Close inspection of the ingredient-list above reveals a surprising lack of hard cheese - specifically Parmigiano-Reggianio as made in Bologna, Reggio Emilia, Mantua, Modena, or Parma - that is, a product of the fertile farmland of Emilia Romagna.
It stands to reason that the omission of what’s usually considered the diagnostic ingredient needs explanation. So this is how it happened. We are in Puglia, in the vicinity of Ostuni, a market-town in olive-country, inland from Bari, trulli-territory, where people know what’s what and what’s not.
And what’s what, is that Puglia’s parmigiana has no need for parmesan, an expensive imported ingredient affordable only by rich, since the diagnostic cheese is mozzarella, the fresh white cow’s cheese of the region prepared daily in every latteria, milk-parlour, in town or village, if not available in-house.
It seems - such is the view from Ostuni - that Puglia’s parmigiana, a speciality of the region, earned its name in celebration of an ancient trading association with the city of Parma rather than the cheese. The merchants of Parma paid no more than they had to for Puglia’s plentiful harvest of olive oil, available cheap since considered inferior to the artisan olive oils of the north (though this is changing). Dealings in olive oil have always been vulnerable to re-interpretation as to land of origin, to put it delicately. And the merchants of Parma were rumoured (perish the thought) to rebottle Puglian oils in Lucca and pass them off as Tuscan.
Puglia’s parmigiana was (still is) a labour-intensive dish, rich with olive oil and all the good things of the countryside, such as might be eaten by the merchants of Parma every day. In Puglia, however, it’s a celebration dish traditionally prepared for communal celebrations such as festivals and family celebrations. The subtext, as so often with Italy’s regional dishes, is plain for anyone to interpret as they wish. Good. I’m glad we’ve cleared that up. Or maybe not.
p.s. Paid subscribers (bless you all!) will shortly be getting a couple of extra recipes for Puglian macaroons and home-made Limoncello. Just press the subscriber pay-button to join the fun.
p.p.s. Check out my website for my fruit and veg prints (including a rather fine aubergine) - order at https://www.elisabethluard.org/shop
Love this. Also, I'm not sure Emilgia Romanga needs parmigiana when they have the deliciousness of Squacquerone. What I wouldn't give for some of that in the States!
Someday I will write a sonnet on the contentious lack of cheese.