Brescia capital of culture: Brescian recipes

Brixia and cuts of meat

The people of Brescia are very proud of their origins. A land rich in raw materials linked to agriculture with different settings so as to offer multiple preparations. The typical Bresciano is the representation of a simple and traditional person linked to family, profound values ​​closely linked to work, from time to time he chooses to party and enjoy fun evenings, he adores genuine flavors and prefers simple cuts of meat to put on the grill and return a dish to perfection or combine strong and well-defined flavors to accompany with one of the many full-bodied wines produced in the province.

A particular territory which, a bit like Bergamo, unites mountains and plains, lakes and rivers. Furthermore, 2023 represents the perfect year to visit the city which, together with Bergamo, plays the role of capital of culture. Opening your mind by combining trips out of town with typical dishes becomes a perfect travel mood that helps culture and offers the opportunity to wear local clothes starting from the table.

Brescia: special dishes and local customs

Each Brescian dish is inextricably linked to the territory in various aspects, on the one hand the possibility of finding the raw materials directly on site, experiencing an experience close to km 0, on the other the desire to keep tradition intact and make people aware of tourists and descendants how many varieties a single territory can offer.

Casoncelli from Brescia

A perfect mix that combines the Bergamo tradition with the desire to experiment and try new flavors of the Brescia area.

Plains, lakes and valleys come together bringing to the table a dish rich in flavor and with a sublime aroma, herbs are the main attraction of the dish which combines with the authentic taste of cheeses such as Quartirolo from Brescia. A heart full of flavor enclosed in thick dough that finds its maximum expression when the choice falls on local raw materials, because it is known that tasting food produced directly on site makes the experience even more complete.

The feud that has always seen Bergamo and Brescia pitted against each other in the land of casoncelli also finds clear references at the table, the casoncelli are the outpost of the battle that finds everyone victorious, although to add an opinion you need to taste, and then judge.

Mariconde soup

Soups have always been the Achilles' heel of all mothers who would like their offspring to eat a healthy, hot dish. Once upon a time, mariconde soup was a dish to be eaten in one bite, because people arrived at the table hungry afterwards. a day at school and maybe an afternoon working in the fields with the adults of the house.

The Brescia branded soup is very similar to the dumpling recipe, it includes a few ingredients defined as poor yet capable of releasing a refined and well-defined flavour: eggs, spoons of grated bread, spoons of grated Grana Padana, 100g of stale bread, butter, milk, nutmeg, salt, meat broth.

It's difficult to hold back when faced with mariconde soup, more for the fear of receiving a backhanded blow from whoever had laboriously prepared the dish than for the irrepressible desire to eat the soup. The flavor is dictated by the use of first choice cheeses and the meat broth which offered the possibility of preparing several dishes at the same time so as to save time and money in "lean" times.

Brescian-style village tripe

The culinary art of Brescia is linked to the fruits of the territory, nothing is thrown away or wasted and the Brescian village tripe is also born on this wavelength. Fifth quarter cuts, usually discarded and avoided, become succulent protagonists capable of offering a sublime and truly genuine taste, you simply need to follow the process to the letter to bring a dish that is beyond measure delicious to the table.

The fifth quarter is a cut of meat that is part of many traditional Italian dishes precisely because popular culture once chose to bring every part of the animal to the table and use with great cunning - and taste - recovered preparations, a bit like It still happens in Lazio with PicchiaPò boiled meat.

The Brescian-style village tripe chooses to be one of the key dishes of the true and authentic peasant culture made of a lot of work and just as much substance.

Brescian skewer

A centuries-long diatribe, even today the two provinces compete for the excellence of the dish, on the one hand the Brescian version which has a very long history, on the other various supporters who defend the origins.

Brescian spit or Treviso spit? It matters little who is right, and equally little is it necessary to know whether the Brescian spit is more - or less - good than the Treviso variant, what matters is that this too is a typical dish, and it is absolutely necessary to taste it.

“Nothing is thrown away from the pig”, a popular saying that never finds a wide scope of application as in the typical cuisine of Brescia which, alongside stories and legends, brings together flavors and tastes, bringing back good humor and calming the boiling spirits of period conservatives.

The spit is an undemanding dish, easy to prepare and excellent for practicing the supreme art of marinating. A piece of first choice meat carefully selected by master butchers and an ember ready to welcome what will remain etched in the memory for many.

Valsabbina style kid

Each area of ​​the province of Brescia boasts a typical dish worthy of note, which is why it is necessary to move around the province carefully choosing the stages to be respected with absolute certainty. If for many the few but good applies, to delve into the culinary art of Brescia you need exactly the opposite, from tripe to soup via the spit and casoncelli, a long and - cholesterol permitting - rather demanding journey.

The Valsabbina-style goat fully respects the characteristics of the "relative" dishes, usually proposed for Easter or Easter Monday, it chooses to be presented without too much pomp. In fact, the recipe includes a few ingredients that rather than completing the taste of the meat they choose to underline, moreover it has a particular taste that wants to be the absolute protagonist without other exciting flavours.

The Patuna

The journey through the culinary traditions of Brescia reaches its climax with a dessert which, once again, sees a dispute regarding its origin. This time it is the province of Cremona that claims the origin, but the people of Brescia of the time know the true root of the dessert which must absolutely be tasted to be judged. Otherwise it's not valid!

Autumn is the period in which it reaches the tables set on holiday Sundays, or even on weekdays, there is always a good reason to put on the table what we now know more commonly as chestnut cake. Essential and first choice ingredients, perhaps collected during a walk in the woods to make the dish even more symbolic of family unity, after all this is what dessert is for: to unite.

Brescia capital of culture 2023

The city of Brescia, together with Bergamo, is the capital of culture for 2023 and, to live a complete experience in every respect, the tourist can choose to take a culinary journey approaching legends and beliefs that encompass all - or almost all - the dishes of the Brescia tradition.

Discovering the myths or anecdotes that revolve around the dishes is always a surprise, noticing how many dishes are disputed is a real discovery that increases curiosity towards this or that dish which, only due to a preparation flaw, takes on different and always unique nuances .

The underlying theme of the dishes is represented by tradition and the simplicity with which you can bring unparalleled delicacies to the table and find cuts that are often downgraded and little considered to become true protagonists.

Sometimes it is a simple cooking that becomes the highlight, other times it is the addition of a local ingredient such as Rovato oil, in short it is always a question of choice and the preference towards local raw materials becomes a key winning.