Traditional dishes
The traditional cuisine of La Spezia is simple, characterised by the use of poor ingredients that are enhanced by the use of many aromatic herbs. In La Spezia cuisine, vegetables are a frequently used ingredient. The minestrone (vegetable soup) is prepared in many other parts of Italy, but that of La Spezia, with the addition of pesto, is unique. Also not to be underestimated are the torte di verdura (vegetable pies), made with a wide variety of vegetables, and the torta di riso (rice pie), both savoury and sweet.
In addition to vegetable dishes, we list below the most characteristic products of our area.
[focaccia] [farinata] [panigacci] [muscoli] [mesciüa] [acciughe]
Focaccia ligure
The focaccia ligure or focaccia genovese is a savoury leavened speciality typical of Ligurian cuisine: a flat focaccia with a maximum height of two centimetres, shiny with oil, full of grains of salt and with characteristic deep holes in the surface.
Ligurian focaccia is in La Spezia eaten all day long, be it dunked in cappuccino, taken to the beach as an afternoon snack, or used to make sandwiches, and is usually served at room temperature. The “basic” version is a combination of a strong flour (meaning a high gluten flour like bread flour), extra virgin olive oil, yeast and salt: however, focaccia may also be served with herbs, spices, or stuffed with mozzarella, prosciutto, salami , etc.
Farinata
Made of only chickpea flour, water, extra-virgin olive oil and rosemary, the farinata is a traditional flat bread from Liguria, which is also used in certain areas of Tuscany (where they call it cecina) and Sardinia, with some variations depending on where it is made.
The farinata is prepared in a large, round pan and baked at very high temperature in a wood oven so that the edges become crispy. In the La Spezia region, you may find it served next to pizza and garnished with stracchino (very soft cheese) or onion.
The farinata is certainly a very old dish that has spanned over two thousand years of history. It is difficult to establish a year of birth and to distinguish history from myth. There is no shortage of legends, however.
Some, for example, trace the invention of this tasty cake back to the time of the Roman occupation of Genoa when Roman soldiers kneaded chickpea flour with water and then cooked it on their shields in the sun.
Another legend dates the birth of chickpea flour to a specific event in the Middle Ages: the Battle of Meloria in 1284, in which the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Genoa faced each other. Precisely during the battle, there was a storm that overturned the sacks of chickpeas and barrels of oil contained in the Genoese ships. These ingredients mixed with the salt water from the sea, which had penetrated the ships due to the heavy weather. When the sailors began to feel the pangs of hunger, all they did was to heat this mixture first in the sun and then in the oven: thus chance had cooked the first chickpea farinata. However it turned out, this dish spread so quickly that decrees from 1447 already mention it.
Testaroli & panigacci
Typical of Lunigiana, a Ligurian area stretching between Liguria and Tuscany, testaroli are simple food prepared according to an ancient recipe with only 3 ingredients: water, wheat flour and salt. The typical dressings for this type of pasta are pesto, parmigiano reggiano and and mushroom tomato sauce. In this way, testaroli are served as a trio representing the three colours of the Italian bandiera.
Panigacci is a type of unleavened round bread, cooked in the special “testi”. They’re are rather thin and well cooked, crunchier and usually served alongside cheese, salumi, prosciutto, pancetta and other cured meats.
Testaroli and panigacci are prepared in the oven at very high temperatures in special containers called ‘testi’, from which they take their name, which are made incandescent by the flame and embers of the oven before being stacked one on top of the other to complete cooking.
Muscoli (mussels)
Mussels in La Spezia are called ‘muscoli‘ and there is no La Spezia resident who does not wince when someone names them by their correct name ‘cozze’, used almost everywhere Italy but not in Liguria! It is perhaps the most valuable food of this area and the residents consider the product (not unreasonably) the “black gold” of the territory.
Mussels are grown in local sea waters since the end of ‘800 and have always had a flavor and a taste that has very few parallels in other areas of production.
The mussels are prepared, after a careful purification and refining in the latest equipment, simply “alla marinara” with garlic and parsley, in white sauces for spaghetti or with the addition of tomatoes, stuffed with tomato sauce with a slow and complicated preparation.
Mesciüa
Mesciüa is considered as a poor dish, or to be more precise, a “put together” dish, in the real sense of the word. In La Spezia’s dialect, “mesciüa “ means “mixed” and comes from the fact that this soup was prepared with the ingredients which people were able to collect during the loading and unloading of ships and which were later on mixed and cooked. Some people say that this dish was invented in a day of scarcity, when beans were not enough to make a bean dish, nor wheat was enough to make bread. Therefore, the leftovers of both these ingredients were mixed, with the addition of chickpeas. Each ingredient is cooked separately, according to the respective cooking times and at the end, they are mixed together in the serving dish and seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of pepper.
Acciughe (anchovies)
The most valuable and famous acciughe (anchovies) are those of Monterosso. But in fact the whole coast has excellent anchovies especially in the summer. They are prepared in many different ways, but fried, stuffed or lightly cooked in lemon are the appreciated ones.
A separate discussion deserve the ones in brine that are still prepared whole, freshly caught, put in glass containers which are called “arbanelle”. When ripe are cleaned and desalinated with care and are eaten on bread with a little olive oil and a bit of garlic and parsley.
Obviously other fish abound of which the most valuable are considered sea bream and sea bass. Without forgetting the poor fish (economically but not for the palate) as the mixture of Mediterranean fish, rays and octopuses.