Regional Italian Food And Wine Pairings – Red Wine And Apulia Dishes
by
Levi Reiss
The Apulia region forms the heel of the Italian boot. It sits in the southeast corner of Italy on both the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. As for so many other regions of Italy, over the centuries Apulia was constantly invaded. The region\\’s difficult history has given it a varied cuisine that should meet your fancy. Apulia is known as the Italian granary and the vegetable garden of Italy. Believe it or not, some of the local olive trees are said to be one thousand years old, and they still produce great olives. Is it any wonder that so many traditional recipes call for olives or olive oil?
For starters or as a light main dish, try Melanzane Ripiene (Stuffed Eggplant) baked eggplant that has been hollowed out and stuffed with a mixture of its chopped pulp, anchovies, breadcrumbs, capers, olives, and tomatoes. Enjoy this delicacy with a Monica di Sardegna DOC from Sardinia or a Cerasuolo di Vittoria DOCG from Sicily.
Another fine starter or light main dish is Lasagnette con Acciughe (Lasagnette with Anchovies). Lasagnette are flat noodles that were cut from a lasagna sheet. Cook them with salted anchovies, garlic, breadcrumbs, salt, extra virgin olive oil, crushed chili peppers, scallions, ricotta cheese, aged pecorino cheese, and several other ingredients. Our recommended wine pairing is a local Primitivo. This is hardly the place to debate whether or not California Zinfandel is a direct descendant of the Apulia Primitivo grape. And in my humble opinion this dish is not made for a Zinfandel, but I haven\\’t tried it.
If you like lamb you should try Agnello al Cartoccio (Lamb Chops in Foil) which are baked in foil or paper with olives and lampasciuoli, wild bitter onions from the mountains of Apulia. Needless to say, you may well have to look for substitutes at the farmer\\’s market. You should enjoy this dish with a Brunello di Montalcino DOCG from Tuscany, a Barolo DOCG from The Piedmont, or a Torgiano Rosso Riserva DOCG from Umbria.
Involtini di Manzo (Braised Beef Rolls) are made from thin slices of boneless ground round beef, which are first pounded, and then rolled around a mixture of Italian bacon (pancetta), red wine, olive oil, and several other ingredients. Among the many wine pairing suggestions are Aglianico del Taburno DOC from the nearby region of Campania, Rosso di Montalcino DOC from Tuscany, or Barbera d\\’Asti DOC from Piedmont.
Levi Reiss authored or co-authored ten computer and Internet books, but prefers drinking fine wine. He teaches computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His global wine website
theworldwidewine.com
features a weekly review of $10 wines and a whole lot more. Visit his Italian travel website
travelitalytravel.com
.
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ArticleRich.com