Lombard cuisine consists of the cooking traditions and practices of the Lombardy region. The historical events of its provinces and of the diversity of its territories resulted in a varied culinary tradition. First courses in Lombard cuisine range from risottos to soups and stuffed pasta (in broth or not), and a large choice of second-course meat or fish dishes, due to the many lakes and rivers of Lombardy..
The cuisine of the various Lombardy provinces have the following traits in common: prevalence of rice and stuffed pasta over dry pasta, both butter and olive oil for cooking, dishes cooked for a long time, as well as the widespread use of pork, milk and dairy products, and egg-based preparations, as well as the consumption of polenta, common to the whole of northern Italy..
Overview
Due to the different historical events of its provinces and the variety of its territory, Lombard cuisine has a very varied culinary tradition. First courses in Lombard cuisine range from risotto, to soups and stuffed pasta, in broth or not. Main courses offer a variegated choice of meat or fish dishes of the tradition of the many lakes and rivers of Lombardy.
In general, the cuisine of the various provinces of Lombardy can be united by the prevalence of rice and stuffed pasta over dry pasta, butter instead of olive oil for cooking, prolonged cooking, the widespread use of pork, milk and derivatives, egg-based preparations, and the consumption of polenta that is common to all of northern Italy.
Rice dishes are very popular in this region, often found in soups as well as risotto. The best-known version is , flavoured with saffron. Due to its characteristic yellow colour, it is often called . The dish is sometimes served with ossobuco (cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine and broth).
Other regional specialties include (a fried breaded cutlet of veal similar to Wiener schnitzel, but cooked "bone-in"), (a typically winter dish prepared with cabbage and pork), (rich condiment made with candied fruit and a mustard flavoured syrup), Valtellina's bresaola (air-dried salted beef), (a flat ribbon pasta made with 80% buckwheat flour and 20% wheat flour cooked along with greens, cubed potatoes, and layered with pieces of Valtellina Casera cheese), (a type of ravioli with Pavese stew filling), (a type of stuffed pasta, usually garnished with melted butter and sage, typical of Bergamo) and (a type of ravioli with pumpkin filling, usually garnished with melted butter and sage or tomato).
Common in the whole Insubria area are , originating from Alto Milanese, which consist in a braised meat dish cut very thin and cooked in wine and fennel seeds, historically obtained by stripping leftover meat. Regional cheeses include Grana Padano, Gorgonzola, , , and Taleggio (the plains of central and southern Lombardy allow intensive cattle farming). Polenta is common across the region. Regional desserts include the famous panettone (soft sweet bread with raisins and candied citron and orange chunks).
History
Lombard cooking has ancient historical roots dating back to the settlement of Celts in the Po Valley. The most ancient Lombardy dish is cuz, whose preparation has Celtic origins: it is a second course based on lamb that is common in Val Camonica.
Later on, the elaboration and methods of Lombardy's cooking were influenced by the dominations that followed one another during the centuries: from the ancient Romans to the Duchy of Milan and the Duchy of Mantua, that is the Austrians, the Spanish and the French, as well as the dominion of the Republic of Venice in the areas of Bergamo and Brescia. Milan is home to the oldest restaurant in Italy and the second in Europe, the Antica trattoria Bagutto, which has existed since at least 1284.
Characteristics
Due to the great territorial and historical variety of Lombardy, it is very difficult to identify a unified Lombard cuisine: it makes more sense to identify a continuum of provincial cuisines having similar elements throughout the region.
Perhaps the most peculiar characteristic is the prevalence of filled pasta over dry pasta, but above all rice: from the latter it is possible to make both traditional poor man's rice soups and rice with meat or vegetables, up to the most elaborate and refined risottos. Related to the cooking of risotto, but not only, is the use of butter, and sometimes lard, in sautéing and frying instead of oil: the use of butter for cooking food is part of the high regional diffusion of milk and dairy products, Lombardy is the largest producer of milk in Italy with about 40% of the national production, and one of the regions with a greater variety of cheeses. The common Lombard panorama is completed by the use of recipes based on eggs (omelettes and similar preparations), pork and polenta, shared with the rest of the Po Valley.
From the point of view of preparation, preponderant, although not exclusive, are the recipes with prolonged cooking and low heat, such as braised, stewed and boiled meat, historically derived from the abundance of firewood in the territory and the consequent cooking on the grill.
A first approximate subdivision of Lombardy's cooking can be done from a territorial point of view: in the low Po Valley, in the areas where rice is cultivated, risottos will be more common together with vegetables widely cultivated in the plain, whereas as one gets closer to alpine areas will be more common dishes based on game or pasture animals, as well as side dishes based on potatoes and cabbage. Gastronomic islands are constituted by the lakes, where there are risottos and stews based on freshwater fish and olive cultivation is practiced: there are two olive oils with protected designation of origin (PDO), Garda and Laghi Lombardi.
A second classification can be done by taking into account the history of the single provinces and their geographical borders: as it is logical to expect, the eastern Lombard cuisine will have some traits in common with the Venetian one, the western one with the Piedmontese one based on braised meat and stews, the southern one with the Emilian one where preparations based on stuffed pastas predominate, whereas the cuisine of Valtellina will have some traits in common with the Alpine cuisine with a wide use of game, salami and cheese as base or condiment for main courses..
