28/08/2014 18:51
The Food in Genova
The cuisine of Genoa is based on traditional Mediterranean cooking and very rich in ingredients and flavors. The Ligurians use very simple ingredients.
At the base of all recipes is Ligurian olive oil, delicately flavored and perfect for preparing sauces. The most famous of these is pesto, a sauce made of basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. Some other well-known sauces from this region are salsa verde, a green sauce made of parsley and pine nuts for grilled meat, and salsa di noci, a walnut sauce that goes perfectly over pasta and ravioli.
Among the specialities there is the “ fugassa” , as they call it in the local dialect, which is a kind of focaccia, soft and covered in oil, more or less savoury, thick or crunchy. There are many different types in addition to the natural one, as the one with olives or the co-a çiòula the one with onions with sage or the Recco focaccia stuffed with cheese.
Fish Market in Genoa
Fish occupies an honored place on the menus of Genovese restaurants. Some typical second courses include: Cappon Magro, an elaborate dish made of fish and boiled vegetables and seasoned with a sauce of herbs and pine nuts. Other popular dishes are Fritto Misto (mixed deep-fried seafood), L’insalata di Pesce (seafood salad), Triglie (mullet) alle Genovese, Stoccafisso in Agrodolce, cod in sweet and sour sauce with pine nuts and raisins, Mussels alla Marinara and Stuffed Anchovies.
As far as fish goes, interesting are the Ciuppin, a fish soup made up of different kinds of fish with parsley, garlic, tomatoes and toasted bread and the Bagnum, fishermen’s fish soup.
Desserts
Among the desserts, one of the most distinctive is Pandolce, a treat found on every table at Christmastime. Genoa is famous for its pastries: Canestrelli, Amaretti, Baci di Dama (little walnut pastries), and Gobeletti, little short breads filled with quince jam.