Amazing Italy:
Enjoying Rovigo and its cuisine with Maria
Cristina Buoso (Part 5)
by Maria Teresa De Donato
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(Rovigo - Ancient Map - Public Domain)
Hello, dear friends!
Today, friend and fellow author Maria
Cristina Buoso is back with us with other artistic, historical, and culinary
information regarding her Rovigo.
So let's dive into our interview by
wandering around, even if only virtually, around her city and enjoying other
delicacies of the local cuisine.
Enjoy the reading!
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MTDD: Hi Maria Cristina. Happy to have you here again in my
Blog and Virtual Cultural Lounge.
MCB: Thanks to you, Maria Teresa. It is always a pleasure to
be your guest.
MTDD: Maria Cristina, what
information have you prepared for us today about your Rovigo?
MCB: I have prepared several for you which I hope you find
interesting, as much as the previous ones. Today I will tell you about the
period in which Rovigo was governed by the Republic of Venice, "la
Serenissima." We might say that it was the most prosperous period because,
in addition to freeing itself from the marshes, which circumscribed it, it
expanded and was adorned with palaces and churches.
MTDD: This is equivalent to saying that
the Venetians have handled things quite well in Rovigo.
MCB: Indeed. The Venetians granted the people of Rovigo some
privileges. Among them was an eight-day annual fair (to be held in August to
commemorate the victory) and a weekly market on Tuesday to be added to the
existing one on Saturday. On August 17, 1483, the Venetian soldiers entered the
city.
These markets are still held on the same days, while the fair
has been moved to October and is still held today, since then, in the same
period.
For some years, Rovigo remained the
center of military operations between the soldiers of the Serenissima and those
of Este. Venice managed to prevail on October 21, 1514.
The environment around the city very much resembled the one the
war had left; the swampy areas reached up to the walls. This situation remained
unchanged until 1546, when the reclamation of the valleys of Santa Giustina,
east of the inhabited center, was decreed.
The initiative brought an improvement even if done slowly.
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(Rovigo - San Marco’s Column)
MTDD: Once
the war was over, when did changes begin to improve the conditions of the city
also from an artistic point of view?
MCB: A few years later. In 1519 the column with the symbol of
San Marco was raised, and local nobles began many works of urban embellishment.
In those years, many initiatives and buildings were put in place and are still
part of the city's life today. An example is the Accademia dei Concordi, founded in 1580, which today is the
city library. Still, it contains many other things, as mentioned in a previous
interview on Rovigo.
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(Rovigo - La Rotonda)
The temple of the Beata Vergine del Soccorso, known as "Rotonda" due to
the central symmetry plan, was built quickly and represented a place of
gathering and pilgrimage for the city's population and its surroundings.
Inside, you can find paintings of high artistic and symbolic value, depicting
the Venetian podestà who ruled Rovigo up to the 60s of the seventeenth century
and beyond. There are some stories related to this church ...
I'll stop here, but if you want to know more about this
historical period here are some links:
https://rovigo.italiani.it/la-dominare-veneziana-a-rovigo-la-prima-parte/
https://rovigo.italiani.it/la-dominare-veneziana-a-rovigo-la-seconda-parte/
MTDD: Maria
Cristina, so far we have concluded each of our interviews with a succulent
recipe from your Rovigo.
Have you prepared one for today as well?
MCB: Of course! Today I present to you other local
delicacies: Salami, biscuit bread, and red wine.
MTDD: Simplicity and deliciousness, as
far as I can tell.
MCB: I agree.
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Salami, biscuit bread, and red wine
It is a dish that was born poor, but no
one from Rovigo would ever give up. It consists of a platter of mixed cured
meats or simple biscuit bread eaten with a "local" (local) salami cut
into slices with a knife and a good glass of red wine.
In those days, older people used to sit
around a table, and between a chat or a game of cards, this could be a dinner
or a snack, or it was offered to guests when they came to visit or ... today it
can be used as an aperitif to do in good company.
Remember ... you have to know how to
make salami otherwise .... you throw everything away, and it's a waste.
I remember the period when they would
kill the pig. It was in December. That day, the whole family would gather to
help the man who passed through the houses early in the morning to slaughter
and who knew how to dose "by eye." He would immediately understand
the quantity of meat and the correct dose of spices needed to make a good
sausage and cold cuts and everything else. No parts of the pig would be
discarded; nothing was thrown away. They would use all components for the
family's sustenance sparingly and carefully because it had to last a whole year.
Times are different, and even the
preservation and know-how of cured meats have evolved over the years, but
knowing how to make good sausage is not for everyone, especially at the artisan
level.
In the province of Rovigo, many pig
farms are slowly becoming absolute excellence, where the tradition of
zero-kilometer sausages passes down from generation to generation. There are
all types and formats. Among the sausages, we must not forget the soppressa,
the queen par excellence, whether with or without garlic.
I am stopping here because I am now in
the mood for a sandwich with salami and pickles ...
Until next time,
M.C. Buoso
https://mariacristinabuoso.blogspot.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mcbmipiacescrivere/
and on Waveful, you can find me with @Mcbautrice
MTDD: Thank you, Maria Cristina, for being with us today.
MCB: Thank you to you. It’s
always a pleasure.
Note: We apologize to the vegan friends
who have opted for this choice to safeguard the life of the animals and not for
other reasons. Our Amazing Italy column
is culturally oriented. Therefore, we
recognize that all recipes are part of that heritage of traditions, both
familiar and not, very dear to us all.
With this in mind and with this spirit,
we conceived and presented this article to our readers.
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