Baccalà all'Orvietana
One dish on my list of foods to find in Orvieto was Baccalà all'Orvietana . I came across a recipe for it while planning my trip a few months ago. I made it at home back in July to get an idea of what it was all about and my intention then was to find one here and compare.
Again, just like the Etruscans tried to stay self-sufficient on their citadel from Roman sieges by having fresh water wells and raising pigeons, later Orvietans found salt-cod to be handy for the same reasons. Only by this time it wasn’t the Romans attacking but other neighboring tribes like the Lombards, Goths, the French, you name it. Salt Cod, though not indigenous to the area, was a non-perishable protein that the Orvietans could store in their zillions of dark caves.
It wasn’t hard to find, Baccalà all'Orvietana . It’s on loads of menus here, as well as a handful of other salt-cod preparations. The main difference between the one I had last night and the one I made at home was that mine was very scant with the tomato, more of a tomato broth than a sauce, mine also had olives. Other than that they were very similar, although, I dare say I like mine better!
First picture is the Baccalà all'Orvietana I had at Charlie Pizzeria Ristorante in Orvieto. Second picture is the one I made back in July at home in San Francisco.
Baccalà all’Orvietana must certainly be related to another Umbrian preparation called Baccalà in Umido alla Umbra, which has the addition of prunes, at first glance that may sound odd but if you know anything about medieval and Renaissance cookery that is kind of a common ingredient. Baccalà all’Orvietana as I have done it here is with julienned celery and sliced onions, cooked lightly in olive oil, a splash of Orvieto wine, diced tomatoes, basil, green olives, pine nuts and currants. I soaked the salt cod for three days changing the water at least 4 times a day. After that the fish is poached lightly and then added to the simmering sauce.
This recipe minus the tomatoes likely is intact from the Renaissance with the tomatoes probably showing up in Umbria late in the 17th century.
Salted cod makes sense in a landlocked hilltop town, though there are freshwater fish from nearby rivers and lakes it wold have been risky business to leave the protection of the fortified city walls to procure. All of Europe embraced salt cod for similar reasons, it was nonperishable, lasting for years if you needed it to, so as long as you could afford to stock up on it you could stay within the city walls and not fear for your life.