Some Americans think Italians eat some pretty weird (or disgusting) things…calamari (squid; a.k.a. bait), black pasta made with squid ink, whole pigs (porchetta, the ultimate pork experience), “capuzzel” (dialect for roasted sheep’s head), etc. Having grown up around Italian immigrants I thought I had seen it all…WRONG!
Last week we were touring around the Umbrian hill town of Norcia, renowned for its fresh and cured meats, sheep’s cheese (Pecorino) and wild truffles. Nothing in the world compares to or tastes like the local pecorino cheese, salami di cinghiale di Norcia (Norcia’s cured wild boar sausage), homemade fresh fettuccini with ragu di cinghiale (wild board sauce) and chilled Orvieto wine. Absolute heaven!
We came upon a Norcineria (a butcher shop specializing in Norcia meats) with a display that I thought was a joke. For the price of €3.50 (that’s about $4.40 USD) the shop sold coglioni di mulo (cured salami made from mule’s testicles). Now I know that there’s an Italian tradition of not wasting anything…but eating mule’s testicles is just wrong! Of course, there are “Rocky Mountain Oysters” but I’ve never met anyone who can honestly say they enjoy eating them.
I’ve always said, “I’ll try anything once”, so maybe I’ll give coglioni di mulo a try…after a couple of well chilled bottles of the vino bianco di casa.
Buon appetito.
Geez you think they'd at least give you a deal on a pair.
ReplyDeleteTell you what, I'll just have the wine, but thanks
ReplyDeleteNorcia...bella norcia. My mouth is watering just remembering all the great meats, cheeses and truffles we ate there. Dang you - you know there is no equal here in VANO!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I actually ate "Rocky Mountain Oysters" in a restaurant in Colorado and thought they tasted pretty good! They were deep fried and served with a spicy tomato sauce.
ReplyDeleteYour blog header reminds me of my husband's home town in Calabria!
Michelle - hahaha, I thought the same thing when I read the sign!!!
ReplyDeleteMya - mee too !!! (carol)
Bryan - never heard it referred to as VANO....but that does sound Italian. The closest you'll find is those southern hams, I think.......but nothing close. Dreading return to Florida!!!
Pat - you're a better woman than I.....where in Calabria? I have family there too.
Michelle - {grin}
ReplyDeleteI think they're called coglioni del mulo just because of the shape rather than the contents! And Bryan is a bit dyslexic, he meant to say NoVa. We finished up our bootleg salami and are now in withdrawal.
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