The beauty of this destination is not only in its beaches, coasts, and the many naturalistic and historical-cultural attractions. On Elba Island there are several typical dishes to taste during a holiday: traditional recipes and gastronomic specialties that will enrich your journey.
- Stoccafisso alla riese. One of the first specialties to taste. The main ingredient is the stockfish, prepared with garlic, parsley, potatoes, onion, tomato, chilli, black olives, anchovies, capers and pine nuts.
- Sburrita. The sburrita is a fish soup with spices and vegetables: this dish is prepared with wet cod, nepitella (mint), chili pepper and Tuscan bread.
- Gurguglione. It is one of the most famous dishes of Elba: vegetables (onions, peppers, eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes) cooked in a pan. The gurguglione can be a side dish or a unique dish. You can find different variations of this recipe, depending on the area of the island where you are. The name, very particular, seems to be Spanish.
- Imbollite. The imbollite are a very ancient recipe of Elba Island: they are small focaccias with figs.
- Sportella. An anise cake prepared during Easter (but it can be found also in other moments of the year).
- Fish. Elba is an island. This means abundance of typical fish dishes. Such as boiled octopus, fish soup, cuttlefishes. And a real must, the cacciucco, prepared with different qualities of fish (octopus, cuttlefish, scorpionfish).
- Frangette. Pasta flakes fried in a pan, and the dough is prepared with flour, eggs, sugar and a glass of Muscat.
- Schiacciunta. An oven-baked cake prepared with egg, flour, sugar, lard and grated lemon zest.
- Schiaccia briaca. Typical Christmas dessert, the schiaccia briaca is prepared with raisins, pine nuts, hazelnuts, almonds and Aleatico wine.
In other words, the typical dishes are another way to discover Elba Island. And now you just have to book the ferry trip.
Image source: Flickr.com/photos/visittuscany
