Stockfish
Mammola, where the drying of stockfish is synonymous with art
Dried stockfish, stokkfisk in Norwegian, has found its perfect location in Mammola, a small, yet charming village in the province of Reggio Calabria. It is precisely in the hinterland of Reggio Calabria that expert artisans can transform imported stockfish from the Nordic countries into a valuable food.
The processing of stockfish, an art that has roots in past centuries
The town of Mammola has managed to master a tradition typical of Northern European countries with wisdom and quality: the processing of stockfish, a fish that arrives salted and dried in the hands of local artisans. It is said that an essential element for the process’s success in Mammola is the soaking and desalting using water that comes from the numerous Apennine mountain springs of the surroundings, which seems to have a unique and very pure composition capable of determining a perfect cleaning of the stockfish, finally obtaining a white fish that is compact and features an inimitable taste.
DID YOU KNOW THAT …?
Stocco (stockfish) is considered a typical “poor dish”: farmers used it, offering it to laborers committed to working hard in the fields, as the dried stockfish is a food with a high energetic value that is still recognized today.
The traditional dish and the festival of the rapier
There is a short step from the laboratories that cure the desalting of the fish to our tables: by now, the stockfish of Mammola has become a symbol of the local gastronomic tradition. Usable in the preparation of appetizers, pasta sauces, main courses, or simply as a main dish accompanies by potatoes, stocco is part of the typical Mediterranean cuisine. Those who want to taste all the stockfish culinary dishes cannot miss the festival of Mammola, which, from 1978, has taken place during the month of August to let everyone share in the unmistakable taste of cod.
