Substack Extra

...from Calabria (with a recipe)

Traditional flavourings of the Calabrian kitchen are the dry-leaf mountain herbs of the region (particularly oregano but also rosemary, sage) and the fiery little pepperoncino that replaced imported peppercorns (as they grew well in a pot and you didn't have to pay for them) small, torpedo-shaped chilis that grow upwards on fan-shaped stalks and are sold in elegant little posies along with semi-dried wild figs (brown and sticky), persimmons, limone di Rocca (particularly juicy thin-skinned lemons), the big meaty tomatoes of Belmonte, and, most important of all, the red-skinned mild-fleshed onions of Tropea which are the basis of many of the traditional dishes of Calabria (see below).