Amazing Italy:
Enjoying Rovigo and
its cuisine with Maria Cristina Buoso (Part 10)
by Maria Teresa De Donato
(Rovigo Station -
(Photo by Threecharlie - CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED ATTRIBUTION)
Both foreigners and
many Italians will be amazed at how a town like Rovigo, which is certainly not
among the places in our beautiful country best known abroad, can have such a
rich historical, artistic, and culinary heritage which has nothing to envy of
other cities that are larger and, probably, better known to the public.
The dear friend and fellow author and blogger Maria
Cristina Buoso, thanks to her research and participation in this column of
mine, Amazing Italy, has undoubtedly
managed to dispel this myth by bringing to our attention the many treasures,
more or less unknown to many readers, of her beloved city.
Enjoy the reading!
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MTDD: Hello, Maria Cristina, and welcome back to my Blog and
Cultural Lounge. It's a pleasure to have you as my guest again.
MCB: Thanks to you, Maria Teresa, for the invitation. I'm happy to
be here with you and your readers today.
MTDD: Those who have already read our previous articles will familiarize
themselves with your city, while those who still need to do so will have the
opportunity to get to know it by reading them.
What precisely can you talk to us about today?
MCB: Today, we will talk
about the three historical periods that followed one another in Rovigo,
namely the French one, divided into two distinct moments, the
Austrian one and the one connected to the annexation of Rovigo to the
Kingdom of Italy.
The first French government officially lasted from 12 May 1797
to 24 November of the same year. Just over six months was enough to make them
unwelcome to most people from Rovigo.
MTDD: What happened
in that particularly harmful period that made it have a bad memory?
MCB: The city loses its administrative autonomy, passes to the
provisional government of Padua, and must deal with a massive and arrogant
presence of characters who will have hostile and sometimes despicable attitudes
towards the Church and its citizens.
MTDD: We are talking about the Napoleonic
period...
MCB: Exactly. In fact, a legend has it that when Napoleon came to
the city, he entered the Rotunda on horseback as a sign of disfigurement, and
if you look closely at the floor, you can see the mark left by his horse's hoof
in one place.
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(Rotunda's Interior - Beata Vergine del Soccorso, right wall)
(Photo by Threecharlie, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
We will, therefore,
have the Austrians for a short period, and then on 18 January 1801, the French
return to militarily occupy Rovigo again. Three weeks later, with the peace of
Luneville, Polesine will be annexed to the Cisalpine Republic. A district of
the Lower Po Department is formed, whose capital will be Ferrara.
If the first Napoleonic
dominion was characterized by robberies and devastation, the second was from
hunger and desperation.
I won't list everything
he did, but I leave you at the end of the links where you can go and calmly
read all the evil he did and left behind.
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MEMORIES PICTURES (Internet)
Anyone wishing to know
more can visit the following sites:
https://rovigo.italiani.it/la-dominazione-francese-a-rovigo-prima-parte/
https://www.serenissima.news/napoleone-il-polesine-crespino-e-lumore-del-1809/
MTDD: How did things
go in Rovigo during the Austrian domination?
MCB: During the Austrian domination, there were several changes in
various fields, some necessary while others could have been avoided.
For example, the provinces will be created according to a
criterion of territorial division. Furthermore, the southern border of the
diocese of Adria will be modified and will coincide with that of the Kingdom,
so the diocese will move from the ecclesiastical province of Ravenna (to which
it had always belonged) to that of Venice.
The Austrian administration will encounter both natural and
political obstacles. We will have a great famine in the Veneto from 1813 to
1817. A movement developed to counter the Austrians called the Carbonari,
whose center was in Fratta Polesine. The Carboneria was nipped in
the bud in January 1819. The Austrian administration was good at repressing
hostile movements when they arose.
He was also able to take valuable measures such as reactivating
the Chamber of Commerce (in 1819), which had been established by Napoleon in
1803 and then closed, and some improvements to the city and slowly introduced
compulsory elementary education.
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(Social Theater - Photo from internet)
MTDD: Were there any
initiatives the Austrians took that benefited the city of Rovigo?
MCB: Yes, indeed. In fact,
during their domination, we witnessed the birth of the new theater, which was
built between 1818 and 1819 in the area left free after the demolition of the Scuola
dei Battuti. The Austrians slowly brought the city back to life after the
neglect of the Napoleonic period. During this period, the new municipal
cemetery will be built near the Church of Santa Maria dei Sabbioni,
which replaced the one outside the Arquà gate. The Jewish cemetery built
in the extra-urban area also dates back to more or less the same period.
The Austrians decided to demolish four of the six access gates
to the city to transform them into public promenades to promote the city's
development outside the Este walls. Fortunately, many of the city walls were
saved from these destructive interventions on the fortifications deemed
useless. Of the fortifications built in the 12th century, the Donà Tower
and the Grimani Tower, the so-called "cut-off tower," part of
the citadel complex, and the via Pighin Tower were also saved.
