A Castle on an Island, Guarded by Squirrels and Ducks: A Trip to Legnano

“Among all the cities of Lombardy it is praised as the rose or the lily among flowers, as the cedar in Lebanon, as the lion among quadrupeds, as the eagle among birds, so as to appear like the Sun among the celestial bodies”. With these enthusiastic words the greatest Lombard poet and writer of the 13th century, Bonvesin de la Riva, who lived here until 1288, wrote of Legnano. If in the 13th century Legnano was admired for the fertility of its lands and the resulting well-being, today it strikes you for its quiet and very liveable atmosphere. Since the 18th century the farmers of Legnano supplemented their work in the fields with manufacturing activities carried out at home, turning into spinners and weavers of cotton, wool and silk. In fact, it was then the textile industry that developed in a particular way with the cotton mill founded by Eugenio Cantoni.

Later the mechanical industry also became decisive, above all thanks to the Franco Tosi company. In Legnano productivity coexists peacefully with the oldest traditions that have their roots in the legendary events of the town's history. Here, in 1176, the Battle of Legnano took place, during which the troops of the Lombard League, probably led by the mythical condottiero Alberto da Giussano, defeated the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. Even the Mameli anthem recalls this historic battle: “From the Alps to Sicily, Legnano is everywhere”, and Legnano is also the only city, besides Rome, to be mentioned in the anthem. At the end of May each year the people of Legnano pay homage to the memory of the battle by celebrating the Palio of the eight historic contrade.

Legend has it that Barbarossa then fled through an underground tunnel connected to the Castle, which stands on an island of the Olona river. Next to the Castle is the stupendous Legnano Park, a vast green area with numerous conifers, inhabited by squirrels and water birds and fish species that populate the little lakes and streams. Legnano also has an important religious heritage: in addition to the Basilica of San Magno, the main church built from 1504, the town has about twenty churches, including the Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie, built following a Marian miracle that gave back the gift of speech to two deaf-mute children. After these very pleasant wanderings through the history of Legnano, we decided to stop for dinner in the ancient “Burgu di Maragàsc”, settling at the tables of the Ristorante Maragàsc, next to the Church of Sant'Ambrogio.

“Maragàsc means "corn stalk", in memory of the agricultural origins of this historic district of Sant'Ambrogio”, Mr Davide tells us, the owner who runs the restaurant together with the chef Claudio Ceriotti. The atmosphere is warm, furnished with imagination and originality: everything predisposes you to a pleasant evening devoted to good traditional cuisine, enriched with “mestizo” pairings that surprise the palate. On the menu we read a phrase by Blaise Pascal: “The soul of pleasure lies in pleasure itself”, and we realise this as soon as we start tasting the appetisers: salt cod meatballs with Tropea onions and polenta sheet, a lovely octopus soup scented with saffron with croutons, fennel cream with steamed prawns and orange reduction and finally, the scallop heart in kataifi pastry and the Thai spicy sweet-and-sour sauce.

We follow this rich appetiser with the rough spaghetti of Cav. Cocco with squid, pine nuts, baby spinach and mullet bottarga from Cabras. Some of us instead choose the garganelli with octopus ragù and wild fennel, and the riso al salto with curry prawns and saffron. For the wines we let ourselves be advised among over seven hundred labels, tasting for example an excellent Lazio white, the Ferentano from the Falesco estate. Our journey through the pleasures of the sea at the table continues with the house mixed raw fish, the salt cod heart cooked pure with warm cherry tomato sauce and salt cod in olive sauce with taggiasca olives and polenta quenelles, the sea bass in Sauris bacon with clam cream and the fresh tuna fillet, seared, marinated in soy, with a dressing of extra virgin olive oil and soy.

Finally, we willingly surrender to the sweet temptations, including the torrone tiramisù, the dark chocolate fondant of Madagascar Manjari 64%, and the filo pastry puffs, the pears with dark chocolate and Madagascar vanilla cream. Some of us instead enjoy the whipped Ivoire chocolate ganache, with IGP Piedmont hazelnuts and filo pastry sails, as well as mamma Luisa's cake. Spending a day in Legnano amused us a great deal, and it is an experience to repeat soon, perhaps in spring: the Palio and lovely walks in the Park await us...

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Il Maragàsc Via Sant'Ambrogio, 12 Legnano (MI) Tel.: 0331/541978