Calabria
Calabria is the region at the toe of the Italian boot, a narrow, 154-mile long peninsula at the southern tip of the mainland. It borders the Tyrrhenian Sea on the west, the region of Basilicata on the north, the Ionian Sea on the east, and the Strait of Messina, which divides the region from Sicily, on the south. Calabria is a rocky peninsula, with almost all of its terrain either mountainous or hilly. The scenery varies, however, from thick forests to open plateaus, to low slopes reaching down to the sea.
Along the coast and below the mountains, Calabrian farmers grow lemons, oranges, and tangerines, figs, olives, almonds, and chestnuts. Other produce includes cauliflower, cabbage, leeks, and turnips, and mushrooms from the highland forests.
Calabrian cuisine is synonymous with la Cucina Povera. The traditional dishes are very rustic, simple, and hearty, and make the best possible use of all the land and sea have to offer. One-pot meals are very common in Calabria, and an interesting way the Calabrians have to include both meat and starch in a meal is to cook pasta right in the cooking liquid of a braised meat or poultry dish, and serve the whole together.
The seafood Calabria enjoys include tuna, swordfish, calamari, sardines, and Italian lobster. Regional seafood dishes include pasta con sarde (with sardines); stuffed sardines, Palermo and Catania style; l’aragosta (lobster); triflia al cartoccio (red mullet in paper); calamari ripieni (stuffed squid); and tonno and pesce spada infornato (oven-baked tuna and swordfish).
There are some lingering influences in Calabrian cuisine from the various invaders who occupied the region throughout history, including the Spanish, Greeks, French, and Albanians.
