Ligurian cuisine is most notable for its pesto Genovese, but trust me there is so much more than that.

The cuisine of Ligurian region is often considered to be very poor. The cuisine of the villagers, mountain people and the seafarers is very simple and economic. However, in all that simplicity the vicinity of the sea, mountains, hills and forest gives endless possibilities in creating the meals. Never ever in our life have we eaten so much fish and wild herbs. Along pasta, of course. Because, there’s no life without pasta in Italy 🙂

In general, the Ligurian gastronomy could be summarized in six big ingredients parts: fish and wild meat, wild herbs, forest and cultivated herbs, flour products, olive oil and pasta. Fish and seafood  are number one, of course. No wonder, as Liguria is a seaside region.

Anchovies, prawns, octopus, cuttlefish, muscle, red mullet…you name it, they got it.

There is a fresh fish shop in every corner of the city, but since we were not there to make our own food, we were delighted to find out (before the trip, of course) that two of the iconic fried fish shops situated in the port, at the Sottoripa street, are still working full force.

Antica Friggitoria Carega is one of the oldest frying fish shops in Genova, working constantly from 1942.

The store is so small that few people barely fit in it while taking the order, but it’s the most busiest place in the area. The minute (at that’s usually around 11am) they start frying seafood, served in a plain paper bag, topped with salt and lemon, the batches are gone. You really have to be there in time, or wait for your turn. But it’s worth it.

A sip of aperol spritz to wash out the saltines of the delicious food 🙂

Another well known and recommended fry shop is Friggitoria San Giorgio, situated just few meters to the south from the first one.

It opens rather late for hungry tourists, around 11am and they have a break from 3pm until 5:30pm but there’re some mean fried shrimps and squid they serve.

They also serve deep fried panissa (yellow sticks inside a cone) that we had to try.

Panissa is a small appetizer made with chickpea flour (farina di ceci), some water, salt and oil. The chickpeas are originally found in the Mediterranean and Middle East and they make a great staple of Tuscan and Ligurian cuisine.

It’s not just small finger licking deep-fried chickpea sticks that we have tried, bu we also came across a thin unleavened pancake or crêpe made from chickpea flour or farinata as it is called by the locals.

We tried farinata, together with some other fried products, in Mercato orientale Genova.

Mercato was opened hundred years ago in one of the most important streets in Genova, the Via XX Settembre.

It’s a large area, with over 5000 square meters, that nowadays has a big fresh market with part of it being a street food hall. Fantastic option to grab a bite or a drink after work.

Together with farinatas and panissas, focaccia fits the second largest food group, that of flour.

Next to pizza, focaccia is probably one of the most popular and known flat oven-baked Italian bread products in the world. Due to the numerous regional differences, there are probably as many names for this dish as there are recipes.

Focaccia can be thin and crusty but what we have seen in Genova is nothing compared to focaccia that we have as a slice of bread with pasta.

They come in big sizes with numerous toppings like ham, cheese, onion, zucchini and most importantly pesto Genovese.

The use of cultivated products and those of the forest is very common in Ligurian cuisine, for there are many different species growing all around the region. Tomatoes, beetroot, zucchini, asparagus, artichokes, truffles, fruit and basil – the god of all cultivated earth products.

Pesto Genovese, pesto alla Genovese, pesto di basilico or simply pesto is one of the most sold, regulated and beloved products of Genova and the surroundings.

The name derives from the Genoese verb pestâ (Italian: pestare), which means “to pound”, “to crush” because the main ingredients are grounded in marble mortar through a circular motion of a wooden pestle.

The origins of basil pesto dates back in the Roman times when the similar paste, called moretum, was made by crushing garlic, salt, cheese, herbs, olive oil and vinegar together.

The introduction of basil came much later, in the mid 19^th century when gastronomist Giovanni Battista Ratto published his book La Cuciniera Genovese in 1863:

“Take a clove of garlic, basil or, when that is lacking, marjoram and parsley, grated Dutch and Parmigiano cheese and mix them with pine nuts and crush it all together in a mortar with a little butter until reduced to a paste. Then dissolve it with good and abundant oil. Lasagne and Trofie are dressed with this mash, made more liquid by adding a little hot water without salt.”

