When you’re setting off for Calabria, make sure to see the plateau of Sila, or simply La Sila. Once there, you’ll have to forget about diet and keeping your figure, because the typical dishes of this southern Italian region are very substantial. It’s not rare to find pasta, ragù, meatballs, boiled eggs, cheese and fried eggplant all in one first course dish – for example, pasta a lu furnu. You have to put your conscience at ease, because La Sila’s recipes call for a touch of gluttony!
Pasta a lu fùrnu
La Sila, from chili pepper to ’nduja
Mushrooms, beans, potatoes (the Sila variety is very popular), cheeses like Silano caciocavallo, provolone or butirro (a soft provola-based cheese with butter inside), the ubiquitous chili pepper, and sheep and pig meat are the foundations of La Sila cuisine.
In addition to its dishes, La Sila is also known for its processing and storage of food: pork in the form of soppressata, capicollo, sausages, pancetta, lardo, prosciutto and the typical ’nduja (soft spicy sausage ideal for spreading on bread), as well as pickled mushrooms, grapes, vegetables and olives processed each year according to ancient traditions and then stored and sold.
Tradition and territory Acquired skills. If it’s true that the food in any given place is an expression of the geographical area that generates it, the ancient and deeply rooted traditions of La Sila stem from its mountain territory, which has kept it more isolated than other parts of Italy. Also, winters can get very cold with heavy snow, so they honed the practice of processing and storing foods, which were kept as reserves to be consumed gradually over the winter.
La Sila, which includes the provinces of Cosenza, Crotone and Catanzaro, stretches over 580 square miles, and includes the National Park of Calabria, one of the first five established in Italy. The climate varies according to altitude. Its highest peaks are 6,000 feet above sea level, while at lower elevations the weather conditions, and therefore the crops, are more Mediterranean. Since this is the rainiest area of Calabria, there are rivers and lakes that are well supplied by rainfall: the spectacular Ampollino and Arvo Lakes are often icy in winter, creating picturesque postcards. In short, nothing is lacking here, and La Sila has plenty of variety.
Typical La Sila dishes
If you’re served pasta ’mparrettati, you should know that you are about to eat the typical Calabrian macaroni al ferretto, which in La Sila are served with goat, pork or wild boar sauce. Indeed, meat is a widely used ingredient in pasta dishes here.
Pasta alla silana, a recipe that is replicated throughout Italy, is a sauce with a base of tomatoes, sausage, guanciale, mushrooms, provola and pecorino: a rich dish complete with every flavor.
Potatoes are also highly prized in combinations with pasta. A typical dish of Cosento is pasta e patate ara tijeddra, or baked pasta and potatoes with sauce, Parmesan, garlic, oregano and salt.
Among the meat dishes, a popular Cosenza dish is Mazzacorde alla cosentina, prepared with lamb entrails (tripe, lung, heart, spleen, intestines) and seasoned with garlic, spicy red chili pepper, tomatoes, basil, oregano, extra-virgin olive oil and salt.
And to finish with a dessert, as is proper for any respectable vacation, pitta ’mpigliata, a dessert from San Giovanni in Fiore, deserves a mention. Traditionally prepared for both Easter and Christmas, it’s made by wrapping chopped raisins, walnuts and almonds in a sheet of pastry dough. The entire dessert is then flavored with Marsala, cinnamon and dried orange peels.