Rainy Days and Anchovy Festivals

Manuel was right about a few things in the past 24 hours. First, it’s grey and rainy today, which he predicted from his aforementioned magical weather prediction system yesterday. I also used a magical, ancient American system (called Google) and confirmed it. More then a few tourists are miserable because of this – the weather here has been hot and sunny, more like mid-August then mid-September. Coupled with a train strike, those seeking a short weekend in the Cinque Terre at the beach are now stuck here until the strike ends tonight, and many of the tourists, as I discovered last night, had no idea the strike was even happening.

Hearing one table lament to their neighbors last night at the Cantina that they couldn’t drink too much wine since they had to catch an early train, I turned around, having overheard, prepared to be the bearer of bad news. “Um, you’re train won’t be coming – there is a strike until Sunday at 9pm”. This caused something of a chain reaction of our American diners last night as table after table nervously called me over – “What do you mean, a strike?”

An inconvenience like a sciopero wouldn’t have been a annoying if today was like yesterday, with a cloudless blue sky, a light breeze, and an anchovy festival I’d been looking forward to for months. Anchovies, as I’ve mentioned time and time again, are the humble stars of the diet of the Cinque Terre.

As I wrote in a paper for a Techniques of Regional Cuisine class for New York University, aptly entitled “Acciughe: The Unassuming Star of Ligurian Cuisine and the Cultural Importance of Anchovies in the Italian Riviera”:

The fish that thrive in these waters are the small silver and blue anchovies that made up a bulk of the Ligurian catch[1]. The shelf in the water that makes it difficult for other fish to inhabit is perfect for the anchovies, as any sort of continental shelf is their preferred environment, and it is what makes them the most important water column (as opposed to bottom dwelling) fish in the Ligurian Sea[2]. The area around the Cinque Terre as well as a few other Ligurian towns such as Portofino and Capo Mortola, is a relatively uninhabited, stable coastline, in sharp contrast to the development surrounding Genoa and La Spezia[3]. The mountains of the region that have made life difficult for Ligurians for centuries benefit the anchovies as they act as a deterrent against over development. These pesce azzuro (which translates to “blue fish” but means any of the small fish caught in the Ligurian sea) stand as a testament to the Ligurian resolve to, as food writer and Ligurian resident Fred Plotkin notes, “make the best with what they are given”[4]. The rocky mountains that make up the rest of the region mean that any land that could be farmed is built in terraced plots bordered by slate and also make it difficult to employ any new farming techniques[5]. Truly, as Italian food expert Elena Kostioukovitch notes in her book “Why Italians Love To Talk About Food”, the cuisine of Liguria is “first and foremost [that of] the seamen’s”[6]. Even as Genoa went through its heyday as the so-called “center of the universe”, it nevertheless remained the capital of a region with difficult terrain to farm and a sea difficult to harvest from, and a people who had an unwavering attachment to their coastal cuisine[7].

A variety of different cooking techniques and ingredients also made their mark in the preparation of these simple, peasant dishes of Liguria based on its importance as a region bordering the ocean, even as their agricultural techniques did not[8]. The ports of Genoa and even La Spezia ensured a variety of influences from other cultures whose products made their way off the docks onto the Ligurian table[9]. Tuscany may have gotten attention as Italy’s beacon of cuisine, and the canals of Venice are as enchanting as the history of Rome – but as journalist Phillipa Davenport writes, “Affections are reverting to the less tenderly rounded charms of Liguria, where the land plunges down to the sea and rises steeply into mountainscapes. On these precarious slopes, contained and transformed by stone terraces, nurtured by mild winters, clean air, bright light, salt breezes and generous Ligurian sun, fruits, vegetables and wild herbs thrive in profusion”. Fish, accompanied by a varied assortment of herbs and vegetables, stands out as the signature of Ligurian cookery.

This deep respect for the sea and their heavy reliance on what they can harvest from it played in many aspects of the Ligurians life beyond gastronomy. The season for anchovies migrating through the strait of Gibraltar and east from France peaks in late June and July[10]. It is no coincidence that the patron saint of Monterosso al Mare, one of the coastal towns of the UNESCO world heritage site the Cinque Terre, is the same day as the annual anchovy festival, not to be confused with the annual salted anchovy festival[11]. Saint John the Baptist Day is celebrated by local school children sending off candle lit paper boats into the sea at night, in the tradition of the local anchovy fishermen who catch their silver prizes by lantern and net during these summer nights. Though this day, June 23rd, is celebrated by commemorating the catching of the anchovies, a later holiday celebrating the patron saint of the second church in the town celebrates salted anchovies[12]. The first festival, held over the days from June 23-35 celebrates the catching of the actual fish[13]. The later festival in September (held on the third Sunday of the month) celebrates “la Sagra dell’Acciuga Salata”, or the celebration of the few months the anchovies have been lying in salt, preserving in dark caves in the town, now ready to eat[14]. It is the addition of this salt that prevents harmful bacteria from growing in the fish as it lies out, and it is the specific fat content and the freshness of the anchovy that aids in its “ripening”[15]. As a nod to both God and the sea, the Ligurians celebrate both the catching of the fish and the preserving of a good harvest at the beginning and the end of the anchovy “season”.

So, as you can gather, anchovies are more then just a little fish to nibble on. They’re linked to Ligurian culture and religion in several ways, and I have been looking forward to the Sagra dell’Acciuga Salata for months. Years. Much longer then anyone should ever look forward to an anchovy party.

