In the area of Pavia, the “culture of pig” is deep-seated: quand’s gà fam, ghe’l pän e salàm (“when you are hungry, you can have bread and salami”) is still a common saying. In the past, breed a pig meant having a life insurance and when it was killed, once a year, in order to check whether the meat prepared to make salami was good, a little part of it was used to prepare a risotto.

The first identifiable risotto recipe dates back to 1854.

Köfte is a ball made with minced meat. There are several variations without the employment of meat, such as the ones with lentils or potatoes.

Kormas comes probably from Persia. The name derives from the Hindi word that means “braising”: it’s the type of cooking, since the meat or vegetables are braised in a pot with little quantities of liquid, (yogurt or water).