Food
The search for strong feelings in the products of nature made Reggina gastronomy an art that is simple but full of traditions that have been passed on from generation to generation and renewed in time. The characteristic ingredient of the Reggina cooking is chilli, which has been used by the imagination of many producers to create many new products that are now mixed with the traditional ones.
Pork products (soppressata, capicollo, filetti, ‘nduja), traditional cheese, the “rosamarina”, also known as “the caviar of the South” (spicy new-born sardines), and extra virgin olive oil are the winning tickets for those who are hard to please. Not to forget the unique art of the preserves, thanks to which the products of nature (tomato sauce, mushrooms, aubergines, tuna and many more products), picked and preserved are able to keep the garden scents and the colours of the passed seasons intact.
Essentially a typical southern Italian, Mediterranean cuisine would be with a balance between meat-based dishes (pork, lamb, goat), vegetables (especially eggplant), and fish. In contrast to most other Italian regions, Calabrians have traditionally placed an emphasis on the preservation of their food, in part because of the climate and potential crop failures. As a result, there is a tradition of packing vegetables and meats in olive oil, making sausages and cold cuts (Sopressata, 'Nduja), and along the coast, curing fish- especially swordfish, sardines (sardelle rosamarina) and cod (Baccalà). Local desserts are typically fried, honey-sweetened pastries (Cudduraci, scalille or scalidde) or baked biscotti-type treats (such as 'nzudda).
Calabrese dishes are simple in preparation and use of ingredients. Major emphasis is placed on fresh vegetables and "farinacci" or breads and pastas. All natural goats’ cheese is accompanied by the most ancient wines in Italy. Seafood is next in importance followed by lamb, poultry, pork and beef.
Specialties include marinated and sun dried vegetables, sword fish, blue fin tuna, calamari, needlefish and dried cod. Meats and poultry are roasted rather than braised and spicy Calabrian favourites are a myriad of fresh and dried pork sausage products. Calabria is Italy's second largest producer of olives and one of Europe's major growers of citrus, including the rare Bergamot, also hazelnuts which help to make Calabrian desserts unique and distinctive in flavour.
Some local specialties include Caciocavallo Cheese, Cipolla rossa di Tropea (red onion), Frìttuli or Curcùci (fried pork), Liquorice (liquirizia), Lagane e Cicciari (ceci) (a pasta dish with chickpeas), Pecorino Crotonese (Cheese of Sheep), and Pignolata.
Although Calabrian wines are not well known outside Italy, in ancient times Calabria was referred to as Enotria (land of wine). Some vinyards have origins dating back to the ancient Greek colonists. The best known DOC wines are Cirò (Province of Crotone).