Manuel warned me that my expectations were too high. I shrugged off his knowing face reasoning he was probably just jaded to a lifetime of anchovy festivals. I walked to the old town, armed with my camera and expecting to return stuffed with my favorite food yesterday afternoon.

Manuel, for the second time this weekend, was right. I was wholeheartedly disappointed. There were tents and stands lining the streets on this gorgeous Ligurian day, but selling handcrafts, jewelry, linens and the like – no anchovies. I made my way to the main church, happy that behind it I found a long table set up with a few picnic tables, selling a few types of anchovy dishes, but the tables were empty of diners and this was in no way the plethora of anchovies I had dreamed of. I walked up Via Roma to my friend Lorenzo’s enoteca, and found him faithfully giving demonstrations of the traditional method of salting the fish, nautical shirt, fisherman hat and all. He informed me that this was the last anchovy festival of the year, and maybe the people were tired. I responded, resigned to my little festival consisting of 2 tables, that I thought there would be people dressed as anchovies, that the streets would be full, etc, and he informed me if I wished, I could dress as an anchovy next year.

Regardless, the anchovies were great, and even if no one was eating them, oh well. More for me.

So, today, lamenting about the anchovies and the rain, I had a stroke of genius that was the perfect solution for a rainy day. I ran it by Manuel, and he confirmed it – we were both right in this case – banana nutella bread. Baking on a rainy day is fantastic, and our tiny apartment filled with sweet smells of the cake. It was so easy to make, and delicious. Ok, I don’t have a beach, a train or an anchovy festival this weekend. But a loaf of this gorgeous bread more then makes up for it.

Banana Nutella Bread (adapted from a recipe from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

2 ripe bananas, smashed

1/4 cup melted butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of cinnamon

3/4 cup plain yogurt

2 heaping spoonfuls Nutella

2 cups of all-purpose flour

METHOD

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the flour, mix, then as much yogurt as needed to keep the mixture rather moist (about ½ a cup). Pour almost all of the mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan, reserving about ½ a cup. Mix with the Nutella and the remainder of the yogurt, and swirl into the rest of the loaf with a knife. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yield: Makes one loaf.

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[1]Fred Plotkin. Recipes from Paradise: Life and Food on the Italian Riviera. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 1997, p. 323

[2]Nikolaos Nikolioudakis and Stylianos Somarakis. “Oceanographic habitat, growth and mortality of larval anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the northern Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean)”. Marine Biology: International Journal on Life in Oceans and Coastal Waters. Vol. 152 (2007) p. 1143. Accessed via Google Scholar, Internet.

[3]R. Cattaneo Vietti, et al. “The Ligurian Sea: Present Status, Problems and Perspectives”. Chemistry and Ecology. Vol. 26, S.1 (2010) p.319. Accessed online via New York University.

[4]Fred Plotkin. Recipes from Paradise: Life and Food on the Italian Riviera. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 1997, p323

[5]Elena Kostioukovitch. Why Italians Love to Talk About Food. Appel, Anne Milano, trans. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 2006, p.106

[6] Elena Kostioukovitch. Why Italians Love to Talk About Food. Appel, Anne Milano, trans. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 2006, p.106

[7]Philippa Davenport. “The Best Pesto Is Made in Paradise”. Financial Times (London). 16 Oct 1999. pg. 13. ProQuest, New York University. 12 Feb 2011.

[8]Laura Rangoni. Profumi e Sapori di Liguria. Genova, Italy: Liguriapress, 2004. P. 7.

[9]Laura Rangoni. Profumi e Sapori di Liguria. Genova, Italy: Liguriapress, 2004. p.7.

[10]Enrico Pocopagni. Cinque Terre. “Gastronomy: Cinque Terre, Riviera and Vara Valley Food”, “Cinque Terre Trails”, and “Liguria Wine: Cinque Terre”. 28 Jan 2011.<http://riviera-cinque-terre.org/cinque_terre/acciughe_monterosso.html >

[11]Francesco Bravin. Monterosso: fra turismo e tradizione. Universita Degli Studi di Milano, Bicocca: Facolta di Scienze della Formazione Corso di Laurea Specialistica in Scienze Antropologiche ed Etnologiche. Dottoressa Silvia Barberiani, relatore. Professor Ugo Fabietti, corealitore. Academic Year 2006-2007.

[12] “Italian Riviera Sights: Monterosso al Mare Review”. Fodors Online. 13 April 2011.

[13] Italian Riviera Sights: Monterosso al Mare Review”. Fodors Online. 13 April 2011.

[14]Francesco Bravin. Monterosso: fra turismo e tradizione. Universita Degli Studi di Milano, Bicocca: Facolta di Scienze della Formazione Corso di Laurea Specialistica in Scienze Antropologiche ed Etnologiche. Dottoressa Silvia Barberiani, relatore. Professor Ugo Fabietti, corealitore. Academic Year 2006-2007.

[15] M. M. Hernández-Herrero, A. X. Roig-Sagués, E. I. López-Sabater; J. J. Rodríguez-Jerez, and M. T. Mora-Ventura. “Total Volatile Basic Nitrogen and other Physico- chemical and Microbiological Characteristics as Related to Ripening of Salted Anchovies”. Journal of Food Science. 1999. Vol. 64, No. 2, p. 344.