This is a dish of raw vegetables that can be served to accompany other food, but also as a snack during aperitif. It is an ideal choice if you want to offer something healthy to your guests, because of its low calorie, high vitamin content.
Only with fresh vegetables
Only seasonal, fresh vegetables easily found in a standard greenmarket are used to prepare this dish: celery, carrots, leaks, fennels, but also radish, artichokes, stripes of savoy cabbage, and radicchio.
The name pinzimonio could come from pinzare, an ancient Italian verb that means ‘to sting’ or ‘to be spicy’. The vegetables in fact used to be originally dipped in sauces or dippings seasoned with a wide variety of spices. Another origin of the name could be the practice of holding the stripes of vegetables between thumb and index, just as with pliers (which in Italian is “pinza”).
Once only a decoration
The pinzimonio, meant as a colorful arrangement of vegetables, dates back many centuries. During Medieval times it was simply a decoration for dishes of meat or game and was not intended to be eaten. When somebody began seasoning the vegetables with the same delicious sauce intended for the meats, pinzimonio became a popular side dish. It wasn’t until the 19th century that the heavy sauces were substituted with lighter dressings, and the extra virgin olive oil became the protagonist. These days the vegetables are dipped in oil seasoned with salt and pepper (and in some instances, vinegar).
Red dressing
Many Italian regions prepare this dish in this manner. But in Sicily, there is a local version with dressing made of oil, salt, mint, garlic, a little water, and peeled tomato. It is rare, but very tasty.
The right wine
If vinegar is added to the dressing, it is not easy to suggest the right wine, because the acidic flavor of this ingredient will not agree any kind of drink. If there is no vinegar, the best choice is a white, perfumed white wine, like those from Alto Adige or the Tuscan coast, or Vermentino from Sardinia.
