Ep. 2087 Pairing Food & Wine From All Italian Regions - 3 Year Anniversary Special Pt. 1 | Wine, Food & Travel With Marc Millon

The show is called wine food and travel. So to mark this special episode, I thought we would make a whistle stop. A brief tour to each of Italy's twenty regions to highlight those Quint essential wine and food experiences that every visitor should make sure to discover and sample wherever you find yourself in La Bella italia. Welcome to wine food and travel. With me, Mark Billen, on Italian wine podcast, listen in as we journey to some of Italy's most beautiful places in the company of those who know them best. The families who grow grapes and make fabulous wines. Through their stories, we will learn not just about their wines, but also about their ways of life, the local and regional foods and specialities that pair naturally with their wines, and the most beautiful places to visit. We have a wonderful journey of discovery ahead of us, and I hope you will join me. Welcome to wine, food, and travel with me, Mark Minon on Italian Wine Podcast. Today's episode marks my one hundred and fifty six consecutive podcast, which means that I've been now doing podcasts every single week for exactly three years. It's a milestone that I'm proud of and I hope that you, my regular listeners, have enjoyed being part of this journey with me. Over this long period, we have visited many beautiful places together. We have met with wine producers from every single one of Italy's wine regions who have taken us directly into their worlds. Given us vivid insights into where they are located, the wines that they produce, and also the local foods that go best with their wines. We've learned about wine hospitality opportunities too and gained an insight into other things to do and enjoy in their areas. We've also met chefs, food producers, distillers, writers, and more. And these rich and enlightening conversations have, I hope, broadened your understanding and enjoyment of Italy. For the snow covered Alps, to Ireland closer to Africa than to the Italian mainland. This show is called wine food and travel. So to mark this special episode, I thought we would make a whistle stop a brief tour to each of Italy's twenty regions to highlight those quintessential wine and food experiences that every visitor should make sure to discover and sample wherever you find yourself in So without further ado, andiamo, let's go. Here are the first ten regions with the remaining ten following next week. Once up, you'll find both episodes on my wine food and travel with Mark Millon playlist on Italian wine podcast. Abruzzo. Abruzzo, like much of Italy, is a rugged land of contrasts located in central Italy across the spine of the ependines, and boasting the Grand Sasso, amongst the highest mountains in Italy, and hills that descend to the Adriatic coast. You can be skiing in winter, and not much more than an hour later, basque on a beach. This is a land of shepherds and fishermen, Still one of the few places in Europe where the annual transwomanSA, the transhuman still takes place, whereby hundreds, if not thousands of sheep are transported along ancient tracts in summer to the high pastures of the mountains. On the coast, fishing is still carried out from Thravoque, wooden piers that extend out into the sea with still like hats on the end from which nets are cast to gather a harvest from the sea. There are two outstanding dishes that must be sampled in a and which reflect both sea and mountain. Prudeto is a great soupy fish stew. The recipe for which can vary from town to town, family to family. Normally here, the flavorful broth is made from fish trimmings and bony rockfish that are thrown into the cooking pot, simmered with garlic, tomatoes, wine, or wine vinegar, saffron from Laquilla. And spiked with some diavolato chili pepper. One strained fish and shellfish like monkfish, langoustines, mussels, red mullet, or whatever other fish have been freshly caught or poached gently in that flavorful broth to result in a richly fragrant and delicious symphony of the Adriatic. The wine to enjoy with this is the best examples produced from the characterful Treviano a grape, a white that is forceful, full in flavor, and which can stand up to the rich and forthright flavors of the burudatto. Moving inland, a rostichini is another dish that is absolutely typical of Abruso. Long skewers of cubes of lamb, cooked over charcoal brazier, almost always outdoors. The smoke, the aroma of the charred lamb fat as the skewers are expertly turned is enough to drive you crazy. And the succulent flavorful does not disappoint. This is food to virtually tear into with your bare hands. And the wine to wash it down is, of course, multiple chana gabroso. This popular wine comes in many different guises from young and easy to drink to serious oak aged examples that rank among the greatest reds in Italy. Eye hankering to a company those charred cubes of fatty lamb is a lighter example. Ideally from organic