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(Grimani Tower - Photo by Threecharlie, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
As always, I leave you some links to
learn more about the topic:
https://rovigo.italiani.it/la-dominazione-austriaca/
https://rovigo.italiani.it/la-dominazione-austriaca-la-seconda-parte/
MTDD: After the two
periods of foreign domination, we finally arrived at annexing the Kingdom of
Italy...
MCB: Exactly. This last
period that I'm talking to you about today goes from the annexation of Rovigo
to the kingdom of Italy up to the present day.
In 1866, with the plebiscite of Veneto, also known as the
plebiscite of Venice, the Venetian Provinces and Mantua were annexed
to the Kingdom of Italy to sanction the annexation of the lands ceded to France
by the Austrian Empire following the third war of independence. That happened
after a vote that took place in the treaty territories and, although not
requested (since, at the time, suffrage was only male), the women of Venice,
Padua, Dolo, Mirano, and Rovigo also wanted to express their vote as
did those of Mantua.
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(V. Emanuele II Square, former Maggiore Square -
Photo by Threecharlie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
MTDD: Was there any progress in Rovigo following its
annexation to the Kingdom of Italy?
MCB: Yes, many. Rovigo began to establish itself and become a
reference for the economy of the entire Polesine; the commercial stock exchange
came to have national importance; and the construction, in 1866, of the
Padua-Rovigo railway line had a positive effect on the city, which was
extended towards Ferrara and in subsequent years also towards Legnago and Adria.
(Rovigo Station as it is today -
Photo by Treecharlie, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
MTDD: What happened to the city in
the last century?
MCB: At the beginning of
the 20th century, the first industries were born, including the sugar factory
built on the main road leading to Padua, now home to the Fair.
1927, the municipality's territory was enlarged, incorporating
neighboring regions such as Boara Polesine and other nearby towns (list too
long). In 1930, the most dilapidated part of the former Jewish ghetto was
demolished, and Piazza Roma, today Piazza Merlin, was created in
its place.
During the twenty years of fascism, the project was born to
divert the course of the Adigetto, now reduced to a watercourse of little
importance because it was neglected, and by removing it, the face of the city
would be changed by erasing an important historical part of Rovigo. In the
meantime, the city also expanded to the north and southwest. In 1938, the
course of the Adigetto was diverted, but the construction works on the current
course, which were interrupted due to the Second World War, were resumed many
years later.
From the 1950s and 1960s, Rovigo had a notable development, both as a traditional agricultural market and as an industrial center, and this caused the rapid abandonment of the historic center, which suffered substantial degradation until the end of the 1970s. In the 1980s, it began to recover abandoned areas, but often with questionable interventions that did not respect the city's history.
As usual, I leave you some links to learn more about the topic:
https://www.universitarovigo.com/web/pagine/dynamic.php?table_name=2016_storia
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storia_di_Rovigo
https://www.universitarovigo.com/web/pagine/dynamic.php?table_name=2016_storia
MTDD: Wonderful! Have you prepared any other succulent recipes for us today?
MCB: Yes,
for the occasion, I prepared Risi e Bisi.
Risi e Bisi (rice, peas and broth)
It is a typical dish
of Rovigo and its origins date back to the era of the Serenissima and is
appreciated for its tasty recipe, made with simple ingredients such as peas,
rice and broth. The use of onion, pods, butter or lard makes the difference
because each family has always personalized their soup making it unique.
The preparation of
Risi and Bisi is also known for its historical origin; since it contains rice,
a symbol of fertility, and peas, a spring excellence, it was considered
auspicious and was prepared at the behest of the Doge on the day of San Marco
and offered to all members of the government.
I leave you one of
the many versions and enjoy the tasting!
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The Risi e Bisi recipe
Ingredients:
500 gr. (17.63 oz.) of vialone nano rice,
500 gr. (17.63 oz) of
shelled peas,
5 tablespoons of oil,
50 gr. (1.76 oz) of
butter,
2 white onions,
chopped parsley,
5 tablespoons of
parmesan,
salt, pepper, chicken-broth
to taste
Preparation:
Put oil, peas, chopped
onions, parsley, half a glass of water in a pan and cook for 15 minutes. Add
salt, add the rice and cook, adding the broth a little at a time. (remember
that you have to mix to prevent the rice from sticking)
Remove
from heat; add the butter, pepper, and parmesan, and then serve on plates.
Bon Appetit!
MTDD: Thank you, Maria Cristina, for all this information about
Rovigo and its history.
I'm waiting for you for other interviews for other interesting
itineraries and recipes.
Can we remind those who wish to contact or follow you how they
can do so?
MCB: Thank you, Maria
Teresa. It is always a pleasure to be your guest. See you soon!
Anyone wishing to contact me or follow me can do so through the
following sites and social platforms:
https://mariacristinabuoso.blogspot.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mcbmipiacescrivere/
and on Waveful, you can find me with @Mcbautore
