Amazing Italy:
Walking
Around Costa (Rovigo) with Maria Cristina Buoso
by
Maria Teresa De Donato
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Dear friends, today we
continue to travel in our Amazing Italy with my dear friend and
colleague Maria Cristina, Author and Blogger.
Maria Cristina participated very actively, together with other colleagues and
friends, in this column of mine, and I invite you all to read the other
articles to be inspired by the various locations that have been presented as
well as by the highly appreciated recipes that you can enjoy by visiting
especially her territory.
That being said, I wish
you all a good read!
Hi Maria Cristina, and
welcome again to this Blog and Virtual Cultural Salon.
Thanks to you, Maria
Teresa, for hosting me again.
Maria Cristina, where are
you taking us today?
Until now, I have talked
to you, taking you there only virtually, about my city, Rovigo, whose territory
is entirely flat and is located in the geographical area of present-day
Polesine. In his province, there are currently 50 municipalities; some are so
small that even three can be found on one road.
Today, I am introducing
you to the Costa municipality, which is a few kilometers from my city.
The name intrigues me...
What can you tell us about this municipality from a historical point of view?
Its name derives from the
position in which it is located on the "coast" of the Adigetto River,
that is, on the side of the river that flows through it and which was once also
navigable. The first documents in which it appears date back to 1146, by the
Marquis Fulcone d'Este.
In 1115, it was under the
power of the Este family. It was also the subject of a dispute between the
House of Este and the Abbey of Pomposa (Ferrara) regarding a donation made by
the Este family to the Benedictine monastery of Murano. In 1173, it resulted in
a division of the town into Benedictine and Este possessions.
In 1482, it came under
the dominion of the Venetian Republic and, following the fate of Rovigo, it
remained there until 1797, when the Napoleonic occupation began, followed in
1815 by the Austrian one and in 1866 by the annexation to the Kingdom of Italy.
From a monumental point
of view, what are the main attractions worth seeing?
From a monumental point
of view, we find the parish church dedicated to S. Giovanni Battista,
dating back to 1166, the church-oratorio of S. Rocco, the oratory of
the Assunta (today dedicated to the fallen), Villa Sandi, and Villa
Brighetti.
Also noteworthy are the
rural courts of Ghilardini and Cappellozza. The ethnographic
museum "all'Alboron" tells the economic and social history of the
area, mainly documenting its rural civilization. It was designed in 2002.
Furthermore, in 2022,
Costa was on the short list of eight Italian municipalities that will compete
for the title of 'Italian book capital' because they were the ones where people
read the most. This award was established with Law 15 of February 2020 and is
awarded yearly.
As always, I leave you
some links to learn more and gather more information about this small town,
which I'm sure you will enjoy visiting:
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provincia_di_Rovigo
https://www.comune.costadirovigo.ro.it/home
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_di_Rovigo
https://rovigo.italiani.it/la-comunita-di-costa/
https://www.comune.costadirovigo.ro.it/museo-etnografico-a-l-alboron
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_etnografico_all%27Alboron
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Very interesting, indeed.
Even though Costa is a relatively small town, being in the area, it certainly is
worth visiting.
Thanks again for all the
information you have provided.
Are you leaving us today
with another succulent recipe?
Most certainly. Today we are going to have Polenta and Sopressa.
(Image by GhePeU)
(This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share
Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.)
Recipe
Polenta and Sopressa
I have already told you
about polenta, and Venetian cured meats; one of the dishes I enjoyed,
especially when the cold season hits, are polenta and sopressa.
For the polenta, you can
choose the instant one if you wish, and as for the sopressa, you must
distinguish it from salami.
The salami is made with the
pig’s both fatty and lean parts; the soppressata is mixed only with lean cuts
(leg, shoulder, fillet, or ham trimmings) and is a salami that remains soft and
creamy on the palate. It is an all-Italian delight that will be quite difficult
to find abroad.
Preparation of
non-instant polenta
Bring 1.2 liters of
salted water to a boil in a tall pan, pour in the corn flour (choose white or
yellow to taste), and, stirring constantly with a large wooden spoon, cook it
for about 1 hour. When the polenta is ready, pour it onto a cutting board and
let it cool.
Once cold, cut the
polenta into slices. The slices must be thick enough not to break when you turn
them because you will have to grill them either on a griddle or a grill until
they have a nice crust. However, if you don't have a grill or griddle, a
non-stick pan is also fine, along with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, in
this case, to prevent them from sticking.
The sopressa slices must
also be thick enough; I am writing you two alternatives now.
First version: When the
polenta is nice and hot and browned, put the slice of salami on top and turn it
over until it becomes translucent; remove everything
and eat it hot with a nice glass of red wine.
Second version: Grill the
polenta slices separately and finally join them together, still enjoying them
with a nice glass of red wine.
There are many
variations, but I preferred to write two quick and easy versions.
There are several
variations to this basic recipe, which I will tell you about some other time.
https://www.spaghettiemandolino.it/blog/168-differenza-tra-sopressa-dop-vicentina-e-soppressa.html
Till next
time,
MC Buoso
https://mariacristinabuoso.blogspot.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mcbmipiacescrivere/
and on Waveful you can find me @Mcbautrice
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