Specialties from Friuli may be more discreet than those of other Italian regions, but they're no less delightful. On a global level, Friuli-Venezia Giulia might get overshadowed by locales on the usual tourist circuit, such as Umbria, the Veneto, Lazio, and Campania, the northeastern Italian region is a force to be reckoned with – to know it is to love it.
Friuli wasn't always a part of Italy, having been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it wasn't completely part of Italy until 1918. Consequently, there's some overlap between its cuisine and that of its northern neighbor. The dishes, such as cjarsòns, are not usually the first to spring to mind when one thinks of Italian food, yet they never fail to dazzle.
Not only is the region home to some of Italy's finest white wines, but also incredible eats. Here are six specialties of Friuli.
1. Prosciutto Crudo di San Daniele
Friuli produces excellent prosciutto and the San Daniele variety has held PDO status since 1996. The prosciutto, made only with Italian pork, is one of Italy's most popular. It's characterized by a guitar shape and the presence of the pig's paw. Once sliced, it has a pink hue, white fat, and a sweet-savory flavor that grows more intense with aging.
2. Montasio Cheese
Monatasio is a DOP Alpine cheese made from cow's milk. It has a cooked, semi-hard paste, with small and regular holes. It has four different agings – the fresh version (60 - 100 days) is soft and delicate and mezzano (5-10 months), has a full and decisive flavor. Stagionato is aged for over 10 months it acquires a complex flavor that's a little spicy while Stravecchio undergoes 18 months of maturation, resulting in a savory and refined product that's also suitable for grating. Excellent as a basic kitchen ingredient, Montasio is the base of frico, a cheese, onion, and potato pancake of sorts that's typical of Friuli.
3. Formadi Frant
This Slow Food Presidium cheese originated as a recovery product in the pastures of Carnia as a way to save defective forms of cheese. The latter was crushed and, with the addition of milk, cream, salt, and pepper, reborn as something edible. It has a white-gray hue, a creamy and compact consistency, and a mild flavor. It can be aged anywhere from 15 days to two months. It's excellent on risotto, in polenta, or with boiled potatoes.
4. Pitina
This salami resembles a large flattened meatball until it's sliced open. It's made from minced venison, goat, or sheep meat, and today it's mixed with a small percentage of pork fat. It's seasoned with salt, black pepper, herbs, and garlic, covered with corn flour, then smoked and left to mature. It can be eaten as is or cooked on the grill or seared with vinegar.
5. Rose di Gorizia
This local radicchio variety with Slow Food Presidium protection is shaped like the flower for which it's named. Gorizia, a town that borders Slovenia, is where the radicchio is harvested. The tufts are harvested between November and December, then undergo the "forcing" process, during which the color changes from green to red. Crunchy and not very bitter, it's the most expensive radicchio and popular among chefs.
6. Grappa
Friuli is among the most important regions for the production of this pomace spirit, also locally called sgnape, and it seems that production began right here in the sixth century. Alongside the names of famous producers such as Nonino, who launched the production of single-variety grappa and invented grape brandy in the mid-1980s, small and interesting artisan distilleries thrive.