Duel at the table between Piacenza and Parma in the name of Giuseppe Verdi. The Circolo dell’Unione, with president Stefano Sfulcini, hosted the last-minute challenge between Marco Corradi, author of the book “Verdi is not from Parma”, and two members of the Club dei 27 of Parma: Rossano Rinaldi and Massimo Galli .
The director and producer Giorgio Arcelli conducted the evening, accompanied by the piano music of Maestro Elio Scaravella and the bass Agostino Subacchi, with the extraordinary participation of Giuseppe Verdi himself, played by the veterinarian and breeder of Baselica Duce Piero Carolfi, founder, with numerous friends of the Parma and Piacenza areas, of the “Amici del Tabarro” association, which every year recalls ancient markets, festivals and initiatives, participating in the Verdi anniversaries of Busseto.
Also celebrating Verdi’s gourmet side was the dinner prepared by chefs Massimo Rossi (for the Circolo dell’Unione) and Alberto Paganuzzi and Attilio Cò, the first President and second councilor of the Piacenza Cuisine Academy. After a careful selection, among the many recipes that have been handed down by Verdi’s cook, Ermelinda Berni, the chefs proposed a menu that was the right balance between typical products of Parma and Piacenza.
The appetizer included a rosemary focaccia with cooked San Secondo shoulder and the three Piacenza PDOs: coppa, pancetta and salami, accompanied by giardiniera; followed by the asparagus risotto, because the Maestro loved seasonal vegetables, and risottos in general. Hence “Pollanca alla Strepponi”, because the chicken coop adjacent to Villa Verdi was vast and well-kept, with chickens, hens, ducks, guinea fowl, geese. So this “pollanca” (chicken thigh), after being “sauteed” in a pan with extra virgin olive oil with celery and carrots, continued its cooking with the onion (previously stewed for a long time) and then milk cream was added; everything, at the end of cooking, was placed on a rustic potato puree. Finally, the spongata from Monticelli D’Ongina (but also from Busseto), a dessert of ancient Jewish tradition, served with a strawberry coulis. All combined with the Piacenza wines of Tenuta Ferraia, Ortrugo and Gutturnio frizzante. In short, in the name of good food, every hostility was overcome in the name of Verdi.
