Most Traditional Food in Ischia: Rabbit

My food expectations for this trip were steeped in locale (fish and seafood) and clich� (pizza, pasta, caprese salad). I?ve eaten all of the above, but on Ischia, the largest island in the chain at 16 square miles, I bit into something unexpected. According to Ricardo d?Ambra, owner of Il Focolare restaurant and the chairman of Slow Food Ischia and Procida, the island?s most traditional food is coniglio, or rabbit.
Most believe that rabbits came to Ischia with the Phoenicians, and, centuries later, when grapes arrived and wine became the primary local export, they turned into vineyard-pillaging pests. To keep the rabbits in check, locals developed a farming method in which the animals were allowed to burrow tunnels into the steep, rocky hillsides with the only exit into the cages where they were fed. By keeping them underground, farmers could not only harvest the meat but also the droppings for use as fertilizer in the vineyards. The practice has slowly died out as industrial farms have taken over, but d?Ambra is working to revive the tradition. He uses the ancient method to supply his family?s sprawling restaurant with rabbits. After showing me around around the farms and pens and gathering herbs from the wooded hillsides, d?Ambra served up Il Focolare?s specialty of Coniglia Ischiatani, rabbit braised in white wine and stewed in a clay pot with wild thyme, garlic, and cherry tomatoes.
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Peggy Markel Culinary Adventures
Amalfi Sailing
 
 
My food expectations for this trip were steeped in locale (fish and seafood) and clich� (pizza, pasta, caprese salad). I?ve eaten all of the above, but on Ischia, the largest island in the chain at 16 square miles, I bit into something unexpected. According to Ricardo d?Ambra, owner of Il Focolare restaurant and the chairman of Slow Food Ischia and Procida, the island?s most traditional food is coniglio, or rabbit.
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