10 February 2017. In La Prova del Cuoco (Rai 1 TV’s version of Ready Steady Cook) the Friuli and Molise regions competed against each other, with chefs chosen to promote local products from both regions. Federico Quaranta and Lorenzo Brachetti hosted the programme since Antonella Clerici was involved in the Festival di Sanremo, Italy’s top song contest.

In Friuli’s basket of characteristic products were cheeses from the Muris ed Enemonzo dairy, soft cheese, charcuterie from the hills of Villuzza di Ragogna, red onion, musèt (a sausage made exclusively of pork snout and seasoning), Rosa di Gorizia radicchio, biscuits from Raveo and mais cinquantino, or fifty-day maize, so called for its short, fifty-day cycle from sowing to spiking. This maize was widely grown locally before it was replaced by the higher-yielding American hybrids introduced after World War Two. It should be noted that Friulian fifty-day maize is good for biodiversity and has fine organoleptic qualities.

In the competition, the Friuli cooking team of Manuel Marchetti and Alessandra Negretto won the Miglior Campanile. The Molise region’s first course – wild boar-stuffed pasta parcels in a caciocavallo cheese fondue with ceps and chocolate flakes – started off well. But it was blown away by Friuli and the simplicity of a fillet of salmon trout with Rosa di Gorizia radicchio, prosciutto crackling, a scent of garlic. Perhaps because the dish evoked the tradition of radicchio with pork rinds served hot on the leaves. Or perhaps because salmon trout was the main ingredient, enriched with the flavour and colour of the shrimps it feeds on.

People who know about the variety of products offered to consumers will choose to schedule a visit soon to the firm that defended the region’s culinary and communication talents so well, a visit combined with a tour of the production plant where trout-based products are packaged. At the end, you’ll also be happy to taste a “ninin”(little) prosciutto in a local eatery, but you should also go on a guided tour of one of the numerous curing plants of this world-famous product. It will be an unforgettable experience, I promise. As we congratulate the chefs and celebrate with them, we can day-dream about a new adventure in their delightful (and delicious) homeland, Friuli Venezia Giulia.