Holidays in eastern Liguria call to mind not only images of the sea, vineyards olive-trees and woods that are almost lapped by the waves, but they also evoke appetizing gastronomic delights: a rich range of soups, minestre, stuffed, pasta, fish-and shellfish-based sauces, savoury pies and frittelle (fritters)
fried, oven-cooked, stewed or grilled fish. The local menu offers "troffie al pesto" (small pieces of fresh pasta in the form of twisted spirals dressed with the Ligurian sauce par excellence, made of basil, garlic, oil, pine nuts and cheese); "tegame alla vernazzana" (made with fresh anchovies potatoes and tomatoes in garlic and parsley); "minestrone di verdure” (vegetable soup); "pansoti" (home-made pasta stuffed with vegetables, ricotta, aromatic herbs, egg and cheese in a walnut sauce); the very special "gianchetti" or "rossetti" (tiny boiled fish served with extra-virgin oil); oven-cooked stuffed vegetables and anchovies; "torta pasqualina" ("Easter pie”, made with artichokes and vegetables); vegetable "gianchetti" or apple frittelle; "muscoli ripieni" (stuffed mussels cooked on a bed of tomatoes). What emerges very clearly from this list are the two souls that co-exist in eastern Ligurian cooking and which have inspired the lives of the local people: the sea-faring and the farming soul. Both are ever present in the perfect combination of fish and vegetables to be found in recipes that have been handed down since time immemorial.