As with all Italian cities, too Milan boasts its own culinary tradition. The real king of Milanese cuisine is butter, used in most dishes, dal Risotto, To Milanese cutlet, until the Panettone. To start with the traditional dishes, the best known is certainly the Milanese risotto, made with saffron. The traditional one involves the use of beef marrow, but currently not many people cook it this way. Another typically Milanese first course is the "busecca”(Hence the nickname of“ busecconi ”), done with stewed tripe. Among the second courses, the best known and most appreciated is the Milanese cutlet, which according to tradition is made with veal, at least a finger high, and fried in butter, although today the healthier and less fatty olive oil is preferred. olive or seed. The "cassoeulaInstead it is a very rich dish, made with cabbage and the “poor” parts of the pig such as rind, head, ribs and feet. Moving on to desserts, panettone and colomba originate in the Milanese capital.
In the traditional Milan cuisine there is no dish in which, sooner or later, a little butter, a drop of milk or cream, a grated cheese does not enter. Milk, especially in bourgeois cuisine, was often substituted, for the same preparations, with cream, which was also used to thicken sauces, gravies and cooking stocks of various types and for the dressing of tortelli and stuffed pasta, as well as as autonomous confectionery specialty in chestnuts with cream, in the typical milk honey accompanied with cialdoni, one of the most popular desserts on bourgeois tables of the beginning of our century, or in panna cotta, flavored with rosolio or maraschino. Mascarpone is the basis of many fillings for pasta or meats and of an infinite variety of dessert creams.
Well, as promised, I will now give you some information on the places where the 10 traditional Milanese dishes.
1 The Milanese risotto at Trattoria Temperanza da Abele
How not to start from him, the indisputable colossus of Milanese cuisine. And from a small popular trattoria from which you cannot leave without having ordered one of the risottos. Proof that risotto doesn't come straight from the microwave? You have to wait about twenty minutes, as it should always be in these cases. Trattoria Temperanza da Abele. Via Temperanza, 5. Tel. 02 2613855
2 The boiled meat by Al'Less
The name already says it all. The specialty is declined in different cuts of meat and accompanied by the proper sauces and vegetables with which the meat was cooked. On the menu there are also other specialties of Milanese cuisine, but the journey here is all about boiled, a dish now difficult to find in other restaurants in the city. Al'Less. Viale Lombardia, 28. Tel. 02 7063 5097
3 Mondeghili to L'Altra Isola
It might seem out of place, but the cook of L'Altra Isola is the Chinese Hu Shunfeng, but his cuisine is that of the old Milan and is particularly strong in the mondeghili, usually obtained with the leftovers of boiled meat. But woe to call them meatballs! The Other Island. Via Porro, 8. Tel. 02 6083 0205
4 Rustin denies at the Trattoria Arlati
Literally, 'drowned roaster', rustin negà in the plural fa rustìtt negà a, but this is not the only oddity: despite being a cornerstone of tradition, only a few in the city are left to do so. The veal knots are browned with butter and sage and then drowned - hence the name - in wine and broth: at Arlati they cook it for hours and then serve it accompanied by polenta. Trattoria Arlati. Via Nota, 47. Tel. 02 6433327
5 Ossobuco with risotto at the Trattoria Masuelli S. Marco
Who has never wanted to combine the carbohydrates of pasta with a little healthy protein? Milanese cuisine makes this 'wonderful thought' its own and finds one of its cornerstones precisely in the combination: the unique dish par excellence in these parts is yellow rice and ossobuco. To taste one of his best recipes you have to go to Trattoria Masuelli, where they have been preparing it since 1921. Trattoria Masuelli S.Marco. Viale Umbria, 80. Tel. 02 55184138
6 Milanese tripe at the Antica Trattoria della Pesa
One of the oldest dishes in the city cooked in one of its oldest kitchens. Eating tripe at the Antica Trattoria della Pesa is a bit like taking a step backwards in the geneological tree of the city. The dish is so emblematic of Milanese style that the epithet 'busecconi', tripe-eater, is used to refer to the inhabitants of the city themselves. Antica Trattoria della Pesa. Viale Pasubio, 10. Tel. 02 655 5741
7 The Cassoeula at Al Matarel
At Matarel, the real specialty remains the cassoeula, monumental and fragrant. Pork, used to flavor cabbage, a basic winter element of Lombard peasant cuisine, is not as heavy as they say: try it to believe it. The restaurant in the city is a real institution. Al Matarel. Via Mantegazza, 2. Tel. 02 654204
8 The Milanese cutlet da Al Garghet
Here all the dishes are cooked according to the rules of the Lombard tradition but 'the cutuleta del Garghet' still remains a cornerstone of the Milanese hinterland. Al Garghet. Via Selvanesco, 36. Tel. 02 534698
9 Asparagus with fried eggs from La Pobbia
Let's say you passed by the parts of Viale Certosa on a spring day. Well, not stopping in La Pobbia could be a crime. Here, at the end of March, you can order superb asparagus with fried egg sprinkled with a little Parmigiano Reggiano. La Pobbia 1850, via Gallarate, 92. Tel. 02 3800664
10 The Panettone from Pavè
There is something more Milanese than 'panetun', they bake home-made breads and desserts at any time of day. Among these, unmissable, the panettone, prepared without any type of flavor or preservative, produced entirely in the laboratory, with mother yeast, vanilla berries and a massive dose of patience. Available in two versions: classic, with raisins and candini, or gourmet, with chocolate pearls. In both cases, a riot of sweetness. Pavè. via Casati, 27. Tel. 02 94392259
