SUMMER SALADS ITALIANO

Jul 6, 2001 - © Paula Damiano

Italians—like everyone else--enjoy cool salads on hot summer days and nights. In the summer, the evening meal (eaten much later in Italy than in the United States) sometimes consists of just a selection of cold dishes—items that otherwise would appear as the antipasto course.

The insalada misto or mixed salad is a very simple affair in Italy. Greens dressed with just oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper are served on the side—or after—a main course. Other kinds of salads are more unusual, at least to American tastes, and are worth a try on their own. For example, sliced fresh oranges and sliced raw fennel are the main ingredients in a dish eaten by ancient Roman legionnaires and still enjoyed by modern Romans. In Sicily, there is a variation made with oranges, red onions and olives. Fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil make Insalada Caprese (in the style if the Isle of Capri).

Potato salad is not unique to American barbecues. Italians make it many ways, with a mayonnaise dressing or with oil and vinegar. A good fresh mayonnaise is the sign of a good cook, to Italians. In the home, it’s still made by hand by beating together eggs, olive oil and an acid like lemon juice. At dinner in a friend’s home in Rome, we had cold poached trout with mayonnaise—which our hostess sheepishly admitted her sister had made, “because hers is so much better than mine.” As always, Italians focus on simple preparations that enhance the natural taste attributes of the prime ingredients.

Cold beans—fava and other kinds—are also dressed with oil. Tuna is sometimes added to any of these for extra taste and protein. Caponata is a cold Sicilian salad or relish made with eggplant, capers and other ingredients. Spread between two slices of bread, it makes a delicious meatless sandwich. There are also potato-based caponatas. The thrifty Tuscans even make a salad of stale bread: Panzanella.

So keep it simple, keep it light—and make it with the finest-quality ingredients you can find. Then you’ll truly be eating Italiano!

SUMMER SALADS ITALIANO

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