The use of basil has taken over some other green herbs, like marjoram and parsley in the beginning, to the extent that the official production of pesto Genovese requires only Genovese basil (Basilico Genovese) produced in the provinces of Genoa, Savona and Imperia.

Wild herbs like marjoram, sage, rosemary, bay leaf, thyme that are growing all around the Ligurian territory together with the products of a home garden like onions, potatoes, aubergine makes the big part of daily cuisine. Weather they are made as stewed vegetables, like minestrone soup or just as addition to various types of pasta, it makes no big difference.

And speaking of pasta Liguria is a home to the first Pasta makers corporation in Italy, Corporazione dei Pastai d’Italia, that has played a big role in dissemination of both fresh and dry pasta. Some of the most typical versions of Ligurian pasta are pansoti and trofie.

The usual condiments for pasta are pesto, walnut sauce (salsa di noci), mushroom or fish sauce (salsa di funghi oppure pesce), wild boar or rabbit ragù (ragù di selvaggina oppure coniglio).

But whatever pasta or condiment on your plate is, a dash of olive oil on top is a must, just like a glass of good local Ligurian wine. But more on that note in a next text, where I’ll recommend some of the places where to eat in Genova.

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LIGURSKA KUHINJA

Vjerojatno najpoznatija po đenoveškom pestu, ligurska kuhinja pruža puno više od toga, kako lokalcima, tako i posjetiteljima kao što smo i mi bili.

Kuhinja ove primorske regije, smatra se zapravo vrlo siromašnom. Seljaci, ljudi što žive u planinama i pomorci su oduvijek bili vrlo skromni i ekonomični, pa je takva bila i njihova prehrana. Sjetite se samo naše Dalmacije. No, bez obzira na svu tu jednostavnost blizina mora, planina, brda i šume pruža brojne mogućnosti kad su u pitanju prehrambene namirnice. Nikad u životu nismo kušali toliko ribe i divljeg raslinja kao u Genovi. Uz tjesteninu, naravno. Jer bez toga nema života u Italiji.

Generalno gledajući, ligurska gastronomija mogla bi se sažeti u šest velikih grupa namirnica, s tim da su riba i morski plodovi na prvom mjestu. Što ni ne čudi, obzirom  Ligurija leži na moru. Ostale su divlje raslinje, plodovi vrta, maslinovo ulje, tjestenina i proizvodi od brašna i slanutka.

Inćuni, škampi, hobotnice, sipe, dagnje, trilje….što god je u vodi, nađe se i na stolu.

Grad Genova krcat je ribarnicama, koje nude svježu ribu svako jutro, ali s obzirom da mi nismo došli čistit i spravljat ribu, potražili smo mjesta koja to rade. Pomnom potragom prije puta pronašli smo dvije frigarnice koje smo potom posjetili u ulici u samoj luci, ispod niza portica, u Via Sottoripa.

Antica Friggitoria Carega jedna je od najstarijih frigarnica u Genovi, a otvorena je davne 1942.

Frigarnica je toliko malena da jedna stanu tri čovjeka za pult, ali je svejedno najprometnije mjesto u rano prijepodne. Pržene morske proizvode počnu posluživati u pauzi za ručak i to već od 11 ujutro, tako ako dođete nešto kasnije ostat ćete bez svoje porcije friganih lignji s malo soli i limuna u papirnatom tuljcu. Aperolčić uz to sjeda k’o budali šamar.

Druga frigarnica, Friggitoria San Giorgio, smještena je nešto niže od prve.

I ona se otvara dosta kasno za gladne turiste, tek oko 11 i onda imaju pauzu od 3 do pol 6 popodne, ali frigane lignjice i škampići su im bogovski. A nude i prženu panissu (žuti štapići u tuljcu).

Panissa je predjelo rađeno od slanutkovog brašna, vode, soli i mrvu maslinovog ulja. Slanutak je grahorasta biljka koja obilno raste na Mediteranu i Srednjem Istoku (arapski humus), no u velikoj mjeri koristi se u toskanskoj i ligurskoj kuhinji.

No, panissa nije jedina slana grickalica od slanutka kojoj nismo mogli odoljeti. Naletjeli smo tako i na farinatu, tanku palačinku rađenu od slanutkovog brašna s raznim dodacima ili bez.

