Agrodolce

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Agrodolce ( German  sweet and sour ) is an Italian specialty with vinegar / wine, onions, tomatoes, cinnamon, mustard seeds, honey, olive oil etc. The sweet and sour sauce is thick and piquant. It is used, for example, as a starter or as an addition to meat, but it is mostly served with game dishes , fish and vegetables, especially onions ( cipolline in agrodolce ) and aubergines ( caponata ).

In Sicily, meat dishes are prepared in the agrodolce, while on mainland Italy, game dishes are served with agrodolce. The honey can be replaced with sugar. Agrodolce is also offered as a canned fruit and vegetable.

The ingredients of an agrodolce vary depending on the type of meat for which it is made. For wild boar, venison or rabbit meat , the wine in which the meat was marinated is usually reduced . To do this, half of the marinade is slowly reduced with caramelized sugar, pine nuts and spices such as B. candied orange peel. Pine nuts, sultanas and vinegar are almost always included. The pine nuts, but also grated almonds or chocolate serve to thicken the sauce. The sweet and sour wild boar dish cinghiale in agrodolce is known in the region between Lazio and Tuscany , with onions, prunes, raisins, chocolate and pine nuts. In Chianti, Spezzatino di cinghiale ( wild boar meat in red wine with tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, fennel seeds, sage and chilli) is prepared.

Lingua in agrodolce is sweet and sour beef or veal tongue : cooked, peeled tongue is left to steep for a day in a reduction of vinegar, sugar with cinnamon, cocoa, raisins, orange peel, then is served cold.

history

In the so-called “ Book of Apicius ” there was already a recipe for a sauce that contained “pepper, mint, pine nuts, sultanas, carrots, honey, vinegar, oil, wine and musk ”. Since then, Agrodolce has been used in the Mediterranean. The contact with the Arab culture seems to be responsible for the development of the sweet and sour taste in Italian cuisine. The recipes contained in cookbooks of the 14th century confirm a certain or assumed Arab ancestry. Dishes like limonia or romania were characterized by almonds, citrus fruits and pomegranate juice, and were recommended as "agra e dolce" (sour and sweet).

  • Salmon with Agrodolce

  • Pork with Agrodolce Fennel & Onion with Cranberry

  • Sweet and sour Agrodolce onions with balsamic vinegar

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Elizabeth David : Italian Food . Penguin, 1999, ISBN 1-101-57384-8 , pp. 227, 248, 278 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ^ F. Jürgen Herrmann: The great lexicon of dishes . 1st edition Pfanneberg, Haan-Gruiten 2012, ISBN 978-3-8057-0513-4 , p. 18 .
  3. ^ Anna Del Conte : Gastronomy of Italy: Revised Edition . Pavilion Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1-909815-19-3 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  4. ^ A b Alan Davidson: The Oxford Companion to Food . Oxford University Press, 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-967733-7 , pp. 796 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ↑ Massimo Montanari , Alberto Capatti: La cucina italiana: storia di una cultura . Great edizione. Roma 2014, ISBN 978-88-420-7675-9 .