Behind Italian cuisine, celebrated around the world for its authenticity and simplicity, lies a parallel universe made up of forbidden traditions, where a series of dishes that the law prohibits to protect the environment, safeguard public health or safeguard endangered species continue to survive in homes, in “off-menu” restaurants and in black markets. A controversial heritage that tells of an Italy poised between the preservation of traditions and respect for the rules.
Small wild animals: dormice and porcupines
In the internal areas of Calabria – from Aspromonte to Serre – dormouse hunting survives as a clandestine tradition. Protected by law 157/1992 and by the Berne Convention of 1979, this small rodent was once cooked in sauce with onion and chilli pepper or roasted. Hunting has its roots in the cuisine of poverty, when every protein source made a difference. Today it represents more of a link with the past than a necessity, but it remains a crime punishable by heavy fines and, in the most serious cases, prison.
The porcupine also met a similar fate. In Basilicata and other areas of Central-Southern Italy, this wild animal ended up in farmers’ pots, cooked stewed or baked with preparations similar to those of rabbit. The meat was flavored with garlic, red wine and plenty of tomatoes. As with the dormouse, the porcupine is also a species strictly protected by law 157/1992 and by the Bern Convention: hunting or consuming it constitutes a criminal offense with heavy penalties.
Sea dates: forbidden luxury of the Mediterranean
Considered a forbidden luxury, sea dates are prohibited by law 14 July 1965 n. 963. Harvesting requires crushing marine rocks with jackhammers, pickaxes and explosives, causing devastating damage to the seabed. The ban arises from the fact that these molluscs grow extremely slowly – they take 15-35 years to develop – and live nestled in limestone rocks. To prepare a dish of linguine with dates, a square meter of seabed is destroyed, causing irreversible desertification of the habitat.
The black trade continues: the Coast Guard seizes tons of product and burglary tools every year. A kilo of dates can cost up to 200-250 euros on the illegal market. Demand shows no sign of decreasing, especially in Campania, Salento and Sicily, where they are consumed raw or in spaghetti. Anyone caught fishing, selling or consuming sea dates risks prison from 2 months to 2 years or fines from 2,000 to 12,000 euros.
Sea urchins and newborns: prey out of season
Sea urchins are only legal within certain limits. The legislation provides that each fisherman can collect a maximum of 50 specimens per day and only from November to April. In Puglia and Sicily, out-of-season and unlimited harvesting fuels the reality of parallel markets: consumed raw or with spaghetti, they represent a deeply rooted tradition that threatens the marine ecosystem.
The “newborn” – juvenile sardines and anchovies – has been banned by the European Union since 2010 (EC Regulation no. 1967/2006 of the Council of 21 December 2006, which actually came into force in May 2010) because fishing for newborn fish puts the survival of the species at risk. In Calabria (cicirella or sardella), Sicily (nunnata), Puglia and Campania (bianchetto) it continues to appear in domestic kitchens: pancakes, meatballs or spaghetti with newborn remain among the most loved dishes. In Tuscany and Liguria there were widespread “ceche”, juvenile eels, which are also protected today but still present on the black market.
The birds with polenta
Chaffinches, larks, sparrows and thrushes – the famous “osei” – were protagonists of the peasant cuisine of Northern Italy. They were served stewed or roasted, always accompanied by polenta. Again, the aforementioned law 157/1992 prohibits the capture and consumption of these species, many of which are in sharp decline. In the Bergamo and Veneto valleys, clandestine consumption survives, guarded by small circles who consider it an identity symbol.
Casu marzu: the cheese that moves
Perhaps the most famous of the forbidden foods. Casu marzu is a Sardinian pecorino colonized by the larvae of Piophila casei. Considered a danger to public health by the European Union and prohibited by law 283 of 1962 and by the European Hygiene Package (EC Regulations 852/2004, 853/2004, 854/2004 – repealed by EU Regulation 2017/625 from 14 December 2019 – and 882/2004 – also repealed by the Regulation EU 2017/625 from 14 December 2019 – and 2073/2005), remains an emblem of Sardinian agro-pastoral culture.
In 2009 CNN included it in the list of the “most dangerous cheeses in the world”, but its fame has also made it a cult product. In 2004 it was included in the list of traditional agri-food products by the Ministry of Agricultural Policies, and in many rural areas it continues to be consumed privately.
The case of casu marzu is different from the previous ones: it is not an endangered species, but a dairy product which, with the necessary regulations, could be produced legally. The University of Sassari, through the “Casu frazigu” project in collaboration with farmers and the regional agency Agris, has experimented with methods to legally produce this cheese, standardizing production and guaranteeing hygiene standards. The experiments aim to develop techniques for the controlled rearing of cheese fly larvae.
Frogs, pigeons and other animals on the border of legality
Fried frogs and frog risotto were symbolic dishes of the humid areas of Lombardy and Veneto. Once freely captured, frogs are now protected: the regulations – Lombardy Regional Law 10/2008 and Veneto Regional Law 53/1974 – prohibit the collection of wild species, allowing only the consumption of farmed specimens. The tradition survives in typical restaurants, even if in many countryside the memory of clandestine catches persists.
Pigeon is a special case: the protagonist of traditional dishes in Tuscany, Umbria and Veneto – such as pigeon alla leccarda or pigeon risotto – it represents a thin border between legality and prohibition. Domestic pigeons raised for the table are legal, while wild pigeons cannot be hunted or consumed. They too are protected by law 157/1992, considered a prohibited food for regulatory and health reasons.
Other taboo animals
Alongside dormice, birds and date mussels, other animals that are now taboo appear in Italian tradition. For example, we can mention otters, once hunted in the river areas of central and southern Italy, today a threatened and untouchable species, and storks and herons, killed in marshy areas to make roasts or soups and which were placed under protection when survival in Italy became critical (species still protected by law 157/92).
