Book of Days Tales

Today is the Festa della Repubblica in Italy commemorating the institutional referendum held by universal suffrage in 1946, in which the Italian people were called to the polls to decide on the form of government they wanted, following the Second World War and the fall of Fascism. With 12,717,923 votes for a republic and 10,719,284 for the monarchy, the male descendants of the House of Savoy were sent into exile. To commemorate this event a grand military parade is held in central Rome every year, presided over by the President of the Italian Republic in his role as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The Prime Minister, formally known as the President of the Council of Ministers, and other high officers of state also attend. There are also celebrations in all the Italian embassies around the world and foreign heads of state are invited to attend state dinners and the like. The main parade is in Rome but there are civic celebrations all over Italy. This is a much, much more important date than the day on which Italy achieved unification.

If I give you a recipe for an “Italian” dish a fight will break out between cities and regions who all have their own unique dishes which they are fiercely proud of, and I’ll be handed my head. However, the colors of the Italian flag are represented in 2 dishes that are widely known: pizza Margherita from Naples and insalata tricolore. The history of pizza Margherita is disputed, because something of the sort (tomato, mozzarella, and basil toppings) has been around in Naples since the late 18^th century, and is mentioned in cookbooks throughout the 19^th century. But it was not called Margherita at first, and did not have any patriotic associations because Italy as a nation and the Italian flag did not exist back then. It has those associations now, however.

A more practical choice is insalata tricolore which is an extremely popular antipasto all over Italy, and does have the Italian flag in mind (and in name).  So go for it. Interleave sliced tomato, sliced mozzarella di bufala, and basil leaves, and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.  It’s a great dish and very simple to make. Just make sure you use the soft white mozzarella not the yellow shredded stuff used for pizza. It comes packed in water.