Orzetto con Brovada e Speck all'Udinese

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Udine area), northeastern Italy

Pearl barley (orzo perlato) and brovada — Friuli's unique preparation of white turnips fermented in red wine marc (vinaccia) for 40 days — form an unexpectedly complex winter soup. Speck (smoked mountain ham) cut into small cubes is rendered in a little olive oil, onion and bay are added, then the brovada (cut into julienne strips) is cooked in the speck fat until slightly softened. Pearl barley is added with a generous quantity of chicken or pork broth and simmered covered for 50 minutes until the barley swells and the brovada has almost dissolved into the soup. Finished with fresh marjoram and a knob of cold butter stirred in off heat. The brovada's fermented, wine-marc tang is the defining element, unlike anything else in Italian regional cooking.

Smoky, porky speck; the startling sour-wine-marc tang of brovada fermented turnip; starchy, neutral barley absorbing and mediating; marjoram providing herbal lift at the finish.