Cucina e Vini Friulani nel Mondo was edited by Gianfranco Angelico Benvenuto and published by the Camera di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura di Udine. In his foreword, Gianni Bravo, then-President of the Camera di Commercio, discusses the “proven fact that the Friuli region has a distinct identity, different from the other Italian regions as a result of the history of its people” and that “the natural resources of a basically stingy land have been put to good use.”
Bravo cites, by way of example, a menu from 1870 for the wedding of a carpenter from Ravascletto. This nuptial menu featured rice soup, boiled meats, radicchio seasoned with seed oil and sour whey, cjalçons, wheat bread, and wine—a celebration feast prepared from basic ingredients. He maintains that, little by little, modest dishes such as these “the housewife has been able to enhance with the use of her fantasy.”
The cover proclaims the book to be “the bible of Friulian cuisine,” although with only 110 recipes, it’s far from the most comprehensive Friulian cookbook in my collection. What does set this book apart is that its entirety (even the index) is printed in five languages: Furlan, Italian, French, English, and German.
The English translation of the index sorts the recipes into the following categories: sauces and condiments; appetizers and snacks; soups and entrées; polenta; breads; tasty sauces; fish; eggs and omelets; second courses and typical dishes; meats, poultry and game; side dishes; cheeses; desserts; jams; eau-de-vie; and miscellaneous. Most of these headings are self-evident, though a few may need a little further explanation.
For example, “tasty sauces” comprises two dishes: tocj di braide and tocj di vóres, both of which involve soft polenta and smoked ricotta. The heading “typical dishes” is in fact a poor translation for piatti unici, which more accurately refers to one-dish meals. This section includes, among other dishes, muset e bruade (cotechino sausage and fermented turnips), fasûj cul muset (beans and cotechino), and rambasici (stuffed cabbage rolls). Next, the French term “eau-de-vie” is given as the English translation for grappe (brandies), of which Benvenuto features two variations: blueberry and plum. And finally, the “miscellaneous” section contains two dishes that don’t quite fit anywhere else: miele di fiori di tarassaco senza api (a method of making dandelion honey without bees) and comede-dut (chamomile tea prepared with commercial tea packets and flavored with lemon rind).
With any Friulian cookbook, the dish that always intrigues me the most is cjalsòns (also spelled cjarsòns, cjarçons, etc), and this book contains three distinct recipes. First are cjalçons di Arta, which I recognized to be the same version served at the now-closed Ristorante Salon in Arta Terme. With a filling of potato, apple, pear, herbs, raisins, lemon zest, crushed biscotti, smoked ricotta, chocolate, jam, sugar, and cinnamon, Salon’s were once my absolute favorite. Then we have cjalçons di Timau, which are filled with potato, onion, cinnamon, sugar, raisins, herbs, and lemon zest. These are quite similar to the ones created by chef Ugo Durigon (who is from a village near Timau) and which I enjoyed multiple times at the now-closed Ristorante Alle Vecchie Carceri in San Daniele. Lastly are cjalçons della Val Gortana, named after the Canale di Gorto (a.k.a. Val Degano). Filled with onion, parsley, fresh and smoked ricotta, brown bread, milk, raisins, grappa, cinnamon, and sugar, these strongly resemble the version I once had at a festival in Ovaro.
Besides the cjalçons, this cookbook features many ubiquitous dishes, including paparot (spinach and cornmeal soup), gnocchi di susine (plum dumplings), frittata con le erbe (herb frittata), and boreto a la Graisana (Grado-style stewed fish). Other recipes, such as risotto di rane (frog legs risotto), zuppa di tartaruga di Lignano Sabbiadoro (turtle soup from Lignano), and lumache in umido (stewed snails), contain potentially hard-to-find ingredients, at least for cooks like me who live in the U.S. Game dishes, including goose, rabbit, hare, venison, woodcock, and mallard duck, may likewise prove difficult for some readers to source.
Following the recipes is a one-page overview of the region’s wine zones, of which seven were recognized at the time of publication (today, that number has expanded to twelve). In addition, Benvenuto lists the main white, red, and sparkling wines produced in FVG. You will find these wines paired with their complementary dishes throughout the book. While there are no photos in the book, each recipe is depicted by a small, colorful illustration, along with a number of drawings of ingredients. These add a pop of color and whimsy to an otherwise unembellished text.
