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June/Jul y 202 2 XV MAGAZINE chocolate takes us back to a legendary monastery, Santa Maria della Misericordia, which made the history of world pastry making, whose nuns also invented struffoli and roccocò. AT PAGE 50 PRODUCTS Zizzona of Battipaglia It is one of the most famous and appreciated dairy products from the Salerno area. Now famous, thanks to the film Benvenuti al Sud (Welcome to the South), the Zizzona di Battipaglia is nothing more than a large buffalo mozzarella with a shape reminiscent of a prosperous breast. Larger than classic mozzarella, it has a very white colour and a succulent flavour. Cilento white figs The Fico bianco del Cilento PDO is smaller than the common red fig. Its skin does not change colour during ripening and the interior is brownish to white, rich in fibre and sugar and is very digestible. Its pulp is mellow, with a very sweet taste and an amber-yellow colour. The white figs of Cilento can be packaged in their natural state in different shapes (cylindrical, crown- shaped, spherical, bag-shaped) and also marketed in the traditional way in baskets or splinted, i.e. threaded through two parallel wooden sticks to form spatulas or mustaccioli. They can be filled with almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, fennel seeds, citrus peel or covered in chocolate or even dipped in rum. Even more sought-af ter are figs dried and then baked in the oven. Precious, but increasingly rare due to the high cost of preparation, are the figs without the peel, with a very light colour tending to pure white and a delicious flavour. Provolone del Monaco Awarded PDO in 2010. Cheese made from the milk of the Agerola cow. It has been produced since the 1700s, when some shepherds living in the Vomero, then an agricultural area near Naples, had to move due to urban expansion to the Lattari Mountains, where they began to exploit the area’s vast pastures, producing cheese, particularly caciocavallo. The shepherds, producers of the caciocavallo, were nicknamed monks because they were covered by heavy, bulky cloaks. Thus it was that their cheeses, sought after and appreciated by the Neapolitans, became the monk’s provoloni . Provolone del Monaco is made by heating the milk to obtain a more cooked curd than in traditional caciocavallo production. Maturation must take place slowly, without preservatives or ferments. It is then moulded into a slightly elongated melon shape. Maturing takes place in caves, after salting and drying, starting at a minimum of 6 months. __________________________________ RECIPE Squid and potatoes Praianese style A traditional seafood dish from Praiano, one of the most beautiful and picturesque villages on the Amalfi Coast, nestled between Positano and Amalfi. A simple, good and genuine dish. Ingredients (4 persons): 1 kg fresh squid; 500 g potatoes; 1 glass of white wine; 250 g cherry tomatoes; 1 clove of garlic; oil, salt, pepper or chilli pepper, plenty of parsley; croutons. Preparation Clean the squid and cut them into rounds of about 2 cm. Clean the potatoes and cut them into small chunks. Grease a pan with oil and brown the chopped garlic. As soon as it has browned, add the squid and potatoes and mix everything together. When the squid and potatoes take on colour, add the white wine to flavour and let it evaporate. Then add the cherry tomatoes cut in half, preferably date tomatoes. At this point add salt and a handful of parsley, stir and cook over a low flame for a couple of minutes. At the end, season everything by adding pepper or chilli and the bread croutons.