Lamb Stews

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top 1000Marcella Cucina
Marcella Cucina

By Marcella Hazan

Published 1997

  • About
The three lamb stews that follow come from as many regions: the pastoral Marches, a former papal dominion in central Italy; Apulia, the ancient Greek colony in the southeast; and the remote island of Sardinia. Their landscapes, their histories, and their dialects are completely dissimilar, and so are their food cultures, except that for all three a major source of meat is lamb.

Reading the ingredients list of the recipes is equivalent to taking a brief tour of regional cooking styles. In the stew from the Marches, a generous dose of tomatoes helps to generate a sunny, fruity taste. The Apulian stew is sweetened by a large helping of onion and scented with oregano. In both, potatoes play a familiar role, sucking in and releasing a concentrated sampling of flavors. The Sardinian dish, one of several which I owe to that gifted cook from Olbia, Rita D’Enza, is spiked with the aromatic accents of the island, represented here by orange zest and fennel seeds. The cauliflower is a brilliant touch, moderating through its mildness the gamy taste that lamb sometimes has.