There's no question that the most appetizing and tantalizing dishes are almost always based on humble ingredients, like this persata soup recipe. l should add that before being implemented into the dish, it's important that these simple ingredients are wisely manipulated.
Fulvio Anselmi, a former hotelier and restaurateur, has always loved the frankness and sobriety of the cuisine of Elba island, which generally doesn't call for heavy or complex sauces. This is why he considers Elban cuisine a small masterpiece – harmonious dishes are obtained through simple but varied raw materials, in which each ingredient retains its dignity and the fragrance of the Mediterranean scrub that characterizes the Tuscan archipelago island. The credit goes above all to the intuition and experience of the women of the house, who have not only for generations handed down the secrets of culinary creativity that enhances the flavors and aromas of the earth but have also and above all enhanced the infinity of wild aromatic herbs growing on the island. Spontaneous gardens have always been a great resource for popular cuisine.
Persata, for example, is a substantial, rather dry, and consistent soup made with eggs, bread, garlic, and a marjoram-like herb called la persa. “It was originally by prepared by those who live in the western area of the island,” says Anselmi, who as a child, spent long days in the family countryside, near Chiessi, a western seaside village.
La persa, the marjoram-like herb used in the soup, photo: Sofie Delauw
“Here we all feel like fishermen, but the truth is that we are farmers with vineyards on the hills where strong arms are needed,” he continues. He refers to the fields far from the sea where the winemakers worked hard, with the time barely to eat the bagged lunch. When hoeing began in preparation for the new flowering at the end of February, persata soup was a tasty and nutritious cure-all that provided the manual laborers with the energy and sustenance to continue.
"It was placed in a saucepan or in two opposing bowls tied with a piece of cotton. Women brought it to the men as a fast-breaker to be consumed in the middle of the morning, precisely between nine and ten," Fulvio explains, recalling habits and hardships now long gone.
To relive those emotions, he cooks persata soup in his house in the village of Marciana often. Eating it serves as a review of traditional values. It is a way to maintain them and keep alive the idea of a table at which people became masters of their own thoughts and destiny, thanks to the variety of products from the land. This philosophy pays homage to the men who, as in the case of this soup, turned the ingredients into memorable dishes.
Fulvio Anselmi's Persata Soup Recipe
Fulvio Anselmi's Persata Soup, photo: Sofie Delauw
Ingredients for 4
8 eggs
6 garlic cloves
la persa herb (part of the marjoram family – substitute marjoram if you can't source it)
slices of stale bread
extra-virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
The procedure (in his own words)
"I put 1⁄2 liter of salted water on the fire. I add 5 whole cloves of peeled garlic then 3 Tbsp. oil and a generous bunch of persa.
I let the water simmer for 7-8 minutes until it's well flavored.
In the broth, I then poach the eggs for 2½ minutes (three minutes maximum), one after the other.
In a separate dish, I prepare slices of toasted bread, rub them with garlic, and season with pepper, salt, and oil. I place the eggs on top of the slices of bread, trying not to break them.
At the end of cooking, I add the cooking broth and add a pinch of pepper on the egg yolk and a drizzle of oil."
The ingredient, photo: Sofie Delauw
Cover photo: Sofie Delauw
