It is imaginative, rich and spicy – Calabria’s cuisine. Important components of the country’s typical diet are vegetables, fish, noodles and pork – of rural and local production.
Delicacies are, for example, vegetables in high-grade olive oil, fresh seafood, fish soups and various cheese products from Caciocavallo to Pecorino … - accompanied by the proper table wine de casa.
It is imaginative, rich and spicy – Calabria’s cuisine. Important components of the country’s typical diet are vegetables, fish, noodles and pork – of rural and local production.
Delicacies are, for example, vegetables in high-grade olive oil, fresh seafood, fish soups and various cheese products from Caciocavallo to Pecorino … - accompanied by the proper table wine de casa.
Calabrian cuisine knows quite a number of different aubergine dishes: sweet and sour, in vinegar marinade, filled, deep-fried … Of course, seafood and fish play an important role in Calabrian cuisine; swordfish and tuna fishing has got an especially long tradition. You should absolutely try one of the delicious swordfish 'creations' as well as one of the typical pasta dishes.
Fileja con 'Nduja, for example, is a dish of traditionally hand-made, typically Calabrian noodles with 'Nduja- tomato sauce. A specialty of the region is pitta, the Italian type of the well-known pita; you might call it part pizza, part pie, part bread or stuffed flatbread, but whatever you call it, it is typically Calabrian.
A well-known agricultural product of Capo Vaticano is the Cipolla rossa di Tropea. Italy’s most famous onion is grown in the coastal area between Capo Vaticano and Vibo Valentia.
The onion is believed to have been brought to Calabria on Phoenician ships over 2,000 years ago. Old documents prove that it was an important resource of the region and it is still an essential ingredient of many dishes today.
In the town of Pizzo, not far from Tropea, 13 gelaterie compete for the attention of local and foreign “sweet teeth”: They all specialize in the production of Gelato al Tartufo.
Tartufo bianco, the classic, is a scoop of vanilla glacé filled with dark chocolate sauce and dusted with cocoa. There many kinds of tartufo, e.g. tartufo cioccolato and tartufo mocca. The name is based on the Italian word for truffle.
The culinary specialties at Capo Vaticano are of course also celebrated with festivals, for example, and to name just a few, the Octopus Festival at Joppolo, the Vegetable Festival at Monterosso and the Onion Festival at Ricadi (August 13th).
As omelette or scalloped: Following, two of the countless recipes featuring Tropea's red onions as the most important ingredient.
Omelette with onions
Ingredients for 4 persons: 1 kg red onions from Tropea, 4 eggs, Parmesan, ½ glass of olive oil, salt and pepper.
Cut onions into fine slices and fry them lightly in a pan; then let them cool and “drip” off. Put the eggs into a bowl, beat them until they are foamy, add salt, pepper and finally the onions. Heat up the oil in a pan, add the egg-and-onion mixture and let it cook at low heat until set. Serve lukewarm.
Scalloped red onions from Tropea
Ingredients for 4 persons: 8 onions of medium size, 400 g breadcrumbs, 50 g Pecorino cheese, 1dl olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley.
Peal the onions, cut them in half, put them into an oiled pan and let them cook at low heat. Meanwhile prepare a smooth mix of breadcrumbs, finely chopped parsley, black pepper, grated Pecorino and olive oil. Add it to the onions and bake in the oven at low heat for about 40 minutes.
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