vineyards, increasingly important in a with vibrant crunchy fruit, well knit tannins, and a streak of acidity. Helps to cut the grease of the meat. Vasilikata. Vasilikata is a deep southern region flanked by Calabria and Compania on its terrainian side and by Calabria and puglia on its ionian. Known also as Lukania, its ancient name, it has long been one of the most impoverished regions in Italy, a harsh mountainous land for which its inhabitants have long felt forced to leave in search of better lives. However, that is beginning to change as a younger generation is seeking to find ways to remain in the land that they love and one way is through the production of quality wine. Indeed, Vasilacat is greatest and best known wine Aliana Co del Volterre often made from ancient pre philosopher of vines grown on a long extinct volcano is rightly considered one of the great red wines of Italy. The local cuisine is firmly rustic and peasant in character. But no less delicious for that. The subsistence nature of mixed farms and small holdings has traditionally seen the pig as the mainstay of the diet. The pig together with sheep that are still sent out to graz on hill and mountain pasture land. Luganega, a well flavored sausage these days, mainly made in northern Italy, takes its name from the and indeed the local variety, Lucanica sausage has a history that dates back to the Greeks and the Romans. The best Lucanica dipiciano flavored with wild fennel and hot chilies to enjoy grilled over charcoal and used to make a spicy sausage ragu to have over handmade pasta. The wine to accompany it, is, of course, Alianaca del Voltres. The Alainico grapes cultivated for centuries on ancient volcanic soils to produce a deeply flavored red wine that has beautiful black fruit high acidity, and rich tannins, perfect with that spicy sausage. Calabria. Calabria, the tow of the Italian boot, lost by both the Iranian and ionian seas, and the gateway to Sicily just across the straits of Messina lay at the heart of manna Grisha. The important Greek colonies that were established here from the seventh century, BC. City states such as Croton, Cyprus, Kremissa were all renowned in the ancient world. Ciberas was reputed to be the most luxurious famous for its excessive hedonism. Hence, the word Ciberitic. Though today, this poor southern region is anything but its inhabitants, long force, either to immigrate in search of better lives or to scratch a living from a land that can be incredibly harsh shaped by the Aspramante and Sila mountains. Yet this is still very much a region of good things to eat and drink. Chili spiked salumi such as the now ubiquitous undulya. The sweet and prized onions from tropea, a perfusion of citrus fruits, especially Cedra or citron, wild foods forest for free, such as mushrooms from those wooded mountains. Fish comes from the coastal areas and meat and wild game from inland. Calabria is probably the hottest and spiciest cuisine of all of Italy's twenty regions. The love of chilies probably result from the fact that in poorer times, this was one way to give flavor to very little at very little cost. Today, that predilection for spicy hot foods is celebrated in a held every year in diamante. Mustika is what shall we call it, the poor man's caviar of Calabria, a paste made from salted anchovies, olive oil, and vast quantities of the hottest pepperoncini. To spread on bread is part of an antipasti array or to serve as a nibble with a chilled glass of cherubianco or melissa Bianco. Both zesty, saline whites made primarily from the Greco grape. What then to enjoy with Calabrio's greatest red chiro rosso produced from Galliope grapes cultivated in hill vineyards around the ancient town of chiro that rises just above the ionian coast and the ancient Greek ruins at Punta Annice. I would certainly not mind a glass or two of this with grilled steaks of peche spada, swordfish, but with a reserva, surprisingly light in color, but rich in structure, and well knit tannins, and I think are like a warming dish, like Capreto, a hearty mountain preparation made with cubes of kid, slow stewed with onions, potatoes, wine, and why not? Some more of those fiery pepperoncini. Campania. There is so much great food and wine that comes from Campania that it is difficult to make a choice. Naples, of course, is most famous as the home of pizza. And here you will undoubtedly find the best pizza that you will ever have in your life. Both traditional pizza margarita and pizza a la marinara, as well as more creative creations. I like the classic And with my pizza margarita, it has to be the wine of Naples. The wine that neapolitans themselves declare it to be the perfect pizza wine. Granyano from the Sorentine Peninsula, made from a blend of native grapes, including pediroso, Alianico, Shashinoza, and others, deep in color, vivacious and foaming, raspingly dry yet without tannin. This can be served chilled and more mother, and pairs just perfectly with real pizza from Nepal. What else? Along the