![Fried cauliflower with agliata](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Fried_cauliflower_with_agliata.jpg)
Agliata (; from , "garlic"; lij, aggiadda ) is pungent, savory
garlic sauce
Garlic sauce is a sauce prepared using garlic as a primary ingredient. It is typically a pungent sauce, with the depth of garlic flavor determined by the amount of garlic used. The garlic is typically crushed or finely diced. Simple garlic sauce ...
and
condiment
A condiment is a preparation that is added to food, typically after cooking, to impart a specific Flavoring, flavor, to enhance the flavor, or to complement the dish. A table condiment or table sauce is more specifically a condiment that is serv ...
in
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine (, ) is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp.101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes and List of cooking techniques, cooking techniques developed across the Italian Peninsula and late ...
used to flavor and accompany grilled or boiled meats, fish and vegetables.
It is first attested in
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
, and it remains part of the cuisine of
Liguria
Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
. ''Porrata''
is a similar sauce prepared with
leek
The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...
s in place of garlic.
Preparation
''Agliata'' is prepared with crushed garlic,
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
,
bread crumbs
Bread crumbs or breadcrumbs (regional variants including breading and crispies) consist of crumbled bread of various dryness, sometimes with seasonings added, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thickeni ...
,
vinegar
Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to et ...
,
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
and
pepper
Pepper or peppers may refer to:
Food and spice
* Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant
** Black pepper
* ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae
** Bell pepper
** Chili ...
. The bread crumbs are soaked in vinegar, which is then squeezed out, after which the garlic is whisked or beaten into the mixture. Its preparation includes the
emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Althoug ...
of the ingredients to prevent separation, which is performed by the olive oil being added in a slow drizzle while the mixture is constantly whisked. It generally accompanies grilled or boiled meat, fish and vegetables.
History
The origins of ''agliata'' date to
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
.
It has been described as a social-class crossover typical
peasant food
Peasant foods are dishes eaten by peasants, made from accessible and inexpensive ingredients.
In many historical periods, peasant foods have been stigmatized.
They may use ingredients, such as offal and less-tender cuts of meat, which are not ...
also used by upper-class people.
''The Venetian'', a 14th-century cookbook, stated that ''agliata'' can be served "with all kinds of meat",
as reported by the ''
Liber de Coquina
The ''Liber de Coquina'' ("The book of cooking/cookery") is one of the oldest medieval cookbooks. Two codices that contain the work survive from the beginning of the 14th century. Both are preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, France ...
'', first published in the 13th century, where it is stated it can be used to "accompany any kind of meat".
''Agliata'' is used in the cuisine of
Liguria
Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
to accompany meats and fish, and has been described as "a Ligurian classic".
It is still commonly used in Italian cooking.
Similar foods
''
Porrata
Agliata (; from , "garlic"; lij, aggiadda ) is pungent, savory garlic sauce and condiment in Italian cuisine used to flavor and accompany grilled or boiled meats, fish and vegetables. It is first attested in Ancient Rome, and it remains part of ...
'' sauce is prepared using all of the ingredients in agliata except for the garlic, which is substituted with
leek
The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...
s ( in Italian).
See also
*
*
*
*
* – a Romanian garlic sauce
* – a Greek garlic sauce
*
References
External links
* {{cite web, url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19286658.html, title=Recipe: Chicken Thighs With Snap Peas and Agliata, work=
Oakland Tribune
The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group.
Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...
, date=October 7, 2008, url-status=dead, access-date=2016-03-04, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505061331/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19286658.html, archive-date=2016-05-05
Garlic dishes
Italian cuisine
Sauces
Peasant food