Appetizers: from their ancient history to today's tables in Northern Italy.

The term "antipasto" is of Roman origin: "ante-paestum" means, indeed, "before lunch" and indicated that series of light tasting and simply prepared foods that were placed on the table specifically to start the lunch. It is probably the most delightful dish and also the most fun to prepare because it greatly adapts to the imagination of the cook. Today, we were curious to tell you about the origins of this dish, which come from our lands, and what typical delicacies the culinary cultures of northern Italy have been able to offer us.

ITALIAN ANTIPASTI: THE HISTORY

As already mentioned, the antipasto has its origins in Ancient Rome. The Romans loved to consume vegetable crudités accompanied by a variety of sauces, or candied fruit, especially figs, before lunch. Many Latin writings that have survived to this day remind us how they were aware that starting the meal with vegetables and salads helped the stomach receive the other courses, which, especially in noble households, were quite rich and elaborate. After the antipasto, they would indeed move on to the first course, which featured spit-roasted wild boars, decorated hares, parrots stuffed with peacock eggs, baked fish, shrimp, and shellfish. The second course concluded the banquet with desserts and all kinds of fruit. After the fall of the Roman Empire and throughout the Middle Ages, it seems that the antipasto fell out of fashion, leaving the task of starting meals directly to the game. It was in the Sixteenth Century that it reappeared, eventually reaching us.

In Italy, in the areas where the sea has a strong smoothing action and the production chain is based on fishing, the task of preceding meals has usually been assigned to shrimp, boards of crostini with sea urchins or accompaniments based on tuna pâté, olives, parsley, and lemon. In regions where the climate is dry, the wind blows from the north, and winters are harsh, the antipasti become substantial dishes based on cheeses, cold cuts and sliced meats, or savory pies. This type of antipasto is today called cold antipasto or all'italiana and is known all over the world.

It is at the tables of the wealthy and bourgeois classes of pre-unified Italy (and also in France) that the art of antipasto develops more, with court chefs presenting their creations, mostly based on hot dishes and snacks. Certainly, the antipasto was not for everyone, but even among the poor, something was created. The less affluent classes mostly ate single dishes and based everything on the philosophy of "we eat what there is" and "we do not leave leftovers". It is from here that some delicacies like bruschette with olive oil and oregano (essentially leftover bread from the previous day reheated) or olive all’ascolana (leftover olives fried) were born. 

But it is in northern Italy that the tradition of prioritizing cold cuts before the meal has its origin. In fact, it used to be a proper second breakfast or, if you will, a meal before lunch. The farmers, in fact, would gather with their families and the farm owner on holidays and, especially in winter, would usually enjoy cold cuts from the plains and homemade cheeses accompanied by a nice glass of red wine. This tradition gained more and more ground with the subsequent blending of social classes, and land workers often took advantage of this pre-meal as a break from work to recharge their energies by preparing real boards.

Vegetables remain, however, an essential base over time: today, if they are not used directly in dishes, they are used in the form of numerous creams that accompany especially cold cuts and sliced meats. Not to mention the mostarde that are used both to accompany cheeses in appetizers and second courses like boiled meats. An excellent solution adopted by many families is to preserve vegetables in oil, so they can be reused during appetizers. Very convenient to serve: just remove the vegetables from the jar and serve them with bread, crackers, grissini, or bruschette next to a nice plate of cold cuts.

In Northern Italy, there are many types of antipasto that we can find on the table.
In Piedmont, for example: cabbage or Savoy rolls, meat 'alla Albese', vegetable pinzimonio, veal with tuna sauce with zucchini in vinegar, and the mythical bruschette with Taleggio DOP and walnuts.

In Lombardy: bignè with fondue and white truffle, savory biscuits with Gorgonzola DOP and poppy seeds, rustic ciabatta with Salame Brianza DOP, potato and black olive cream with Salame Brianza DOP, crostini with Salame Cremona and truffle cream, crostone with sweet red pepper sauce and Mortara IGP goose salami. 

In Veneto: asparagus and eggs in sauce, mantecato stockfish, polenta basket with baby octopus in cabernet, scallops, long cape hake and gratin canestrelli, polenta croquettes with chiodini mushrooms and Asiago, radicchio and casatella domes, stuffed artichoke bottoms with sopressa vicentina, Padua hen salad with raisins and pine nuts, late radicchio with sopressa in vinegar, sardines in saor. 

In Trentino Alto Adige: sweet and sour beets with fennel, pretzels, canapés with speck and cheese, Tyrolean tarts with mushrooms and speck, crostini with porcini mushrooms with Spressa delle Giudicarie DOP, Trentino IGP trout salad, Alto Adige IGP speck rolls, savory strudel.

In Liguria: raw anchovies in vinegar, herring and potatoes with parsley, caponata, cucumbers and ricotta, fried or stuffed mussels, seafood crostini, fried zucchini flowers, small focacce with cheese or sausage, cod fritters, borage fritters, onion or potato, warm seafood salad or mixed salad from the west, Ligurian olives in oil, boiled octopus with green sauce, fried paniccette. 

In Friuli: leek tart, cheese mousse, salviade, frico, scallops au gratin, ricotta bombolotti.

In Emilia Romagna: crostini with bruscandolo pâté, anchovy donzelline, Garisenda fried, warm rabbit salad, sea snails, raviggiolo, mortadella mousse, zucchini pie, grilled tortelli.

With antipasti, we are sure that appetite... comes with eating!

S&M