Eating bread and onions is an Italian saying that indicates mere survival. Yet, as far back as the 14th century, as documented by the Bolognese agronomist Piero de' Crescenzi, if onions were predominantly "peasant food, they were also considered for aristocrats."
Not to mention that today, the onion contributes to Mediterranean cuisine as a flavor and condiment. It is a protagonist in many traditional Italian dishes in the North and South.
In liver Venetian style, stuffed, in the pissalandrea of Liguria, in the friggione and sweet and sour onions of Emilia, in the closed Sicilian focaccia, in the Calabrian frittata, in the Genovese of Naples, in the Francesina with onions Florentine style or in the lesso rifatto all'Italiana (boiled meat in the stock), in the onion soup that without bothering the French one even in Italy is more than delicious. And what about the jars of spring onions put while still immature to soak in oil or vinegar to make preserves.
Do you know the friggione?
Although it is a Bologna recipe, for once, it is not a sumptuous fresh pasta, a succulent roast, or a dessert dripping with mascarpone, sugar, and egg yolks.
This dish is part of the peasant repertoire, lesser known than that celebrated by gourmets of all ages. It is now world-famous thanks (also) to travelers. In this regard, that recipe, usually unknown to tourists, is a pleasant gastronomic surprise for them.
The cucina povera of Emilia-Romagna, by this expression I mean both peasant and commoner (similar but not the same), offers surprisingly tasty, simple, and never banal recipes.
Like friggione, a recipe for which you only need a pot and two ingredients that has a soul and a beautiful story.
The word refers to the action of stir-frying. In the Bolognese countryside, it was lunch or mid-morning breakfast for peasants.
In 1886, Mrs. Maria Manfredi Baschieri notes this preparation in her cookbook. These household indications show that the recipe is widespread, at least since the second half of the nineteenth century.
The Baschieri family live in the countryside close to Bologna, although they are not farmers. Settimio, Maria's father, owns a gunspowder factory.
Like many other wealthy Bolognese families, they spend their summer vacations on the Adriatic Riviera, where tourism begins as early as the late 19th century.
The Baschieri family own a home in Viserba, a hamlet of Rimini, close to the dunes, where the beach that ends in the sea begins. Instead, the home of the (Bolognese) family of her future husband, Ulisse Manfredi, is a short walk away, just across the street (the home today is a bank, the Baschieri's still exists).
In short, she goes down in history for cooking notes dedicated to friggione; he is remembered for his visionary work. In Viserba, Ulisse Manfredi designed the Kursaal, later inaugurated in 1908, a majestic building in complete Art Nouveau style (we are in the Belle Époque). Yes, in that humble and little village on the Adriatic sea.
The Kursaal no longer exists, but the gunpowder factory does. I still remember an explosion many years ago inside the site. It was so powerful that the shock wave managed to shatter the windows of my husband's country home, located a few kilometers from the factory. Fortunately, there were no injuries, just a lot of fear. In the previous explosion of 1891, 4 people died. And then I remember the hurried search for a glazier (in August) since we were going to celebrate our wedding party there after a few weeks.
Returning to Maria, you should know that middle-class city families who spent their vacations on the Riviera would hire local serving women and cooks for the season.
I wonder if Maria learned how to prepare friggione from them.
I like to think that from her vacation, in addition to her husband's married in 1909, she also brought with her knowledge of some Romagna dishes.
After the marriage, Ulisse ends designing magnificent Art Nouveau buildings and takes his father-in-law's place by dedicating to his beloved wife a gunpowder called MB in her honor.
Cooking notes about friggione
Friggione is as widespread in Bologna as it is in Romagna. On the other hand, Bologna's gastronomic tradition has lent much to and received just as much from that of Romagna, not only for obvious reasons of territorial contiguity but also because both were part of the Church State, sharing political, administrative, and cultural boundaries.
This is a peasant recipe; you know it by the number and type of ingredients: onions and tomatoes. Then, there is another aspect that pertains to its peasant nature. Friggione was born to feed large families and is prepared in large quantities. So if you cook, be ready to weep (of love) because it is not worth keeping the stove on for long for a couple of onions. I recommend making at least one kilogram at a time; even if it can seem a lot, it isn't. It runs out quickly; you can store it in the freezer anyway.
Any onion will do.
To be precise, the friggione wants the white onion. For some time now, the one from Medicina, a typical Bologna product, has also been allowed. Use what you want, telling everybody it was white.
From Google: it's a quick recipe.
No, sorry. This recipe has a texture and soul that develops during (long) cooking. If you want to taste the flavor of real friggione, use white onion, slice it thinly, and cook it for a long time, first without tomato and then again with tomato. I'm sorry to inflict this next blow as well. Still, I tell you, the preparation of friggione starts (or should start) well before cooking by resting the onion in cold water and sugar (see the tips below the recipe).
