Il Rituale delle Virtù del Primo Maggio

Name: Il Rituale delle Virtù del Primo Maggio
Yield: serves 30 (yes, 30)
Ingredients: Total of 2 1/2 pounds dried legumes, which may include: fava beans, cannellini beans or smaller white navy beans, cranberry or borlotti beans, chickpeas, small brown or black lentils; 2 tablespoons fine sea salt, plus additional for cooking legumes; 8 ounces fat prosciutto, minced; 4 ounces pancetta, minced; 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional as needed; 2 large yellow onions, peeled and minced; Hearts of 2 bunches of celery, minced; 1 head fennel, its fronds trimmed, its bulb and stalks sliced thin; 6 small or 3 large leeks, trimmed of all but 1 inch of their green stems, split, rinsed, dried, and sliced thin; 1 large bunch of flat parsley, its leaves minced; 6 ounces spring peas, shelled; 6 ounces fresh fava beans, shelled; 12 small new red- or white-skinned potatoes, washed, unpeeled, and diced; 12 small carrots, scraped and sliced; 12 baby artichokes, trimmed and sliced; 2 14-ounce cans plum tomatoes, with their juices; 1 pound chicory, young spinach leaves, or red chard, rinsed, dried, and shredded; Several large leaves sage, torn; 2 branches of rosemary, the leaves minced; 1 large bunch of fresh mint, its leaves torn; 1 large bunch of basil, its leaves torn; 1 teaspoon ground cloves; 1 pound dried ditalini or other small soup pasta; Just-grated pecorino

January 24, 2012

Perhaps until the beginning of this century, there came always, in the severe mountains of the Abruzzo, a haunting desperation with the first days of May. Bankrupt of the thin stores conserved to abide the incompassionate winter—their handkerchief-sized patches of earth sown a few weeks before—the contadini (farmers) waited then for the land to give up its first nourishment. Often it came too late and many died. And even as time brought more mercy, these terrible days were remembered, the pain of them soothed by a simple ritual. The story says that on the first of May, sette fanciulle virtuose—seven young virgins— went from house to house in a village in the Marsica, the area that suffered most in the past, and begged whatever handful of the winter food that might remain in the larders. And, then, in the town’s square over a great fire in a cauldron, the fanciulle prepared a beautiful pottage to share with all the villagers, to bring them together, to warm them, to keep them safe. The potion was known as la virtù—the virtue. The soup is still made, ritualistically, faithfully, each first of May in many parts of the Abruzzo—most especially in the environs of Teramo, as well as in the Marsica—now more extravagantly, brightening the humble dried beans with spring’s new harvests. Employing even a handful or so of all the ingredients results in a great potful of the soup, assigning it thus as a festival dish. On some sweet day in May, invite twenty-nine or so good people and make the soup for them. The tail of a pig and one of his ears, though they are traditional to the soup, seem optional to me.

Recipe notes