coast, the dish that I always earn to eat is, of course, spaghetti. The clams must be the sweetest and most flavorful of all. Steams simply in wine, garlic, maybe a touch of pepperoncino, and served over perfectly al dente spaghetti. The best coincidentally comes from graniano like that pizza wine made from local wheat the pasta produced in the artisan fashion extruded slowly through a bronze dye. What wine then to pair with that gorgeous steaming bowl, a spaghetticon nivolet. For me, it must be a fannangina from the Campi flagre. The Burning Land just west of Naples, the vineyards blessed by the salty sea breezes of the bay, fresh, with beautiful citrus fruit that pairs so well with those juicy clams. Indender pinio meanwhile, was once started with hunting lodges owned by the Spanish aristocracy who lived luxuriously and dined in baroque splendor. Today, though Rapina is famous as one of Italy's most prestigious wine regions, In the woods and forests of hills and mountains, game is still plentiful, wild boar, venison, game birds, and more, full flavored foods that pair with one of the best red wines in Italy, Tarazi, a magnificent expression of the mighty Allianni. Emilia romagna. Emilia romagna, the belly of Italy, running along the Broad Po valley is a rich source of so many good things to eat. As well as to drink. This is the land of salumi, the best cured pork products in the country, including many that are known and found around the world, as well as others that you will only encounter here. Projute to the Department, Mortodality, Bologna, Kopa Pia Chantina, Salamidi fellino, and much, much more. A slice of cured salumi say a slice of or stuffed into a and accompanied by a glass or tumbler of sparkling pinolato or pale foaming lambrusco di sorbara is truly the taste of Emilia. Across the non existent border in Romania, there are more hills, vineyards, and olive groves, and grilled lamb, and mutton are the favorite meats rather than pork. Anelo Coipizaleo Ouzo di Romania is a classic as outlined by Italy's first domestic cookbook author, pellegrino Artuzzi, who who came from the town of Foley Popoli, For this dish, the cubes of succulent lamb are sauteed with tomatoes and peas, a home cooked favorite accompanied by a canichail, sangiovese de Romagna. And what about bologna la graca? Bologna, the fat. The most famous dish in this Italy's foremost city for food must be the silky hand rolled s volia of pasta made from no more than doppiozero flour and eggs. Hand cut into strips is classically bathed in a slow simmered meat ragu and topped with another glory of emilia Romagna. Age parmigiano regiano. This is a dish that cries out to be paired with a good red wine, but which red wine? Bylonia virtually straddles the two regions of Amelia and Romania, which each have very different histories, and there's a good argument for choosing wine from either. A deeply colored lambrosco de Grasparosa, bone dry and wildly foaming, the razor sharp acidity helping to cut the richness of the ragu while a deeper, okay, San Giovanni, is also perfect with that steaming bowl of pasta, especially on a cold day in winter, when miss and damp envelops the Po valley. Either way, you won't be disappointed. Who wants to be the next Italian wine Ambassador. Join an exclusive network of four hundred Italian wine ambassadors across forty eight countries. Vine Italy International Academy is coming to Chicago on October nineteenth is twenty first, and while Mati Kazakhstan from November sixteenth to eighteenth. Don't miss out. Register now at Vineetri dot com. We are in the far northeastern corner of Italy in a region that is at a crossroads in which has changed allegiances and been fought over since the time of the Romans and probably even earlier. For Yuliv in Ezia, Julia. This is a natural corridor that links the Italian Peninsula to both Northern Europe as well as east to the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean. The Lombards descended over the Alps in the sixth century ID And the region was a long part of the Austro Hungarian Empire. And both World War one and two, it was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting. If a mix of cultures that have passed through for you leaving Ezia, Julia, or evidence of a turbulent past What is without question is that the result is one of the most intriguing of all the many and singular cuisines of Italy with influences from Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Venice, all flavoring the, and adding the distinctive flavors of Central Europe to the nation's canon of dishes. Yota, for example, is a typical bean feast from trieste a soupy one pot meal of beans, large pork and sauerkraut that is something of the emblem of the city. Enjoy this hearty rib tickler with, I'd say, a glass or two of Malvasia Isriana. From the Carissa or why not, with an example from across borders that previously did not exist from either Slovenia or Croatia. Slovenia influence is abound in dishes such as Chalstones, a sort of ravioli