If you are talking about the cuisine of Liguria di Levante, you cannot but talk about “Riviera di Levante” PDO Riviera Ligure extra virgin olive. These are recipes accompanied, if not actually based on the oil pressed from the main local cultivar, namely the Lavagnina olive, a cousin of the Taggiasca and here perfectly combined with other less widespread varieties similar to the Tuscan aroma. The Riviera di Levante ricettolio was produced by the PDO Riviera Ligure Extra-Virgin Olive Oil Protection Consortium as part of an agreement, which has seen the considerable participation of the Local Action Group of the Province of La Spezia – a territory in which oil seals the union between the sea and the hills. By reading the recipes and observing Mattia Morgavi’s delightful photographs, one can understand how the chosen gastronomic direction in Levante is the meeting between the area and haute cuisine. Which is also why outstanding chefs, veritable masters of the stove, namely Fabio De Angelis & Alessandro Della Rossa as well as the solid Ottorino Marcellini, have got involved.
In keeping with nineteenth century serving style, the single dishes are gourmet treats to be savoured, all the better in good company, or highbrow conversations. The popular marinated anchovy is flanked by the Santa Teresa oysters, Monterosso anchovies and the classic muscoli (as mussels are called in Liguria) from the Gulf of La Spezia. In short, a blend of local excellence heightened by PDO Riviera Ligure oil.
The ever popular mesc-ciua soup is a classic in local eateries, the legacy of bygone times when the cereals and corn that leaked from sacks at the port were cooked together for the dockers’ tables. The stuff of hard men, yet a fine and delicious dish today. And of course, the warmth of the mixed ingredient soup heightens the aroma and pleasant finish of PDO Riviera Ligure – Riviera di Levante oil.
Many more pages of historical and economic references could be written about the fish from the Ligurian Sea and Lunigiana testaroli bread, all reinterpreted here for discerning taste buds.
The double peculiarity of the dessert is certainly worth a mention, being both a pudding and a Mediterranean cannolo, made with PDO Riviera Ligure oil, whose natural sweetness lends itself perfectly to the occasion. And with a nice touch of custard, a piece of international confectionary history and perhaps an allusion to the fate of the Romantic English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who drowned in the sea at Lerici during a storm in 1822, and was surely a lover of strong emotions. The very ones provided by this Riviera di Levante Ricettolio.
