Ristoranti, Osterie e Frasche del Friuli-Venezia Giulia by Ermanno Torossi is first and foremost a guide to the restaurants and other eateries of FVG, but as I’ll explain below, there are quite a few recipes scattered throughout as well. I must begin, though, by praising the overall quality of this book. Everything about its appearance, from the heavy, matte-laminated cover and paper stock to the countless full-color photos, is absolutely gorgeous.
Roughly translated, the book’s subtitle describes the cooking of FVG as “one of poverty and of kings, a cuisine that may be elevated or traditional and…of charm.” In total, it contains listings for several hundred restaurants (I counted over 400 in the index, though the cover only says 350), and these naturally run the gamut from casual osteria to high-end restaurant. I had the pleasure of eating at a significant number of them, including Osteria Al Vecchio Stallo in Udine, Trattoria Al Cacciatore de La Subida in Cormòns, and Buffet Da Pepi in Trieste, to name just a few of my favorites.
The author’s gastronomic tour is organized into chapters corresponding to FVG’s four provinces (Pordenone, Udine, Gorizia, and Trieste), with each of those divided further into distinct culinary areas. Text blocks appear every few pages, featuring notes on each area’s gastronomy, popular festivals, local products such as cheese and salumi, and where to taste and purchase these and other products. In addition, the chapters include a couple dozen typical recipes, including minestra di bobici (corn and bean soup), gnocchi con le susine (plum-filled gnocchi), strucolo di spinaci (spinach-filled pasta roll), boreto alla graesana (fish cooked with vinegar), stinco di vitello (braised veal shank), and scampi alla busara (langoustines in tomato sauce). Dessert recipes include esse di Raveo (S-shaped cookies), gubana delle valli del Natisone (spiral cake filled with dried fruit and nuts), and kugelhupf (chocolate-marbled Bundt cake).
According to the copyright page, my copy is the title’s 3rd edition, printed in 2000, so many listings will by now be obsolete. In fact, several restaurants that were particularly special to me have since closed (namely, Ristorante Salon in Arta Terme, Ristorante Alle Vecchie Carceri in San Daniele, Osteria Al Lepre in Udine, and Antica Trattoria Cooperativa in Tolmezzo). Nevertheless, the book is worth a read solely for the wealth and detail of regional culinary information.
