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Pappa col pomodoro: red heart of Tuscany
Traditions and contaminations of a timeless recipe
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A delicious and very old recipe typical of the Tuscan peasant tradition, a dish capable of comforting us both in winter, when it is enjoyed hot, and in the hot season, when it is served in its cold version.
Recipes without borders
Apart from the obvious distinctions between Florence and Siena, between one province and another, this recipe is inextricably linked to Tuscany. Each territory then declines in its own way the preparations, which are never simple photocopies. But let's look further afield, have you ever tried salmorejo cordobés, the cold soup typical of the Cordoba area in Andalusia? Here too we find tomatoes, garlic, pieces of bread, extra virgin olive oil and salt, with the addition of vinegar. The same simple ingredients, the quality of which is essential to guarantee the final result and the satisfaction of the diners.
Here it would be necessary to go to the topic of using, or rather recovering, bread in the preparation of dishes, to the rich tradition of Mediterranean dishes with pancotto, and, then, we discover how there is a common thread, for us and for the Spanish, that even binds us to the cookbooks of ancient Rome, which already provided for the use of "wet" bread. You see well that to claim to draw boundaries for food is a useless thing; it is always possible to catch crossings of different cultures in local traditions. And it then remains for us to enjoy each contamination, eager to discover the secrets of each.
Salmorejo, the cold tomato soup from CordovaThree witnesses to a happy marriage
For some people, pappa al pomodoro is not just a dish, but an "elixir of long life," and for its preparation a precise ritual must be followed : boil the pappa until a veil forms on the surface, stir it while waiting for the veil to form again, repeating the operation seven times. Only at the end of this complicated ceremonial is the dish finally ready.
Speaking of cross-cultures though, we felt like experimenting, so how about a nice summer dish? Let us first know our ingredients: the tomato, in this case the Tuscan bombolino, a sweet variety, which for this preparation must be fresh and ripe. In the old days, the bombolini were picked without detaching them from the sprigs, so that they could be tied in sequence to a string and made into a kind of bunch to be hung to preserve them for a long time.
A more traditional version of pappa col pomodoroNext comes the Tuscan oil, the "bono" one, extra virgin olive oil, "essential son of the olive tree," as Neruda sings, and Tuscany here offers us ample opportunities for choice. Last but not least: Tuscan salt-free bread. We will use stale bread for our recipe: in ancient times, bread was baked once a week in a wood-fired oven, and the bread kept for the entire period between baking. A week's rest therefore should be enough!
Now it is time to celebrate this happy marriage of flavors. Here is a "raw" and summery version of gruel, perfect for that time of year when the African anticyclone inflames your days. An innocent betrayal of the original recipe, but whatever: Viva la pa-pa-pa-pappa, col po-po-pomodor!
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