filled with dried fruits and jam, ricotta herbs, spices, sweet, salty, spicy bathed in melted butter to be eaten as a primo piano. Or first course. Ideally accompanied if you ask me with a glass or two of Friolano from the Colio, the ponca marl soil of this sound capable of producing white wines that have an added depth of flavor. A stony minerality, a long and persistent finish. What about the rich, warming food traditions of the mountains? Is just such a hearty dish. A fatty boiling tsunami pulled out of the ever present called DIA to be cut into thick slices, served with bravada, sour, fermented turnips, and the ever present polenta, still the staple of the region. With dishes such as this, I turned to a local red My favorite, the hugely structured, deep in color, rich in tannin, pinolos. One of the most distinctive and uncompromising of all wines from this land where people have had to make do with hardship and more over the centuries. And to have carved out their own distinctive identity, not least through their food and wines. Latio, or Latium, is the region that encompasses Rome and its surrounds. From the Iranian coast to the Epenines and bordering Tuscany, umbria, Abruzzo, and Campania. It's traditional cuisine like almost all Italian regional cuisines has its roots in the Cucchini povera. With dishes that made good use of not much at all. The four classic pasta dishes of Rome are case in point, cut choy pepe, short or long pasta with pecorino cheese and black pepper. Nothing else. Which includes the addition of guanciale, pig's gel, carbonara, which has a further addition of eggs or egg yolks, and amitruchana, which further includes tomatoes and perhaps a touch of pepperoncino. The best wine pairings, perhaps a white from Coli albani or an unopened red cesonese. Porqueta purchased from a roadside van in wine town such as Fraschati is a delicious street food, A whole pig deboned and stuffed with plenty of garlic, wild fennel, black pepper, fragrant, greasy, delicious carved warm into paper packets, were stuffed in rolls to enjoy with the hands, washed down with simple jugs of the local wines. Or with a good bottle of Frascati made primarily from the superior Malvasia Pountinata. While the seaside, the usual maritime favorites can be found while inland as well as in Rome itself, Heartier meat dishes are typical. Roman cuisine is renowned for making use of every part of an animal, the so called or fifth quarter to note the use of offal. Those bits that in richer cuisines might be astute, codal Avachinata, ox tail is a good example. Slow braised in garlic and tomatoes until the meat is falling off the gooey bow, beautiful, paired with a richer red, such as a super Latian mine from the Myrlow grape, or an oak cage, cesare de fille. Ligoria. Ligoria is a narrow maritime region, that extends from the French border down the coast of Genoa as its capital to the border with Tuscany. Sheik seaside towns such as Portofino attract the well heeled jet set, where the five seaside villages of cinque terre bring in the rest of the world. Like almost everywhere else, Nagoria is a land of sea and mountain. Here in the sunshine, vegetables and herbs gain intense flavors as in the region's most famous dish. Pesto on a genovese, dark, small lute, fragrant nogorean basil, pounded to an emulsion with garlic, pine nuts, parmigiano regiano cheese, and yellow teams, local extra virgin olive oil. This pesto or paste is classically served on troffier pasta. Little handmade spirals. The pasta cooked alongside both potatoes and green beans, the definitive taste of liguria. The favorite wine to pair with this classic is a zesty yet full flavored vermantino, known also as Pigatto, from the Riviera, anywhere along the coast. In seaside towns, you will be able to feast on a great array of seafood antipasti. Chulfish such as or simply grilled local fish. In the the local wine, made from grapes cultivated on steep heroic vineyards that descend virtually to the sea's edge pairs beautifully and effortly with the local maritime cuisine. Indian foods include games such as rabbit, gamebirds, wild boar, hearty foods for hardworking people. The meat juices soaked up with slabs of okacha made with good ligotian olive oil, and accompanied by red wine from the rosette grape, fruity with good acidity to cut through the grease. To finish a meal, try a biscotto de la gacho flavored with fennel seeds accompanied by a small glass of shakitra, fasito dessert wine from cinque terre. Lombardia. Rich Lombardy with Milan, the financial capital of Italy, is not somewhere that immediately comes to mind when we think of Italy's greatest food and wine regions, but make no mistake. There's a wealth of good things to eat and drink from here. This is a land that encompasses the high alps, some of the most beautiful and most visited of Italy's lakes and extends down to the fertile and abundant po valley. From Lake's como, Magiore, Garda, and Isaiah come in abundance of freshwater fish as well as unique, conserve