Our province, so wet-logged and covered by waters, seems to be the natural cause of these singular creatures.

…In Italy, frogs and snails as food are mostly part of the culinary traditions of the North, a territory rich in rivers, ditches, ponds, marshes and rice fields, all due to the geographical position.

Although now considered rare and precious foods, in the Mantua territory they have, for centuries, been a common part of popular culinary culture, substituting the more costly beef or hen which were reserved for special occasions. Frogs and snails were easily found in the countryside and therefore massively hunted, so much so that, with the formation of an ecological conscience, in Lombardy it was necessary to pass a law forbidding the capture of frogs outside the limits of certain periods of the year, to protect their reproduction. » Continue reading “Lumache al burro d’erbe | Frogs and snails”

luccio in salsa

Pike has always been the much sought-after bounty of fresh-water fishermen. Unfortunately it is becoming increasingly uncommon as it eats live prey, lives in fresh running water, grows very slowly and cannot be farmed as it does not support captivity. If by unlucky chance it happens to enter a tank, it will immediately try to kill itself by beating its head against the border. This fish vaunts its liberty; it gives up only after a fierce struggle to show its dignity as a prey. The permanent present of pike on the menu of Mantuan restaurants can thus be interpreted as a search to valorise tradition because this fish is becoming rarer; supplied by the informal market channels of acquaintances between fishermen and the restauration circuit, in the context of environmental balance, it symbolically demonstrates the link between capture and the presentation of a meal. » Continue reading “Luccio in Salsa dishes”