A Qualcuno Piace Forte
Italian cuisine is known for being savory and hearty, but not particularly spicy. This as a general rule; there are exceptions, for example Livorno's cacciucco, Impruneta's peposo, or Puglia's friselle, and some regions are known for their use of hot pepper -- Calabria for example. But even the spiciest regions also have bland foods, and you rarely feel your mouth catch fire on the first bite.
Things are beginning to change, however. Italians are among the world's most enthusiastic travelers, and though there are some whose first thought is to find a pizzeria, many go native (the foreign interpretations of Italian foods, for example a pizza with tomato sauce and fruit jam my father was served in Germany many years ago, certainly play a part in this), discover they like the foreign foods, and seek them out when they get home. In Florence the only alternatives to Tuscan used to be Chinese and one very expensive Japanese restaurant that catered to Japanese businesspeople; now there's Indian, Vietnamese, Egyptian, Brazilian, Mexican, Cuban, something Sub-Saharan African I've yet to try, and American -- a steak house. Who knows what will come next?
In addition to going to ethnic restaurants, Italians are devising new and different ways to use these foreign ingredients. This week D, La Repubblica's weekly woman's supplement, has a surprising set of pepper-laced recipes with exotic-sounding names, and also instructions on cultivating them at home:
Colorful Variety
In addition to the ubiquitous diavolicchio peppers (little devils, which are quite common in the Abruzzo region), there are hundreds of other varieties, all of which are easy to grow and can adapt perfectly to a window sill. Though they are all edible, some of the plants are small and closely bunched, and thus especially well suited to ornamental use, with peppers that point up and change colors repeatedly as they ripen, giving the plant a continuously changing set of hues. There are the Little Wonder and the New Holland, moderately hot peppers that start out cream-colored, then shifting to purple and finally to orange and red, and the Holiday Cheer, with tiny chick-pea-sized peppers that start out cream colored and go from yellow to red. Others are blatantly unusual, for example the Antilles, which is lantern shaped and quite hot, the mild Bulgarian Carrot, which goes from cream to orange, and the Pretty Purple, which starts out black and becomes dark red. Finally, two very pretty hot pepper plants whose peppers are 2 inches long and clearly visible because they point up: the Indian Masquerade, which starts out purple and shifts to red, and the Japanese Yatsafusa, an intense green that ripens into red.
Sandra Lunginotti, who wrote the above, doesn't touch on how to handle hot peppers. Carefully. The oils contained in the ribs and seeds are quite irritating, and soap is not as effective as one would hope in getting it out from under the fingernails -- this can make an inadvertant rub of the eyes or a trip to the bathroom an agonizing experience. Wear rubber gloves as you work, and you should be fine.
The use of rubber gloves is especially important if you're doing something that involves a lot of peppers, for example packing them in oil. The first time I did it I forgot to wear gloves, and my finger tips got so sore I couldn't type for days. Not a good thing for a writer.
SOME RECIPES:
Sangria Caliente
A spicy sangria to keep the heat at bay.
Peperoncini al Tonno
Tiny round hot peppers stuffed with tuna fish: They're addictive!
Peperoncini Sott'Olio
Hot peppers packed in oil. Easy to make, and with quite a jolt.
Peperoncini Sotto Aceto
Pickled hot peppers. They'll go faster than you expect.
Anguria al Curry
Watermelon is an unusual base for a curry.
Yogurt Raita with Hot Pepper Grissini
A zesty antipasto, crunchy bread sticks with a creamy, cheesy dip.
Seppioline ai Peperoncini
Chile peppers give these cuttlefish a zesty zing.
MORE, OFF THE NET:
UK Chile Head
Another site, with much more information on the glorious hot pepper.
Finally, You may be wondering about friselle. They're also known as frise, and are a Puglian specialty, rings of bread about the size of a large doughnut -- 3 to 5 inches in diameter -- that are split down the middle and allowed to dry rock hard before they're sold. In Puglia you'll find them made with a variety of flours, but in other parts of Italy what's available is made from either white flour or whole wheat flour.
In any case, they make a delightful hot weather meal. You'll need a couple of friselle per person, lots of freshly chopped sun-ripened tomatoes, a jar of Puglian-style minced peppers packed in oil, salt, olive oil, and a bowl of water. Take a frisella and dip it in water, holding it below the surface for 10-15 seconds, then put it on you plate. Smother it with chopped tomatoes, hot peppers to taste, and season everything with salt and olive oil. Eat with a knife and fork; though the dish sounds odd you'll find it's remarkably refreshing.
On the side? A tossed salad, and a crisp white to accompany them.
Visit the trulli of Alberobello!
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Buon Appetito!
Kyle Phillips
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