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Milan Information

Food

Talking about this style of cooking, we expect the usual diatribe about the origin of saffron rice (risotto) or about who invented cutlets alla Milanese, but these are issues discussed a thousand times and already worn out. Of the veal cutlet, the most interesting thing to say is that it isn't breaded but rather fried with patience at its natural thickness; of risotto, that wine is not necessary because the acidity of the latter conflicts with the natural but delicate aroma of the saffron. The wine goes well in other risottos, such as in the white rice of Piedmont origin. Though this rice is unrelated to Parma, parmesan cheese is used, as in preparing the bell eggplant known everywhere as eggplant alla parmigiana.

These days, Milan is flooded with fish. It has the largest fish market in Italy, but for all this fishy culture, not a trace is seen in Milanese cuisine. On the other hand, one finds excellent recipes for fresh-water fish, for example anchovy patè (although the people of Lodi claim it as their own) and pike braised in red wine.

Not so famous but also very good are some Milanese soups like minestrone, naturally. Even better are the soups made from rice and parsley with liver, from rice and leeks, or frogs.

The base for each of these is an excellent broth: try it with sbrofadei, a kind of Emiliana passatelli. Ordinary everyday broths, on the other hand, are made from capon, for the "non-Milanese" ravioli or tortellini. The busecca, now considered a second dish although originally it was a soup, is a symphony of three types of tripe (chiappa, foiolo and riccia or francese). One makes one's way through the meats, which are fundamentally veal (of which we have already spoken) and beef. Speaking of veal, we must not overlook oven-baked tongue and the sublime roast kidneys.

Pastries are few but interesting, aside from the universal panettone (a kind of sweet brioche). Borrowings from Austria are interesting: for example, the creams, the cavollatt with its mysterious name, cream of mascarpone (a type of cream cheese), or certain puddings made from cedar, rice, or even aged panettone.

Milanese drinks are very original. The barbarjada (chocolate and coffee) in first place, the rossumada (egg shake, sugar and white or red wine), the sapajean (zabaione, the same but with red wine and lemon juice) or the various bavarois (to suit the female taste, made with tea and liqueur).

As far as wines are concerned, at present the Milan region has only one zone DOC (name and origin controlled), San Colombano at Lambro, where with an early grape called verdea they make a pleasant white and with a grape similar to that of the "Rossi Oltrepo", a red not profound but nevertheless agreeable. The common wine in Milan now is naturally that of the Oltrepo', either Bonarda, Croatina or Barbera; among whites the Riesling and Pinot are excellent. But in Milan today, for wines as for fish, one finds all the best.