Try a plate of original Genovese Pesto … and you´ll never leave Genova again - at least this is what an old saying tells us . This delicious sauce, rich with the flavors of fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, and cheese is a typical Ligurian dish , so simple , yet soooo good !
Traditionally, the ingredients are put in a mortar and pounded with a pestle until a smooth sauce emerges. Pesto is popular throughout the world, but small-leafed Ligurian basil, grown in herb gardens buffeted by sea breezes, is arguably the best in the world.
Ofcourse there are many more specialities you can try when visiting Liguria :
Pansotti are a triangle-shaped ravioli-style pasta, stuffed with a mixture of vegetables (such as swiss chard, borage, and endive) and ricotta cheese, and are often served with salsa di noci, a walnut sauce. Trenette, made from whole wheat flour, come in long, flat strips, either fresh or dried, and like trofie, a spiral-shaped gnocchi, are served with a sauce made from boiled beans, potatoes, and pesto.
Throughout the years local restaurants have become famous for their fish and specialties, but traditional recipes have never been forgotten and are always part of the menu. Mussels (le cozze) are always on the menu too: alla marinara - boiled and dressed with a few drops of lemon juice and a sprig of parsley - or stuffed with tuna fish, cheese, mortadella, egg and marjoram. The latter takes lot of patience because each uncooked mussel has to be opened individually.
Typical food from Liguria include:
Buridda: Genoese soup of various fish in a stock with plenty of garlic, anchovy, tomato.
Capponada: the poor man’s cappon magro includes biscuits and mainly preserved fish.
Ciuppin: the humblest of fish stewed with tomato, garlic, onions, white wine and eaten as soup thickened with stale bread.
Coniglio alla carlona: rabbit braised in white wine with black olives, pine nuts, capers, herbs.
Gianchetti all’agro: the miniature fish served raw or poached with lemon, oil, parsley.
Mes-ciua: chick-peas, beans, farro and olive oil blend in an antique soup of La Spezia.
Pansùuti con la salsa di noci: pasta envelopes filled with ricotta and the Preboggion bouquet of herbs, topped with walnut sauce and grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
Sbira or sbirra: tripe with tomatoes, potatoes and herbs served over slabs of toasted bread with Parmigiano Reggiano, eaten by Genoa’s stevedores and Sbirri (cops) after a day’s work.
Siluri: torpedoes, the nickname for totani or flying squid, stuffed with cheese, breadcrumbs and garlic and stewed with wine and tomatoes.
Stecchi fritti: wooden skewers of various pieces of veal coated with thick batter that includes artichokes, mushrooms and grated cheese and fried in olive oil.
Stocchefisce accomodou: dried cod cooked with pine nuts, olives, mushrooms, potatoes, vegetables, herbs and anchovies, in white wine and tomato sauce.
Tomaxelle: veal rolls with a filling of mushrooms, pine nuts, breadcrumbs and eggs braised in tomato sauce.
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the famous Song Festival, the Corso Fiorito with 100s of carts and coaches , beautifully decorated with fresh flowers and fruits , and not to forget the exciting Milano-San Remo cycling race.
