One lazy Sunday morning

For many people, Sunday is a day to praise the Almighty, to relax and bond with the family, or recharge the body and spirit in preparation for the coming week's hectic schedules. For many families, Sunday schedule starts with Church, then a visit to the shopping mall or to relatives. Lunch becomes an important meal of the day and the destination for this nutritional input becomes a family matter to decide. Basically, it boils down on the family budget and the travel time since traffic on Sunday is unusually light.

Last May 6, 2007, your favorite food columnist's destination was a lazy morning drive on an invitation for a Sparkling Sundays Lunch at Aqua, an Italian restaurant in Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort & Spa.

I thought I knew Italian food until one day I met an Italian gentleman who said that until recently, there was no such thing as an "Italian Cuisine". Now that was indeed a surprise since Italy is an old country, in fact centuries old and surely an old nation has developed its national cuisine. On the other hand, Australia and New Zealand are relatively young and for this reason, the food of both countries have yet to evolve into a National Cuisine.

My Italian acquaintance lectured that Italian Cuisine is regional   and each region has its own food culture, unique and distinct from each other. He said that the reason for this culinary fragmentation is simple. Before World War II, most Italians with the exception of the nobility and clergy simply did not travel much.

 As a result, every town has something unique. Neighboring towns may share recipes or cooking techniques, although with individualistic tendencies and when we speak of regional cuisine, it is actually a series of local cuisines. And recipes on one end of the region may change completely at the other end of the region.

Armed with such information, your favorite food columnist has to go back to the books, roam the information highway for him to be conversant with the "soul" of Italian food culture.

The cuisine of Italy is divided into four main regions: North, Central, South and Island Cuisine.

Northern Italy traditional uses unsalted butter in their cooking since the north is too cold for olive trees to grow. For the rest of Italy-Central, South and the Islands-people cook with olive oil. There are a few exceptions, like the use of rendered lard in Abruzzo, Basilicata, Campania and Calabria. Today, the use of extra virgin olive oil is popular throughout Italy.

The Cuisine of the North includes the following La Cucina: Dell'Emilia Romagna (source of many ingredients like Prosciutto, Bologna or Mortadella di Boligna, and Aceto Balsamico), Friuli Venezia Giulia (produces some of the best grappa, a brandy distilled from grape pomace or marc, the material remaining in the winepress after grape pressing), Lombarda (ossibuchi, Risotto alla Milanese and Christmas cake called Panettonea are popular), Ligure  (ravioli originated here, most dishes are vegetarian and for festive occasions, cima alla genovese, stuffed breast of veal and tocco di carne, stewed beef are served) Piemontese (tajarin, egg noodles seasoned with meat sauce or butter and shaved truffles), Trentino Alto Adige ( located between Italy and Germany, Treninto, the southern half  is Italian while the cuisine of Alto Adige is influenced by Germany, Valle D'Aosta (formaggio d'alpeggio cheese is produced) and Veneto (Venice is located here and its popular products include Asiago, one of Italy's finest sharp cheeses, and sparkling wine like Prosecco).

Central Italy has a climate hotter than the North but not as hot as that of the South and the Islands. This area is renowned for a rich farming tradition and tomato-based dishes are more common than in the North.  They also grow specialty crops like the farro (ancient grain farmed since the Roman times), saffron and chestnuts (roasted chestnuts and chestnut flour).

  Rome, the Eternal City is located in Lazio (La Cucina Laziale) and two meat dishes are unique to this region, the Coda alla Vaccinaraor or Roman oxtail stew and the Abbacchio or grilled suckling lamb while in Umbria (La Cucina Umbra), pork products are popular like salami and Salato, a heavily salted prosciutto of Parma.

 The breed of cattle called Cianina is raised extensively and Fiorentina or porterhouse steak is popular in La Cucina Toscana while in La Cucina Marchigiana, a costal region, Sgombri al Finocchio Selvatico, mackerel with wild fennel, is a signature dish. 

All this study makes your favorite food columnist very hungry (of course, also very thirsty since that bottle of sparkling Prosecco wine has long been emptied!) and I have merely scratched the surface of the food culture of Italy; North and Central regions pa lang and the South and Island regions will be continued next time when I write about Italian foods.

Anyway, if you have the yearning for Italian cuisine this Sunday, Aqua Italian Restaurant in Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort & Spa offers an extensive lunch menu of 30 dishes (each dish will cost Php250 each, excluding service charge and government taxes). Take a look at some of these dishes; call 2310288 extension 68224 and you can enjoy a bottle of sparkling Prosecco wine for Php250 with the same ++.

Buon Appetito!