In the end, Massimiliano Mussoni, chef of the tavern, won Sangiovesa of Santarcangelo di Romagna, patron of the kitchens of what can be considered for twenty years now a true place of worship of Romagna.
Since 2014, Massimiliano Mussoni has always kept his tavern full of history steeped in the visionary dreams of Tonino War, singer of tradition, love for beauty and conviviality, which has been an important part of the history of Sangiovesa, the onion of Santarcangelo water. When this extraordinary plant had become rarefied to the point of seeing many clouds of oblivion on its next horizon, the stubborn Massimiliano purchased practically the entire remaining production, making it a flag of his own local cuisine. All to remain faithful to a childhood memory: “My father lived in a sharecropper's house next to the river and he always said that in August the threshing floor, ever since he was a child, was filled with onions. That was the season, at the end of July, when after harvesting they were braided and then dried." And consistently, Mussoni has created a menu entirely based on water onion, from the crème caramel of water onion and livers to the onion soup which can be served as a dish in itself, but which is also perfect as a base for donkey cappelletti . Mussoni has also studied a smoked version with Parmigiano Reggiano cream and caviar, but also accompanies it caramelized with a cream ice cream with rum and tobacco.
In the first half of the twentieth century, in the area of Santarcangelo di Romagna the production of the water onion was in fact flourishing to the point that the inhabitants of Santarcangelo di Romagna were referred to with the nickname of zvuléun, that is, onions, from the nearby Rimini area: a nickname that speaks well of a past closely linked to the sweet and delicious vegetable. In the land, between one onion bed and another, small ditches were dug and irrigation took place by flow: the water, taken from the Marecchia river, flowed abundantly. But today those ditches are no longer the same: those that are still there carry much less water, but many no longer even exist.
And so the white onion of Santarcangelo, an exceptional bulb that can weigh up to one kilo, white in color and golden skin, characterized by a sweetness that allows it to be also consumed raw, in salad, risked remaining just a memory of the old people of the countryside. Fortunately, this prospect has been definitively averted, the Santarcangelo white onion has become a Slow Food Presidium.
“In the area where I have the company, for example – he remembers Fabio Polidori, contact person for the four producers participating in the protection project - once there was a ditch that supplied water to five mills: it has disappeared. This makes us understand how much political choices can change the morphology of a territory." Decade after decade, cultivation has undergone a progressive abandonment: today a few farmers survive, who have inherited the seed and work to conserve and pass it on.
If irrigation necessarily occurs differently and cultivation is practiced on small surfaces, what has not changed is the calendar of work in the garden: the sowing takes place in January, the transplanting of the seedlings in spring, the harvest between mid-July and the end of August: «I have always had the myth of the water onion – recalls Polidori -. My uncles were farmers and I, who heard about it as one of the hubs of local cuisine, was impressed by seeing such large onions. So eight years ago I started too."
In the kitchen, the water onion it lends itself to various uses: in addition to being eaten raw, it was once cooked on a wood stove or wrapped in foil and placed in the embers. Today it is found in many preparations, starting from piadina up to some sweet dishes. «It is a real treasure for the people of Santarcangelo, who love it. – concludes Serena Boschi, Slow Food representative of the Presidium – But since it lasts for a short time, two or three months, today the attempt is to also use it to make processed foods and make it increasingly attractive on the market».
White onions are rich in fiber and prebiotics such as inulin and fructo-oligosaccharides which nourish the intestinal flora improving digestive processes. The action of these substances can help improve intestinal transit, combat episodes of constipation or diarrhea and counteract the accumulation of intestinal gas which causes bloating, meteorism and flatulence.
Going to feed i good gut bacteria the immune system is also strengthened, improving the body's resistance to stress and the attack of pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses.
Regular consumption of white onions can help defend the body from infections also thanks to the antibacterial properties of these bulbs. There white onion in fact, it seems capable of protecting against bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus.
