Tuscany and Umbria specialise in sauces for pappardelle made with game meat and I hope that those of you who have visited these regions of Italy were able to eat some when there.
Pappardelle are usually the favourite shape of pasta for strong sauces made with strong tasting meat especially game: either cinghiale (wild boar) lepre (hare), capriolo (venison), coniglio (rabbit), anatra (duck). If not game, maybe salsicce di maiale (pork sausages) or funghi (mushrooms), and preferably the wild ones stronger in taste. Often the pappardelle may have a fluted edge to prevent the sauce dropping away off the sides. These are sometimes called reginette (regina- queen, crowns) but once again, there is local variation in the names.
Pasta shapes are synonymous with certain sauces. Generally, thin sauces which contain a lot of oil (for example made with seafood or with a few vegetables) are better suited to long thin pasta shapes (spaghetti, spaghettini).
Thicker sauces, made with meat or with larger vegetables are better suited to shapes with large, uneven surfaces (rigatoni, penne). Their shapes help to trap the ingredients in the thick sauce.
Pasta shapes are also regional. While the south of Italy may prefer small pasta shapes for thicker sauces (fusilli, casarecci, orecchiette) other parts of Italy enjoy long, flat ribbons of pasta (tagliatelle, fettucine). Fresh ribbon pasta made with a large number of eggs is enhanced by sauces made with delicate subtle flavours, often with cream.
When I was in Tuscany in December 2008, I enjoyed many primi of pappardelle, one in particular in Sansepolcro (very close to Umbria) and the accompanying sauce was made from wild boar and it included pieces of chestnut.
The photograph is of Alex, my small friend: it was taken in Greve. He is outside of the butcher shop (we were staying across the road) and he is patting the stuffed wild boar which decorates the front of the shop. Wild boar is very popular in the winter months in Tuscany but I have also eaten some very fine boar meat in Calabria.
I bought a hare in Greve and cooked it the same way.
Sauces made with strong tasting meats (wild boar, hare,venison, rabbit, duck) are usually cooked slowly in a ragout (ragù in Italian) and made in the same way as a Bolognese sauce. Because of their rich taste and choice of ingredients they are autumn and winter dishes, most probably enjoyed with a glass or two of red wine.
Sometimes porcini mushrooms are also added to the ragù.
Ragù, using hare, rabbit or boar
I’ve been to that butcher shop in Greve. I’ve eaten their cingale. We must do that together. And thanks for this recipe. If I can get some appropriate meat – if it’s Brisbane it’s probably rabbit – I’ll cook it. Neil is a senza parmigiano person with such a sauce, I’m a con parmigiano. Won’t he be impressed! :) Kate
Dear Marisa
I read your bit about pappardelle. We had pappardelle sulla
lepre alla cacciatora at La Pentola dell’Oro in Firenze. It includes cinque cucchiai di aceto rosso.
Fred
Dear Fred,
your recipe which includes five spoons of red vinegar does not surprise me.
There are recipes where the hare, rabbit and boar are soaked in water and vinegar before it is cooked to remove the wild taste – my mother always did this with rabbit. It bleached the meat and left some of the taste. I think that Anglo-Australians soaked wild rabbit in salt water.
I bought a rabbit at the butcher’s in Greve and was given three parcels, one with the rabbit, the other had the head and the third, the liver – these enrich the sauce.
The other variation is the herbs – the addition of parsley, sage and rosemary.
There is of course the hare cooked with bitter chocolate. Now there’s a good taste!
Marisa
Hi Marisa,
I’m so happy to finally have my hands on a copy of Small Fishy Bites. Amazon didn’t have any copies, so this is from a used bookstore in America, sent to me in Tokyo so that I can enjoy your Sicilian recipes from Australia. It’s not so good for global warming, but it makes me happy to serve your interesting dishes to friends and family! Thank you.
Andra, I am pleased that you have found my second book but the Sicilian recipe book is Sicilian Seafood Cooking. There were two editions of this book- a hardback and a paperback.It does have a vegetable component.
I now own the rights to both books but have not approached a publisher to have it/them reprinted although many readers have suggested it.
Small Fishy Bites is not Sicilian, the publishers wanted me to write a book on fish Tapas. As you know, Tapas is Spanish and I therefore did not wish to write about food that wasn’t from my culture (although I know that many people do).There are Italian-ate recipes in Small Fishy Bites.
Ok, maybe I’m not correct on the Sicilian part but it is a very good book for an introduction to fish cooking. I come from Colorado Rocky Mountains, so I knew nothing about fish (canned?) but after living in Japan for so long, I can do sushi, sashimi, grilling with miso, etc., and shoyu braising. But I wanted something a little more ‘fresh’ with veggies, etc. and your book is really working out for me. Thank you!
I’m trying WATERMELON, LABNEH and DUKKAH salad tonight.
Terrific, I am glad that there is something there for you.