Italian winter dish: Pappardelle al Cinghiale

Eating in winter

In the past, when there was no global trade and you couldn’t buy fruit and vegetables “fresh” all year round, the diet in winter was somewhat bleak. People had to rely on food that had been preserved by boiling, curing, drying or other methods, or that was harvested in late fall and kept for a long time. Traditionally, there was a lot of cabbage in Germany, as evidenced by the tradition of eating kale. The Italians had a few advantages: For one thing, it wasn’t so cold in their country and they were able to harvest for longer, and for another, they had invented such practical foods as pasta, which kept for a very long time when dried and were much more varied in their many varieties than potatoes or spuds. Game dishes also traditionally belong to the late fall and winter, which is connected to the hunting season.

Pappardelle al Cinghiale

Pappardelle al Cinghiale

If you are thinking about your carbon footprint today and therefore want to avoid African tomatoes and South American meat in winter, you can fall back on old traditions. One of these dishes is pappardelle al cinghiale, pasta with wild boar ragout. It tastes very hearty and is easy to prepare. Pappardelle are ribbon noodles, which can also be replaced with tagliatelle, as these are usually easier to find. Simply boil the pasta in salted water – do not add any oil, otherwise the surface will become too slippery and won’t be able to absorb the sauce. Heat up the wild boar sauce from Conserve della Nonna. Stir the pasta into the sauce and serve with a little grated Parmesan. Of course, other types of pasta can also be used, but I definitely recommend pasta from the secret capital of pasta – Gragnano. Serve with a warming glass of aromatic red wine and you can bear the darkness of the early winter evening!