Uz neke druge pržene stvari (jako volimo prženo), farinatu, smo probali na Mercato orientale Genova, velikoj tržnici u sklopu koje se nalazi, lokalcima jako dragi, food hall.

Svaki dan, osim nedjelje, na Mercatu možete kupiti svježe namirnice, ali i pojesti i popiti nešto fino.

Mi smo ciljano otišli do male frigarnice gdje poslužuju panisse, farinate i ostale pržene sitnice za sitnu paru.

Farinate i panisse, skupa uz fokaću, spadaju u drugu veliku prehrambenu skupinu karakterističnu za Liguriju, a to je ono sve rađeno od brašna.

Uz pizzu, fokaća je vjerojatno jedno od najpopularnijih i najpoznatijih tipova talijanskog kvasnog kruha. Obzirom na brojne regionalne različitosti, postoji sigurno toliko imena za ovu namirnicu koliko postoji recepata za istu.

Fokaće mogu biti tanke i hrskave, ali ove koje smo vidjeli u Đenovi su ništa u usporedbi s fokaćom koju vam ponude u restoranu uz prvo jelo.

Ovdje vam ih nude u XXL veličini s mnogobrojnim nadjevima kao sir, šunka, tikvice, luk i naravno pesto đenoveze.

Uporaba kultiviranih namirnica i onih koje rastu u šumi uobičajena je za ovo područje. Rajčice, cikla, tikvice, šparoge, artičoke, tartufi i bosiljak – kralj svih zelenih lisnatih biljaka u Liguriji.

Pesto đenoveze, pesto na đenoveški, pesto od bosiljka ili jednostavno pesto jedno je od najprodavanijih, najreguliranijih i najomiljenijih proizvoda Đenove i okolice.

Ime dolazi od đenoveškog glagola pestâ (tal: pestare) što znači ‘’udarati’’, ‘’gnječiti’’ obzirom se glavne namirnice samelju u mramornom mužaru uz pomoć drvenog štapa.

Podrijetlo pesta od bosiljka seže u daleku prošlost, još kad su Rimljani koristili sličnu pastu, zvanu moretum, rađenu od gnječenog češnjaka, soli, sira, bilja, maslinovog ulja i vinskog octa. Uporaba bosiljka kao jednog od glavnih sastojaka došla je dosta kasnije, negdje sredinom 19 stoljeća kad je gastronomist po imenu Đovani Batista Rato objavio knjigu Đenoveška kuhinja (La cuciniera Genovese) 1863. U njoj stoji sljedeće: Uzmite češnju češnjaka, bosiljka, ili ako nedostaje, mažurana i peršina, ribani nizozemski sir i parmiđano i pomiješajte s pinjolima te sve skupa zgnječite u mužaru s malo maslaca dok se smjesa ne pretvori u pastu. Tad razrijedite s puno ulja. Lasanje i trofije prelijte smjesom koju možete i razrijediti s vrućom neslanom vodom.

Uporaba bosiljka u pripremi pesta postala je toliko uobičajena da službena proizvodnja đenoveškog pesta zahtjeva samo i isključivo uporabu đenoveškog bosiljka (basilico Genovese) proizvedenog u provincijama Đenove, Savone i Imperije.

Divlje raslinje poput mažurana, kadulje, lovora, timjana koje raste posvuda po Liguriji te domaće povrće kao luk, krumpir, patlidžan također čine veliki dio dnevnih jela. Bilo da se spravljaju kao variva (minestrone) ili su samo dodatak raznim vrstama tjestenine, ne čini veliku razliku.

A kad smo već kod tjestenine Ligurija je dom prvom talijanskom udruženju proizvođača tjestenine koja je imala velikog utjecaja na diseminaciji kako svježe tako i suhe tjestenine. Neka od najtipičnijih vrsta ligurske tjestenine su pansoti i trofie.

Dodaci za tjesteninu su uglavnom pesto, umak od oraha, gljiva ili ribe, ragu od divlje svinje ili kunića.

No bilo koja tjestenina ili dodatak da se nađu u vašem tanjuru, mrva maslinovog ulja na vrhu je obavezna, baš kao i čaša lokalnog ligurskog vina. No više o tome u narednom tekstu gdje ću vam ponuditi neke prijedloge za, možda, vaš posjet Đenovi. Ili naš ponavljački 🙂