Discover Padua and its surroundings.

2647_05_C415_PADOVA_GB 17-05-2006 10:39 Pagina 30
On the table the flavours of a generous land.
“Going for food and wine
in the Paduan territory
means going for surprises
and nostalgia such as one
would never find elsewhere”
Orio Vergani,
Writer and journalist
The Paduan cuisine combines high quality
ingredients with a traditional simple way
of cooking. A great variety of seasonal products
feeds it in its diversity of lagoons, valleys, hills,
fluvial and on the plain. Tasteful examples
of the typical Paduan cuisine are the numerous minestre
maridae (soups with rice and pasta), pasta e fasoi
(pasta and beans), risi e bisi (rice and peas), rice
with chiken livers, rice with pumpkin, vegetable soup,
sausages and luganeghe with polenta, quails and game
of the plain and of the Po Delta, tripe and baccalà (stockfish)
with white or yellow polenta. In spring and in autumn nature
helps create special flavours, offering numerous varieties
of wild herbs and undergrowth products which are used
in risottos, omelettes, stuffings and traditional cakes.
The Euganean Hills are a real and true mine of wild herbs,
excellent wines and oils. The area boasts thirteen D.O.C. wines,
the quality carefully controlled and certified by the Consorzio
Vini Colli Euganei. The area also has a long tradition of oil
production. Documents report of the existence of an oil-mill
already in the 14 th century, and the still existing and working
oil-mill in Valnogaredo dates back to the 18 th century.
The oil has a particularly fruity flavour and an after taste
that hints of sweet almonds.
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Honey is produced both in the Millefiori (obtained from
different types of flowers) and in the one-flower variety,
in particular acacia and chestnut honey.
Among the starters, the famous bigoli, especially
those seasoned with duck ragout, deserve
a mention. A specialty of Torreglia are
the torresani (tower doves).
The oenogastronomic tradition of the
Euganean Hills can be discovered through
the itineraries and suggestions of the Strada
del Vino Colli Euganei (Euganean Hills
Wine Route Association). The cooking
of the Montagnana and Este districts are
influenced by the near Polesine area.
Tasteful and simple it is based on genuine local
products: rice, truffle, game and pig. Actually this
is the area of the rites connected with the butchering
of the pig and from it come forth the most unthought-of
creations, such as codesini (tails), bondiola col lengual
(sausage with tongue), soppresse, luganeghe, etc, but the most
famous of all, is the Prosciutto Veneto Berico Euganeo better
known as Montagnana
sweet raw ham. One of the
most ancient recipes of this
district is the oca in onto
(goose), a dish which is
rarely served today and
based on the conservation
of goose cuts in their fat.
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1 Typical products
2 Schissotto bread
3 Bondiola sausage
4 Typical Wine-cellar
of the Euganean Hills
5 Jujubes specialities
6 Polverara hen
7 Padovana hen
8 Veneto Berico Euganeo
Raw Sweet Ham
9 Old crafts, besoms
10 Grape-gathering time
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The traditional list
of desserts includes
the zaleti (biscuits made
with maize porridge flour)
and the Pazientini, biscuits
made with almonds
and hazel-nuts.
The south-eastern area
of the Paduan Province,
the so called Saccisica,
a green land characterised
by wide expanses of fields
and a huge number
of farms, is the reign
of the Friularo Wine and
of poultry. Ducks, geese,
wild ducks, but above all the famous Polverara hen, which,
together with the Paduan hen are considered the best Italian
chickens. The closeness to the lagoon influences the cuisine
of the area. It is not rare to find restaurants which include in
their menus fish specialties (both sea and river fish, but also
frogs), together with game or roasts. Dishes made with horse
or pony meat are a peculiar culinary tradition of this territory.
The typical dishes of the Alta Padovana (northern part
of the Province) are strictly linked to the local tradition
and based on seasonal products. Here the polenta is truly
queen, also in its sweet version (polentina). Even though
in this part of the province there is a great fervour
of gastronomic initiative, there survives a widespread
respect to tradition and it is still possible to find polenta
e osei (polenta with small quail birds cooked on a spit),
arna rosta (roasted duck), marsoni fritti (fried fish),
and the luccio (pike) of the Brenta river.
Dishes of game, baccalà and radicchio (lettuce-type
vegetable but purplish red in colour) are also frequently
served in this area. The abundance of water and the wide
extent of permanent meadows encourage the production
of excellent cheese, such as Asiago, Montasio
and Grana Padano.
Arts and Crafts.
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Padua and its province boast a rich tradition of handicrafts - it
can truly be considered an “artisan province”.
The origins of all the main handicraft sectors, such
as ironwork, copperwork (wrought and embossed), casting
copper (the Situla Benvenuti displayed at the Atestino
National Museum is a pre-Roman masterpiece of copper
working). Other distinctive crafts of the area are the enamel
painting of home accessories, the ceramics production
(of great value the Estensi’s ones), the production
of wooden furniture, the restoration
of antique furniture (this activity is very
diffused in the Montagnana area).
A great importance has also the jewellery
sector. The textile craft, which was
the main source of Paduan
medieval economy, continues
in a springing up of knitwear
and textile factories, needle-work
and tanning.
Typical handicrafts can be admired
on the occasion of the numerous
arts&crafts exhibitions and fairs
or during local feasts and festivals,
when great attention is often dedicated
to this sector.