Appetizers: from their ancient history to today's tables in Northern Italy.

The term "antipasto" is of Roman origin: "ante-paestum" means "before the lunch" and referred to a series of light and simply prepared foods that were served at the table to start the meal. It is probably the most delicious and also the most fun dish to prepare because it lends itself to the creativity of the cook. Today, we were curious to talk about the origins of this dish, which come from our lands, and the typical delicacies that the culinary cultures of northern Italy have been able to gift us.

ITALIAN APPETIZERS: THE HISTORY

As already mentioned, the antipasto originated in Ancient Rome. The Romans loved to consume before lunch raw vegetables accompanied by a variety of sauces, or candied fruit, especially figs. Many Latin writings that have reached us today remind us how they were also aware that starting the meal with vegetables and salads helped the stomach receive the other courses, which were often quite rich and elaborate, especially in the noble houses. After the antipasto, they would indeed move on to the first course, starring spit-roasted wild boars, decorated hares, stuffed parrots with peacock eggs, baked fish, shrimps, and seafood. The second course concluded the feast with desserts and various fruits. After the fall of the Roman Empire and throughout the Middle Ages, it seems that antipasto fell into disuse, leaving game to open meals directly. It was in the 1500s that it reappeared, and has come down to us.

In Italy, in the areas where the smoothing action of the sea is strong and the production chain is based on fishing, the task of preceding meals has usually been assigned to shrimp, crostini boards with sea urchins, or sides based on tuna pâté, olives, parsley, and lemon. In regions where the climate is dry, the wind blows from the north, and winters are harsh, the antipasti become substantial dishes based on cheeses, cold cuts and cured meats, or savory pies. This type of antipasto is today called cold antipasto or Italian-style and is known all over the world.

It is at the tables of the wealthy and bourgeois classes of pre-united Italy (and also in France) that the art of antipasto developed the most, with court chefs presenting their creations, mostly based on hot dishes and snacks. Certainly, the antipasto was not for everyone, but even among the poor, something was created. The less affluent classes mostly ate single dishes and based everything on the philosophy of "we eat what we have" and "we do not waste leftovers". It is from here that some delicacies such as bruschetta with olive oil and oregano (practically the leftover bread from the previous day reheated) or Ascolan olives (excess olives fried) originated.

But it is precisely in northern Italy that the tradition of placing cold cuts before the meal originated. Indeed, once it was a proper second breakfast or, if you will, a meal before lunch. Farmers would gather with their families and the landowner on festive days and, especially in winter, they were used to eating cold cuts from the plains and homemade cheeses accompanied by a nice glass of red wine. This tradition took more and more hold with the subsequent blending of social classes, and land workers often took advantage of this pre-meal as a break from work to recharge their energy, preparing real platters.

Vegetables remain an essential base over time: today, if not used directly within dishes, they are used in the form of numerous creams that especially accompany cold cuts and cured meats. Not to mention the mustards that are used both to accompany cheeses in appetizers as well as second courses like boiled meats. An excellent solution adopted by many families is to preserve vegetables in oil, so they are kept for reuse during appetizers. They are very practical to serve: just take the preserved items from the jar and serve them with bread, crackers, grissini, or bruschetta next to a nice plate of cold cuts.

In northern Italy, there are many types of appetizers that we can find at the table.
In Piedmont, for example: cabbage rolls, Albese-style meat, pinzimonio of vegetables, veal tonnato with zucchini in vinegar, and the legendary bruschetta with Taleggio DOP and walnuts.

In Lombardy: cream puffs with fondue and white truffle, savory biscuits with Gorgonzola DOP and poppy seeds, homemade ciabatta with Salame Brianza DOP, potato and black olive cream with Salame Brianza DOP, crostini with Salame Cremona and truffle cream, and crostone with sweet red pepper sauce and Mortara Goose Salami IGP.

In Veneto: asparagus and eggs in sauce, creamed cod, polenta parcel with baby octopuses in cabernet, scallops, longnecks, and gratinated canestrelli, polenta croquettes with chiodini mushrooms and Asiago, radicchio caps and casatella, artichoke bottoms filled with sopressa vicentina, salad of Padua chicken with raisins and pine nuts, late radicchio with vinegar sopressa, sarde in saor.

In Trentino Alto Adige: sweet and sour beets with fennel, pretzels, canapés with speck and cheese, Tyrolean tarts with mushrooms and speck, crostinis with porcini mushrooms and Spressa delle Giudicarie DOP, salad of Trento Trout IGP, rolls of Speck Alto Adige IGP, savory strudel.

In Liguria: raw anchovies in vinegar, herring and potatoes with parsley, caponata, cucumbers and ricotta, fried or stuffed mussels, seafood crostini, fried zucchini flowers, small focaccia with cheese or sausage, cod fritters, borage fritters, shallots or potatoes, warm seafood salad or mixed salad from the west, Ligurian olives in oil, boiled octopus with green sauce, fried paniccette.

In Friuli: leek pie, cheese mousse, salviade, frico, gratinated scallops, ricotta bombolotti.

In Emilia Romagna: crostini with bruscandolo pâté, anchovy dumplings, Garisenda-style fried, warm rabbit salad, sea snails, raviggiolo, mortadella mousse, zucchini pie, tortelli on the plate.

With antipasti like these, we are sure that appetite... comes with eating!

S&M