Reggio de Calabria, then and now

The comparative few who give previous thought to this small city in southern Italy wonder at its name. “Reggio’ comes from the ancient Greek for ‘region.’ There’s a Reggio elsewhere in Italy so ‘de Calabria’ distinguishes the two.

Despite its present day obscurity Reggio de Calabria was home to a perhaps legendary early king named Italus, whence ‘Italia.’ Italia initially referred to the general area surrounding Calabria before becoming the name of the whole peninsula circa third century BCE. This suggests a significant level of influence.

Reggio de Calabria is among the 100 largest cities in Europe, home to 500,000 plus. It was heavily damaged by the 7.1 earthquake of 1908, giving rise to much modernization. I’ll tell you a bit more about that quake in the upcoming post on Messina, whose municipal museum has extensive exhibits on the topic.

Calabria itself is not that well known. It is the toe of the boot of Italy. The other side way down here is the heel- that’s Puglia. I wrote about that lovely yet also less visited region a couple of years back. See https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/puglia-italian-cuisine-youve-never-met/ and https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/puglia-slide-show-set-to-a-famous-song/

Reggio sits near the entrance to the Straights of Messina, across from its buddy city Messina. Reggio was a major stopping point for ships bound for Rome, often carrying wheat from Egypt. Much earlier it was a major city in Magna Grecia, the Greek speaking area which includes today’s southern Italy: Puglia, Sicily, Calabria, Basilicata and Campania.

The famous Riace bronzes are in the town’s important Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia. It is protected by an antechamber that seals off the temperature and humidity of the rest of the museum. They are magnificent life size works, with a height of 199 cm/6’6″. Few of these bronze statues remain. These two were found about 200 meters from the shore in nearby Riace either by a diver or four young boys. One of the figures may have been holding a spear and shield, with one sporting a helmet. Restored at the museum over almost a decade after their 1972 discovery and again in 2011, the sculptures date to the 5th century BCE.

Reggio de Calabria has a long (1 kilometer) pedestrian zone. It is the main shopping street, running parallel to the coast. Via Garibaldi is lined with magnolia and exotic palm trees. The city is laid out on a steep hill(s) but the pedestrian zone is on the flat. The train station is one level down, just above the sea. Opposite the station it is a tiny shop selling 30 varieties of arancini.

Arancini are the street food of choice for Sicilians. Cooked risotto is formed into various shapes. Then things like mozzarella, fungi (mushrooms), shredded beef and other meats, bits of eggplant and so on are added. The attractive middle aged woman who runs the place across from the station came up with many variations. There was even one with spada – swordfish.

Once formed into the desired shape, the sticky rice and its other contents are rolled in corn flour, then deep fried. They end up with a nice crunch and an orange color, thus the term ‘arancini’ – oranges. And please try not to refer to the singular in the same manner. If there is only one then the word is orancino.

Back to swordfish. They are in these waters apparently in large numbers judging by their predominance on the menus. There are several variations in their use in the restaurants. Aside from grilled, it is added to various pasta dishes. Pasta Norma is one such. On its own Pasta Norma is a thick short noodle with tomato sauce and grated ricotta salata, a bone dry and very salty version of the otherwise soft, creamy cheese.

In the old days ricotta was made by reheating the whey and then adding lemon or some other acid causing the milk elements to congeal. Thus the term ‘ricotta,’ re-cooked.’ Dry it out and salt it up and you have ‘ricotta salata.’ It all makes sense once you understand the language a bit.