The Flavor Base

Ask an Italian cook the recipe for the soup, or meat sauce, or chicken fricassee, or veal stew you have just had and her answer is likely to begin: “Make a battuto, then ...” Battuto is a combination of all or some of the following—parsley, celery, garlic, carrot, onion, and lard—chopped more or less fine. The name comes from the verb battere, which means strike or, in this case, chop. The chopping board itself is called battilardo, lard chopper, from the time when lard was a more commonly used ingredient than it is today. Now the place of lard is often taken by other shortenings but, whether one uses lard, pancetta, oil, or butter, the battuto remains one of the foundation stones of Italian cooking.