Typical dishes
Antipasti
The most common appetizers on Lombard tables are based on cured meats and cheeses, widely spread in the region; however, they are often consumed as second courses or as the conclusion of a meal, accompanied or not by polenta or fried polenta.
Appetizers include sciatt valtellinesi, crispy buckwheat pancakes filled with cheese which is melted during cooking in butter, nervetti in insalata milanesi, prepared with calf feet, beans and onions, and margottini alla bergamasca, semolina cakes bound with egg, branzi and meat broth.
Among the pâtés are Milanese-style veal liver pâté, goose pâté from Lomellina and chub pâté from the Brescia area. A popular appetizer was once trifoliated snails, widely available in the wooded and agricultural territory.
Primi piatti
Primi piatti of rice
Rice is a common element to all the local cuisines of Lombardy, and represents the base of first courses from Valtellina to Mantovano: Lombardy is responsible for 42% of the whole Italian rice production. The "basic" rice preparation common to the whole region is rice in cagnone, rice boiled in salted water and seasoned with butter in which garlic and sage have been sautéed, and finally sprinkled with Grana cheese. It can also be served with asparagus or pumpkin.. Besides this there are also soups prepared with rice, combined with typical vegetables of the whole region, such as cabbage, turnip, peas and coratella. The main dish of the region is risotto, rice toasted and then cooked with hot broth: common in the whole Lombardy territory is risotto with mushrooms, and with sausage..
Traditionally local, although known well outside the region, are risotto alla milanese, which owes its characteristic yellow color to saffron; its "simplified" version alla monzese without saffron and with luganega instead of beef marrow; and risotto alla pilota, typical of the Mantua area. In addition to meat and vegetable risottos, in the vicinity of the lakes fish risottos are common, such as risotto with perch from Lake Como and risotto with tench from Lake Garda.
Stuffed pasta
A common stuffed pasta dish of the whole region are the so-called ravioli di magro, ravioli with a generic stuffing made of egg yolk, ricotta cheese and herbs which vary from area to area. Among the most common variants there are spinach and hop tops, whereas in the past, in times of economic hardship, ravioli were also filled with wild herbs, such as dandelion, nettles and borage..
Typical of the eastern provinces are casoncelli (casonsei), stuffed pasta of various shapes (half-moon shaped in Bergamo, square or "candy-like" in Brescia) stuffed with meat, Grana cheese and aromatic herbs and eaten with a sprinkling of butter and cheese, marubini in broth from the province of Cremona, square shaped and stuffed with braised meat, mixture of salami, Grana Padano cheese and nutmeg. In the province of Mantua are tortelli di zucca ('pumpkin tortelli'), to which is added apple mostarda and amaretto, and finally the very particular tortelli cremaschi, prepared with a filling of amaretti, raisins, mint, candied citron, mostaccini and lemon peel, as well as classic ingredients such as breadcrumbs and nutmeg.. Belonging to the province of Pavia, in particular to Oltrepò Pavese are agnolotti pavesi.
Other types of pasta
Among the most famous examples of dry pasta are pizzoccheri della Valtellina, thick tagliatelle made of buckwheat flour and seasoned with potatoes, savoy cabbage and melted cheese, bigoli con sardelle, bigoli boiled and then browned in the cooking juices of sardines typical of the Mantua area, or bardele coi marai, or borage tagliatelle generally seasoned with butter typical of the Garda area of Brescia. Among the dishes similar to gnocchi can be mentioned, besides pumpkin gnocchi and pizzoccheri from Valchiavenna, small potato gnocchi with butter and melted cheese, strangolapreti from Bergamo, made of a dough made of stale bread, eggs, milk and herbs.
Soups A renowned soup based on Lombardy's agricultural products is minestrone alla milanese, obtained by boiling the main vegetables growing in the region and flavored with lard and pork rinds.. Other dishes of the poor tradition are the zuppa alla pavese, a soup made with broth, stale bread, eggs and grated cheese, and the pancotto, stale bread soaked in water, cooked in a pot together with butter and with the addition of meat, cooked in the whole region: a sort of "summation" of the two dishes is constituted by the minestra mariconda bresciana, obtained by adding to the previous ingredients also some cow's milk. In Brianza can also be found urgiada, a soup of barley with bacon, leeks and beans.
Secondi Dishes of the Lombardy region are mainly based on meat, even though there are many examples of fish dishes spread near lakes and big rivers such as Po or Ticino.
Meat-based
Widespread throughout the territory is sausage, especially pork sausage, in all its variants such as mutton sausage from Valcamonica and strinù. Another popular dish is bollito misto (mixed boiled meats), according to the province, prepared with different cuts of meat, accompanied by Cremonese or Mantuan mostarda: cotechino is also widely consumed throughout the territory and is sometimes served together with bollito misto. The most famous variant of the territory is the gran bollito cremonese, in which are added to the classic boiled meat cuts, calf's head, calf's tongue and pot salami, accompanied by the classic boiled sauces.