Ricette Triestine, Istriane e Dalmate by Jolanda de Vonderweid is a pocket-size collection of recipes from Trieste, the Istrian peninsula (comprising parts of Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia), and Dalmatia (the coastal stretch of Croatia south of Istria).
In lieu of an introduction, the book begins with menus for two typical holiday meals, one Istrian and the other Triestine. The pair are quite similar in many aspects, with the comparable courses of each menu starring the same core ingredient: prosciutto crudo (cured ham) for the antipasto; brodo di gallina (chicken broth) for the primi piatti; and lesso di gallina (boiled chicken) for the secondi. However, the Istrian menu is much more complex, leading me to guess (without the benefit of any other commentary) that the author’s intent may have been to convey some slight superiority of that region’s cuisine.
For example, the Triestine antipasto consists of merely some cheese and giardinetto (marinated vegetables) in addition to the prosciutto crudo, with an alternate choice being prosciutto cotto (cooked ham) with horseradish. In contrast, the Istrian menu describes, in no small detail, hand-slicing both prosciutto and smoked pork tenderloin “not too thinly,” crisping the meats in olive oil with a bit of pepper and vinegar (or preferably, Malvasia wine), and serving them with homemade bread.
Despite its small size, the cookbook is jam-packed with over 350 recipes, both ancient and modern, as the cover indicates. Recipes are grouped into the following categories: primi piatti, pesci, uova, carni, cacciagione, dolci, marmellate, and tartine. I was initially puzzled that there was no chapter dedicated to contorni or verdure, as is standard cookbook practice. But then, after closer inspection, I saw that many vegetable recipes, including patate in tecia (skillet potatoes) and zuchete in tecia (sautéed zucchini), were actually included in the section of first courses.
While a few dishes—orzo e fagioli (barley and bean soup) and frittata con gli spinaci (spinach frittata), for example—clearly overlap with central Friulian cuisine, far more of the book’s recipes can trace their origins to the Slavic countries Croatia and Slovenia. These include some dishes I encountered during my time in Trieste, such as scampi alla busara (langoustines in tomato sauce) and putiza (spiral cake filled with dried fruit, nuts, and chocolate), along with others that were less familiar to me, such as gnocchi di fegato (liver dumplings) and calandraca (lamb and potato stew). Still other dishes reveal the Venetian roots of Istria and Dalmatia, for instance, baccalà (salt cod stew) and risi e bisi (rice and peas).
The book contains no photos and merely a scattering of humorous cartoon-style illustrations. As an example, one depicts a barefoot man fishing off a dock, a disgruntled chef hovering behind him wielding a giant spatula, and the doorway of a trattoria filled with hungry diners waiting impatiently. Another features a pair of buxom cooks preparing a giant strudel, while several mischievous tots hide under the table sneaking morsels of dough and filling.
