Broths and Minestre

A well made stock is the basis of most cuisines. No more so than in Italy where it is used as a base of the brodo (the cure-all light soup); essential in risotto, and in the cooking of many meat and poultry dishes.

It is important when making any stock to skim off the impurities that rise to the surface. If making stock for a variety of uses, it is best just to boil the carcasses on their own. If making a brodo, as Silvana's recipe shows here, then the vegetables can be cooked together with the bones. A basic stock will last better without the vegetables.

Following are two very simple broths with a couple of variations. You can add many different varieties of vegetables to these brodos. They can be made into more substantial dishes by the addition of noodles, pasta or rice. You can experiment with different fresh herbs. There are also the broths enriched with egg and cheese - such as stracciatella ( straccia are rags in Italian and the name refers to the 'threads' of partly cooked egg running through the broth).

The brodo is considered the panacea for the many ailments, imaginary and real, which Italians seem to fall prey to. No other national group seems quite so concerned about their health, there's always a little 'mal di pancia' or 'mal di fegato' (feeling slightly crook in the stomach or the liver) but these can be solved by 'un po di brodo'. A well made, clear chicken broth, perhaps with a little fine noodle or, the star noodles which are supposed to be for kids but which adults love too.

But as well as 'brodo' the judicious use of alcohol is also an important Italian cure. The wine list at Mario's featured the following quote, attributed to Saint Paul The Apostle: "Drink no longer water but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thy often infirmities".

My mother recalls her father's dismissal of water - as being only good for washing. And, the importance of the digestivi, the many herb based liqueurs, much loved by the Italians, particularly Fernet, which were essential after a meal.