lake specialties such as the from Lake isao, and the misartini from lake como. The small sardines sized fish known as Agony are first salted, then hung outdoors to cure in the dry breezes that sweep down the lakes from the mountains, a salty chewy local delicacy that is often served simply with polenta. Strange as it may seem. The best wine to try with this, as well as with the delicious fresh fish of the lakes is Franca Corta. The classic sparkling wine crisp and fresh to either temper the more intense flavors of the salted and preserved fish for it to complement the delicacy of the fresh. What about Milan's most famous dish? Slow brie, shinneville, served with a saffron tinted risotto sprinkled with a garnish of gramolata made from parsley garlic and lemon zest. The wine excellence for this beautiful and classic dish must be a powerful yet ethereal red from the beautiful Alpine Valtelina where Nebula grapes are cultivated on ancient dry stone terraced vineyards. Lombardi gained its name because it became the capital of the Lombards. The Longo Bardi were long beards. Germanic nomads who descended over the Alps to eventually claim and rule over much of the Italian Peninsula for some two hundred years from their capital at Avilla. The Lombards brought with them their native pig and helped to foster a tradition of curing of salumi. Interestingly, some of the most distinctive cured meat projects of pavia come not from the meat of pigs, but from geese. Indeed, both salami Dokka, as well as Projuto Dokka remain popular, best accompanied by foaming glasses of Bonardo from Montreal Paveza or why not? With a glass or two of Pino Nero Mendo Locasico from the same wine zone. Marque. La Marque, a region that extends down the Adriatic seaboard remained surprisingly and unexpectedly undiscovered, at least by international visitors. Italians, especially in summer, thronged to the seaside resorts, as well as enjoy time in the beautiful mountains. It's a land that not only encompasses sea and mountain cuisines. It is also a bridge between Northern and Southern Italy. From the sophisticated and historic university town of Urbino in the north, to medieval Escali Picchino, one of Italy's most beautiful small cities in the south via Encona and Macharatta. There's much to discover, including history, art, churches and monuments, and a delicious regional cuisine and sensational wines. Let's start with an imperativo in the south in Escalipiceno, where we stop on paper wrapped cones of possibly the best drinking nibble ever invented, the Oliva Escalana, a large meaty Escalana, tendera, olive, pitted, and stuffed with a mixture of various meats, breaded, and deep fried. Best enjoyed piping hot with a glass or tumbler of Pasadena or pecorino white wine. The best pecorino wines come from nearby Ophida. Where some decades ago, Guido Kochi grifoni, saved this distinctive grape variety from extinction. Further up the coast at Porto Novo just south of Ancona and under the brooding Monte Conaro will dine on a primo piano spaghetti Coimoschli spaghetti with mussels. Moshely is a local name for. The mussels simmered in a light tomato sauce, a dish best sampled with your toes virtually washed by the tide at waterfront restaurants. Here, the wine you enjoy with this sea fresh dish is definitely Marche's most distinctive white, verdicchio de Castel de Azi. Not one of the bigger and more structured examples, but rather a lighter version. Perfect on a hot summer day. Wine that almost seems to evaporate in the glass, meaning you must order another bottle. Diaper. Richard more full and structured versions from the Vadicchio come from both the Castelli Dierze and metallica. And go well with full flavored foods, perhaps Anitra in porchetta, a bone duck stuffed with garlic and wild fennel and cooked in a wood oven. This is a land of hardworking folk who take their food seriously. In Carto Cheta, with town famous for the quality of its extra virgin olive oil, there is a the local lasagna variation, the sheets of fresh egg pasta layered with any number of ingredients, including varieties of meat, Bachamel, chicken liver, porcini mushrooms, and maybe even tartuffie from nearby Aqualanga, an abundant source of both summer, as well as white and black truffles, and associated truffle products. Hearty warming foods are also the feature of the cuisine, such as Conillo, rabbit, or oka, goose in Potakio, a method of slow stewing the meats in an earthenware pot flavored with garlic, tomato, rose, Mary, and wine, the sort of richer food that is delicious with a full bodied red, such as rosso conero, from multiple chana grapes from the monte conero or rosso pichano. A blend of multiple channel and Sanjay from the province of Escalie Picchino. We hope you enjoyed today's episode of wine, food, and travel. With me, Mark Millen, on Italian wine podcast. Please remember to like, share, and subscribe right here, or wherever you get your pods. Likewise, you can visit us at Italianwine podcast dot com. Until next time.