Including white onions in your diet also supports the functionality of the heart and improves blood quality and circulation. This is because the substances present in white onions work as anticoagulants, improving their fluidity and thus reducing the risk of clots. Not only that: white onions also have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hypotensive properties and help control blood levels. LDL cholesterol in the blood, known as “bad cholesterol”. Among the vitamins present in white onion we find vitamin C, a water-soluble molecule with antioxidant properties and more. Ascorbic acid fights free radicals in cells and also plays a key role in immune activity, collagen synthesis, tissue repair and iron absorption. White onions also contain good percentages of folic acid, pyridoxine and other B vitamins, involved in metabolism, the functionality of the nervous system and the production of red blood cells. Among the minerals contained in white onions, potassium stands out, essential for nerve transmission, muscle contraction and exchanges between cells.
“The imagination of each of us – this is how chef Mussoni introduces the not only gastronomic but above all identity-related meaning of the Romagna nature of the Acqua onion soup proposed to the readers of Mondo Food this week – is made up of stories, faces, memorable facts, seasonal rites. Not everything can be told with words, in the middle there are voices, the sound of dialect words that are no longer heard, the scents of garden products. In my world, an important role was played by the Santarcangelo water onion since my father was a passionate grower. A world around the onion: the mills, the water of the Marecchia, the sunny days that dried the hanging braids. Today I am a chef and I try to bring those memories to the table, a memory that becomes the soul of the dishes. The sweetness of this onion makes it a modern product and its delicacy allows it to involve all guests in a beautiful sharing. For years I have been working for the valorization of this lily and I believe I have always found the right key to keep it within our contemporary world. Sangiovesa has in fact always been the driving force behind a rediscovery that has today finally achieved a shared result and has brought together a small community that has brought the water onion back to restaurant tables. “We are the symbol of Romagna cuisine and our role is always also a responsibility. Sangiovesa is an unmissable stop for those arriving in Romagna, a place where culture, beauty and food come together. This is how Manlio Maggioli and Tonino Guerra imagined it and this is still how it is today.”
The recipe for onion soup from Santarcangelo water, manfrigoli, focaccia, Parmigiano Reggiano and traditional balsamic vinegar
Ingredients for people 4
– 400 g Santarcangelo water onion
– 100 g focaccia crouton
– 100 g flakes of Parmigiano Reggiano red cows aged 36 months
– 120 g manfrigoli
– a few drops of traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena
– extra virgin olive oil to taste
- Salt and Pepper To Taste
Ingredients for vegetable broth
– half a liter of water
- half onion
– 2 carrots
– 2 cherry tomatoes
– a few stalks of parsley
- basil
– wild fennel
– black peppercorns
Ingredients for manfrigoli
– 1 whole egg plus 1 red one
– 160 g “0” type flour
– 50 g Parmigiano Reggiano red cows aged 36 months
- Salt to taste
– nutmeg to taste
Method
vegetable broth: Simmer the vegetables in water for a couple of hours, skim and add salt, then filter.
manfrigoli: Mix all the ingredients well and leave to rest in the refrigerator for an hour. Then cut the pasta into small squares the size of a grain of rice.
onion soup: Cook the whole onion with its peel in an aluminum foil at 130°C for approximately 2 hours, the onion must become cooked but still slightly toasty. Peel the onion and cut it into julienne strips, caramelize it without adding oil. As soon as the onion is golden, add the vegetable broth and cook for a few minutes. Take 1/3 of the onion soup, blend it and incorporate it into the remaining part, this operation serves to give creaminess. Leave to flavor and add the aromatic oil and season with salt and pepper.
Bring the soup to the boil and cook the manfrigoli. Serve and finish with the focaccia croutons toasted in the oven, flakes of 36 month old red cow Parmigiano Reggiano and 2 drops of traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena.
La Sangiovesa Restaurant –
Piazza Beato Simone Balacchi, 14,
47822 Santarcangelo di Romagna RN
Phone: 0541 620710
