Typical Recipes of Milan and Lombardia

Lombard cuisine, although rich in appreciable resources, has never had a strong and unitary character capable of influencing the other regions, if anything it was influenced. True Lombard cuisine can be confined to an area of the territory corresponding to the central part of the region, which extends from Milan to the neighboring provinces. Already in Bergamo and Brescia, there is a different gastronomic tradition, with strong influences from the nearby Veneto. In the south-east, in the Mantua area, we have a very strong tradition, with excellent dishes but which are more in common with an Emilian school of cooking. In the westernmost part of the region then, the cuisine is influenced by nearby Piedmont. So we find ourselves in the north, an Alpine cuisine, which largely includes the Valtellina area: a mountain cuisine based mainly on local products such as cheeses and cured meats, and that defined, precisely, as Milanese, often identified, perhaps erroneously, as the true Lombard cuisine.

Thus traditional Milanese cuisine is restricted to a series of dishes, many of which are also known outside the region. Risotto alla Milanese, also called saffron risotto, is undoubtedly the Milanese dish par excellence, a dish that has achieved international fame. Other risottos follow in the tradition although much less known such as risotto al salta and risotto in cagnone. Saffron risotto is often accompanied with ossobuco, another great classic of Milanese cuisine. This is flavored thanks to the gremolada sauce, made with chopped lemon zest, parsley, rosemary and garlic.

How can we fail to mention the Milanese cutlet, now increasingly indicated on menus as a “schnitzel”, but which in the original version must be veal and must have the bone. This is trimmed, but not detached, and the meat is slightly flattened with a meat tenderizer, breaded and finally fried in butter (absolutely neither oil nor lard).

However, all these dishes can be defined as “rich”, historically belonging to the tradition of the more well-to-do. In the popular tradition, the “poor” one to be clear, we find the busecca, or Milanese tripe, where the veal tripe is seasoned with ham fat, beans, cabbage and tomatoes. You therefore have a real soup often accompanied with toasted bread and on which it is customary to grate some Parmesan cheese from Lodi. Another popular dish is the Cassoeula, a dish of cabbage and pig’s trotters, today enriched with celery, carrots, onions, ham clippings and other cured meats.

Among the traditional dishes of Lombardy, there is one unsuspected: minestrone. Over time this has been transformed into the frozen version and distributed throughout the country, but the original one, now defined as minestrone alla Milanese, based on rice with beans, peas, potatoes, tomatoes, celery and courgettes, a peasant dish that could also be served cold. As for the Lombard sweets, these are characterized above all by their simplicity, of which, among all, the panettone stands out, which industrialized has spread as a Christmas cake throughout Italy.

First Courses