The onion should melt in your mouth. I recommend slicing it thinly and letting it sit in water. I know, I wrote this above, but repetita iuvant! Some people add sugar during the cooking. That is a good tip and an old trick. Grandma used a few tablespoons of apricot jam. What, what? Well, yes, that's the secret of my family. When I don't have jam, I use a little sugar.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdfdce6b2-2b0f-4bc4-b174-e832b2dacc2a_563x750.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F554ba6b2-ba40-4277-b3ea-5ddee5456e65_563x750.jpeg)
Fresh tomato, peeled, or sauce?
At home, we used the second one that Grandma had jarred the previous season. She would drain them from their liquid without discarding it. She would then add it while cooking, removing any seeds after cutting the tomatoes into pieces. I prefer the sauce since I have an idiosyncratic problem with tomato skins.
Finally, a vegetarian recipe from Bologna!
Yes and no. Indeed, the azdora (housewife) made it with what was available. For example, if the cook had lard, she would put it inside the friggione. Even better if there were sausages or slices of prosciutto crudo to add into the pan.
I often propose this dish during Bolognese cooking classes with vegetarian/vegan guests, obviously without lard, sausage, or ham.
Personal memory: grandma did not use lard or even sausages; sometimes, she would put slices of prosciutto crudo. How to add in prosciutto: cut 2-3 pieces from a slice about 1/2 cm high and put them in the pan for only 20-30 minutes before turning off the stove (to prevent the prosciutto from making the dish too salty). I loved those greasy, shiny, salty slices.
Since 2004, the recipe has been deposited with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce.
The base of spaghetti alla Bolognese, those with tuna and tomato sauce (in this newsletter, I explained the genesis and history of the dish), is the same as that of friggione: tomato sauce and onion. Not surprisingly, the origin of friggione predates that of spaghetti alla Bolognese.
Friggione is somewhat greasy, just like Ragù Bolognese. The flavor is never corrected by aromatics or spices such as chili.
The recipe is versatile. And although in the strictest sense, it can be considered a sauce, know that friggione calls for the center of the table, where it can serve as a main course or one dish. Of course, it lends itself as a side or to dress pasta. However, you should know that in Bologna, there is also a recipe for onion sauce to season pasta; the use of friggione for this purpose is more recent. Need to know the recipe for Bologna-Romagna onion sauce? HERE).
My advice: make up a big board of crostini with friggione alternating with others of fricandò, another peasant and vegetarian recipe from Bologna and Romagna. Sit al fresco, under a pergola, in the garden or terrace, open a bottle of wine, and enjoy.
For me, this is Bologna la Grassa (The Fat).
Peasant, simple, and yet the Fat.
As the sulfides released from the blade burn your eyes, repeat these lines, Ode to the Onion by Pablo Neruda (apologies for my translation):
You come out of the soil / eternal, untouched, pure, / like astro seed, / and when it cuts you / the knife in the kitchen / the only tear gushes forth / without sorrow. You made us weep without grieving.
The Recipe.
The frigggione
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0850129c-b443-4a58-816a-7cbc093e0399_562x750.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff8c47c02-35c0-42e4-be38-e6f5abec3e18_563x750.jpeg)
4-6 servings
Ingredients
1 kg of white onions
50 g of brown sugar
80 g of olive oil
350 g of tomato sauce (passata di pomodoro)
or 200 g canned tomatoes without seeds5 g of salt
100 g of water, warm
50 g of tablespoons apricot jam or 30 g of caster sugar, optional
Instructions
Remove the skin from the onions and slice thinly (remove the green core if there is any).
Transfer to a large bowl with half the sugar, cover with cold water, and stir.
Let stand for 30 minutes, then change the water, add the rest of the sugar, stir, and stand for another 30 minutes.
Drain the onion, place the olive oil and onion in a high-sided pan with lid. Cook them gently, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour.
Remove the lid and cook for 15 minutes on a medium-small stove over low heat, stirring until any liquid from the onions has completely evaporated.
Add tomato sauce, salt, water, and more olive oil if needed and mix (at this point, I usually add another 50 g of olive oil). Also, add sugar or apricot jam and stir.
Cook with the pan covered and over low heat for one hour or as long as needed if the sauce is too slow. Conversely, if it seems too thick, add a little water. If you like it more stewed, cook it for 2 hours.
Let rest, taste, and adjust the salt.
Food tips
If you have time, soak for 2-3 hours the sliced onions in cold water and sugar, changing the water even 6 times and adding a little sugar each time. This way, the onion becomes sweet and irresistible as it cooks.
Add a slice of prosciutto crudo to make the friggione more flavorful or some sausage to make it richer. Do it toward the end of cooking to prevent the sauce from being too salty.
If you like the recipe and Food Notes from Bologna, please share and spread the word.
Ciao, Monica
Let’s keep the conversation going.
Write to me at tortellinico@gmail or follow me on Instagram.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, please click on the little ❤️ below ⬇️ and
New subscribers can sign up here.