Sori, a treasure trove of Mediterranean gourmet highlights

 

Sori

Sori is one of the many coastal Ligurian municipalities endowed with stunning sea views and a (mostly) hilly territory.

This multifaceted and sometimes rugged area has a lot to offer, from coastal attractions to a wealth of bike/hiking natural excursions. Its name - Golfo Paradiso - comes as no surprise.

Local orography and tradition – a mix of sea and agriculture - have shaped a unique culinary heritage, which relies on 4 cornerstones: trofie, pansoti, focaccette and fainà de granun.  

Trofie are to Sori what fontina is to the Aosta Valley. Even those who do not think that they were created in the small inner Sory valleys, agree in saying that their modern epic is due to some "visionary" traders – such as Novella - capable of launching them on the Genoese market starting from a mere familial production.

Pansoti, prepared only with wild herbs – do not dare to ask Soresi to make them without preboggion! -are almost worshipped here: thin fresh pasta, pot-bellied, light filling, quick cooking!

Fainà de granon emerges from a distant past rich in rustic yet incomparable food. It looks like a loaf made with corn flour soaked in water or milk for a few hours, chards and spring onions, both raw and cut in strips, prescinsêua - a slightly acidic curd -, extra virgin olive oil and salt.

Last but not least, focaccette, a festive food. In spite of the name, they are similar to big ravioli filled with stracchino cheese, deep fried in oil and served hot. The dough, always very soft, is unleavened. Roll out a sheet of pasta (not too thin) on the pastry board, place the stracchino cheese in small, well-spaced doses, fold the pasta over and cut with a pasta wheel. Press the edges carefully and seal, so that the stracchino will not leak out during cooking.

Fugassette in crescente do not contain any filling. After cooking they can be stuffed with cheese, ham..., in the past they were often served with boiled black cabbage and salame.

And who knows if the focaccette mentioned in the account books of the Da Passano family in 1826 were distant relatives of the ones we enjoy today...

My English abstract of the article as published on LiguriaFood

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