Bagna Cauda, NOT Salsa di Noci

This will, I promise, be the last article to stem directly from the September trip to Italy. For some bizarre reason, not all of you are Italophiles.

In a recent article about the food of Liguria, I mentioned salsa ai noci. The plan was to give you a recipe for this thing of wonder, a sauce or pesto based on walnuts. Let me tell you that tracking down Lord Lucan would probably be simpler than finding a definitive, authentic sounding recipe. There are a surprising number of veariations about, many wildly different. It was sold to me as a variation on pesto, something close to the heart of every Genovese. (Something about the quality of their basil, apparently). But I encounter a number of recipes which contain no oil at all, including one from our own dear Delia.

A surprising number which I read include cream. I don't think that's authentic either. There was certainly none in the versions we sampled, as L would have been violently sick. The quantities of garlic vary hugely as well, ranging from half a clove to four of them. Again I don't recall an in your face garlic flavour. I've also seen mascarpone being featured. Absolutely not, advised Santino, chef proprietor of Locanda Terramare in Turin. It would make your sauce far too fatty.

The thing that is really holding me back from giving you a recipe is the issue about the walnuts. Fresh walnuts are common in Liguria and are in season just now. I read dire warnings about walnuts going rancid, though I don't think this applies if they are properly dried. Using the dried versions, some toast them; others boil them for three minutes then peel the skins off to make them less bitter. And just to add to the confusion, the quantities vary from 75g to 200g. I haven't yet made this myself, and I'm therefore NOT going to give you a recipe. If I were going to, it would be something like this. As ever, taste as you go. Have to hand more ingredients than listed below so you can adjust if necessary. You will need some lukewarm water or, better still, some of the pasta water to loosen it.

Take 200 g of walnut kernels (see above). Take a large slice of bread, remove the crusts and soak it well in milk. Squeeze out the milk and put the bread in a blender with the walnuts, half a clove of garlic and a tablespoon of Parmesan. Blitz everything together then gradually add about 5 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt. Loosen the mixture with lukewarm water or some of your pasta water.

Traditionally served with pansotti, Genoese style ravioli.

OK, here's a real recipe, this one from Piedmont.

Bagna Cauda

This is a dip traditionally served and kept warm over a spirit stove. Traditional accompaniments are raw veg,  bread or, in Piedmont, poached cardoons (no, I'm not sure either). If you're being luxurious, add a small white truffle, very thinly sliced. Depending on taste, you may wish to drain and dry the anchovies: alternatively, some people add a little of the anchovy oil.

Ingredients

5 tbsp good olive oil; 80g butter; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 100g tinned anchovy fillets; 1 small white truffle, very thinly sliced (optional).

************************************************

Gently heat the butter and oil, then add the garlic and anchovy. Simmer for about 10 minutes. The anchovies should cook down completely. If not, mash them with a wooden spoon. If using, add the truffle just before serving.

This would be served as a snack with drinks. You may care to heed the warning of Elizabeth David. ...it is a dish which essentially needs the accompaniment of plenty of strong coarse red wine, such as the local Barbera. It is also excessively indigestible, and is indicated only for those with very resistant stomachs. For garlic eaters it is, of course, a blissful feast.