Cappon magro facts for kids
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| Alternative names | Capon magro |
|---|---|
| Type | Salad |
| Place of origin | Italy |
| Region or state | Genoa |
| Main ingredients | Seafood, vegetables, hard tack |
Cappon magro is a special and fancy salad from Genoa, a city in Italy. It's made with different kinds of seafood and vegetables. These ingredients are carefully stacked up to look like a decorative pyramid. The whole dish sits on a base of hard tack biscuits, which are like very hard crackers. A rich sauce is poured over everything to make it extra tasty.
There's also a simpler dish called capponata in some parts of Italy, like Liguria and Sardinia. It's a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, hard-boiled eggs, and dried fish. It's usually dressed with olive oil.
Contents
What Does "Cappon Magro" Mean?
The name Cappon magro means 'fast-day capon'. This might sound a bit confusing, so let's break it down!
Why "Fast-Day"?
In some Christian traditions, people used to have "fast days" where they would avoid eating meat. Since Cappon magro is made with seafood and vegetables, it was a perfect meal for these days, even for special occasions like Christmas Eve.
Why "Capon"?
The word 'capon' can have a few meanings here:
- It could be a funny way to refer to the capon, which is a type of chicken often eaten on holidays. It's like saying, "This is our special holiday dish, but it's not meat!"
- It might refer to the hard biscuit base of the salad. In French, a 'chapon' is a piece of bread rubbed with garlic and placed at the bottom of a soup or salad.
- It could also be the name of a type of fish, like a gurnard or red mullet, which are sometimes called 'cappone' in Italian.
How to Make Cappon Magro
Making Cappon magro is like building a delicious, edible tower!
The Base
First, you start with a layer of hard tack biscuits. These biscuits are rubbed with garlic and then soaked in a mix of seawater and vinegar to soften them up.
Building the Layers
After the base is ready, you start building the pyramid, layer by layer. Each layer can have different vegetables, fish, or seafood.
- Most recipes include boiled white fish, a lobster, green beans, celery, carrots, beets, and potatoes.
- Some people say that a vegetable called black salsify is also very important.
- All the ingredients are boiled separately, cut into pieces, and seasoned with oil and vinegar.
The Special Sauce
Each layer of the salad is covered with a special sauce. This sauce is a bit like a mix between salsa verde (green sauce) and mayonnaise. It's made by grinding together parsley, garlic, capers, anchovies, the yolks of hard-boiled eggs, and green olives. Then, olive oil and vinegar are added to make it smooth and creamy.
Finishing Touches
The very top of the pyramid is usually crowned with a lobster, often with its roe (eggs) for extra color. The sides of the pyramid are decorated with green olives, botargo (cured fish roe), capers, anchovy fillets, crayfish, artichokes, and quartered hard-boiled eggs. It's a true work of art!
Traditions
Cappon magro is a traditional dish often enjoyed on Christmas Eve in Italy. It's a festive and impressive meal that brings families together.
See also
In Spanish: Cappon magro para niños
