No, this is not Sicily, I am in Hanoi, in Vietnam. And the Vietnamese eat kohlrabi and the green leaves just like the Sicilians do. In Hanoi, I have yet to have seen them in restaurants so I do not know how they are cooked.
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My relatives who live in Ragusa (south-eastern region of Sicily) make causuneddi (Sicilian). These are small gnocchi shaped pasta which is known by different names in other regions of Sicily, for example, gnocculi, gnucchiteddi, cavati and caviateddi (in Sicilian).
The kohlrabi that my relatives buy are usually much smaller in size and can also be tinged with purple. They are always boiled with the tender leaves sprouting from the centre of the and some cotenne, strips of pig skin. The pig skin may not sound very appetising, but they really boost the taste.
Although the kohlrabi are in there, they are very hard to see in this photo below. You can however see the causuneddi.
See post for Causuneddi and Gnucchiteddi
Most of the time the Ragusani add borlotti beans as well. The causuneddi are added to the cooked and boiling soup like mixture last of all. It is like a wet pasta dish and very delicious. Of course, it is never bought to the table without having had fragrant extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top.
In Vietnam, I am also eating the leaves and tendrils of some sort of pumpkin. These greens are very much like tenerumi that the Sicilians love. In Sicily they are made into a soup.
Here in Hanoi they are stir fried with garlic and presented as greens.The photo below shows the pumpkin tendrils.
- MINESTRA DI TENERUMI (Summer soup made with the tendrils of a Sicilian squash)
- MINESTRA ESTIVA CON ZUCCA LUNGA SICILIANA (Sicilian Summer soup made with the long, green variety of squash)
- FRESH PRODUCE (and I did not have to go to SICILY to buy it). The Melbourne Showgrounds Farmers Market
Although the vegetable markets in Hanoi may look different to those in Sicily, the produce is very fresh and like the Sicilians the Vietnamese shop daily.
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