible and nutritious stale bread soup seasoned with butter and grated cheese. Emanuele Scarello - a chef who has managed to earn two Michelin stars in his family’s restaurant ‘Agli Amici’ in Udine - offers just a taste of the panade , serving it with scallops that are first marinated and then mashed in smoked seaweed. Risottos are also at the top of the classic list of dishes loved by Friulians, especially those with herbs or vegetables, such as with sclopit , a small plant known as strigoli, with its characteristic flowers called ‘bubbolini’, with asparagus and with urticcions (hops). Then there are the gnocchi, which play a key role in Friulian catering, also because considerable quantities of excellent quality potatoes are produced here: from June 2022 to July 2023, CO.PRO.PA , the largest producer cooperative in Friuli Venezia Giulia, recorded a 25 per cent increase in production over the previous year. ‘Gnocchi are a versatile dish,’ says Chef Scarello. ‘We serve them with spring herbs or with garlic and black truffle sauce. FROM THE LAND TO THE SEA Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a fortunate region geographically because it can boast very diverse territories. Besides the plains and mountains, there is in fact a good coastal area that is very rich in terms of food production. In fact, the mussels of the Duino coastline, between Trieste and Monfalcone, are famous; this type of mussel is planted in this coastal area because it multiplies healthy and strong, thanks to a turn of the tide and a rather sizeable seabed. The best quality clams, however, are those from the Marano lagoon. The scallops from off the coast of Legnano and Grado are excellent and, finally, the totally organic fishing area of Valle Pantani, near Bevazzana, the perfect home of eels, sea bass and sea bream. BETWEEN MEATS, COLD CUTS AND CHEESES In the kitchen of the ‘Agli Amici’ restaurant in Udine, the seasonality of the product is fundamental, and this also applies to meat. Depending on the period, the Udine chef offers different types: in the winter months, for example, there is kid goat or pigeon breast . The latter is a dish to which the chef is particularly attached. He associates it with a trip to Sicily, the land where most of the ingredients (carob, marsala and gel of late mandarin from Ciaculli) he uses to prepare it come from. Friuli is also a land of cured meats. Among the most widespread in the area are prosciutto crudo, speck, brusaula-pindulis, culatello and pancetta stesa. Let’s not forget muset, made from the pig’s snout. The so-called ‘rolled’ cold cuts are also of undoubted quality. Think of rolled lard, guanciale, pancetta or costa. Among the more unusual preparations is goose salami, a mixture of raw goose and pork meat. Or the pitina, a meatball made from various types of meat, venison, chamois, sheep or goat, flavoured with garlic and black pepper, dipped in cornmeal and smoked. Pestàt di Fagagna is a very traditional Friuli sausage made from fresh minced lard, combined with vegetables, herbs and spices. Also worth trying is Lonza, or Brusadule. Among the most typical Friulian cured meats are Pindula, Filett and Salame Friulano. One must, of course, mention San Daniele ham and the other various types of prosciutto crudo, made in their variations. Such as the lightly smoked Sauris and Cormons. Also very famous is the Trieste cooked ham, which can be found bone- in or boneless, in bread crust or salted caramel. If Friuli is famous for its cured meats, it is equally famous for its cheese production. Tasty and quality typical Friulian products can be found throughout the regio, such as Cuc, or Montasio DOP, a cheese made with whole milk from Friesian, Alpine Brown and Pezzata Rossa cows. Among the oldest cheeses, we find the Carnia Salted Cheese, produced in