Recipe of the Week: Cundijun

Served especially during the summer, often eating outside, on the balcony or in the garden, this is a perfect traditional dish, simple to make, very rich and refreshing.

In the past, women used to eat cundijun – in local dialect, or condiglione in Italian - while sitting on the house steps, gossiping with neighbors and often nibbling from the same dish.

Several recipes exist of this fresh traditional salad, with ingredients varying depending on the area and the seasons.

In Imperia, cundijun traditionally includes tomatoes, olives, basil, peppers, anchovies, garlic, green beans and condiments; in Genoa, instead, the ingredients are more abundant and make the dish more similar to a Cappon Magro.

This salad should always be thoroughly seasoned, as its name in fact derives from the verb “condire” (to season) and in compliance with the local saying: "I do not trust three things: condiglione without dressing, beautiful coquettish women, a farmer without a trident".

Ingredients for 4 people:

300 g of green beans,

4 fragrant fresh tomatoes, preferably beefsteak tomatoes

2 peppers,

1 cucumber,

1 red onion,

100 g of pickled Taggiasca olives,

4 fillets of anchovies (or 50 g of mosciamme),

1 bunch of basil,

2 garlic cloves,

1 boiled egg,

extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, salt.

Directions:

Boil the beans, and then let them cool. Clean the anchovies and cut into fillets; if you use the mosciamme cut it into thin slices.

Rub the bowl with garlic - if you like strong flavors – and then arrange the chopped vegetables and tomatoes in it, season and sprinkle with the fresh basil leaves. Let rest a few minutes before serving.

Fresh bread to soak the delicious juice at the end is a must!

Buon appetito