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Sophisticated Milan

The capital city of Lombardy offers high-brow dining in exquisite surroundings

The capital city of Lombardy, the financial capital of Italy and the fashion capital of the world, Milan cannot help but impress. It is home to Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper" and home base for fashion houses like Armani and Versace, as well as furniture designers like Ettore Sottsass, and its architecture ranges from the neoclassical La Scala opera house to the Baroque Palazzo di Brera dating back to 1651.

The city's culinary landmarks are just as fascinating. People from all over the world come to Milan, and it is one of the few places in Italy where you will find exotic foreign restaurants offering the foods of countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Because natives of other regions have also migrated to Milan, you will find restaurants representing those cuisines as well. Milanese cooking is interesting in its own right, however—it is as sophisticated and creative as its birthplace.

Milan boasts two dishes that bear its name and that are very closely associated with the city. First, there is risotto alla milanese, a beautiful saffron-tinged rice dish. The (possibly apocryphal) story of its origins involves another of Milan's symbols: the city's Duomo, an imposing Gothic structure that seems to cast its shadow over the entire metropolis. From 1572 until 1576 the Flemish painter Valerio da Perfundavalle worked on the stained-glass windows of the Milan Duomo, and he used a pinch of saffron, diluted in water, to enrich the yellows in his palette. The apprentice assigned to handle saffron duties came to be nicknamed Zafferano, or Saffron. In 1574, Zafferano married the boss's daughter, and they held their wedding banquet in the cloister behind the Duomo's apse. As a practical joke, the groom's friends added saffron to the rice. Wedding guests relished the dish, and it quickly grew popular throughout Milan. Today it is accompanied by ossobuco, a slow-cooked veal shank served with a long-handled spoon so that the diner may scoop out the bone marrow as a final treat.

After centuries of refinement, the classic version of risotto alla milanese calls for rice to be toasted lightly in sautéed butter, onion, and bone marrow, then brought to a boil with saffron-flavored beef broth. The risotto is then removed from the heat and butter and Grana cheese are stirred in. Carlo Emilio Gadda (1893-1973), the Milanese author who wrote, among other books, That Awful Mess on Via Merulana and Acquainted With Grief, had this to say about his native city's most famous dish: "Risotto alia Milanese should never be overcooked, please, no! It should be slightly more than al dente on the plate. The grains should be soaked and swollen in their juices, with each grain an individual, neither stuck to its companions, nor resting soggy in sludge, which would be unpleasant. Expert risotto-makers allow just a touch of grated Parmesan. This dish is worthy of the serious and elegant people of Milan."

Milan's other culinary star is costoletta alla Milanese, or breaded veal cutlet. When properly cooked, it is crisp on the outside, but juicy on the inside. While this may seem like an exceedingly simple dish for such a complex city, but it represents an interesting aspect of Milan: the foreign rule in its past.

Over the past two millennia or so, Lombardy has been under the thumb of a variety of groups—everyone from the Franks to the French have conquered this valuable territory, and since Milan has existed as an important city since Roman times, it usually served as headquarters for these invaders. Lombardy, and as a result, Milan, was under Austrian rule from 1814 until 1859, and Milanese cuisine still bears the stamp of Austrian influence, not least of all in costoletta alla milanese, which is basically Vienna's beloved wiener schnitzel.

Actually, the Milanese believe that it was not their city that adopted the veal cutlet from Vienna, but the other way around. In fact, Austrian commander Joseph Radetzky—governor of the Austrian kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia from 1850 to 1857—sent a missive to the Court of the Hapsburgs that supports this claim. In it, he described Milanese cuisine and mentioned one particularly delicious item: a veal cutlet dipped in egg, then in breadcrumbs, and cooked in butter. While this was a side note to Radetzky's report, it reportedly struck a chord with the emperor, and upon his return to Vienna, Radetzky was summoned to the court to instruct the head cook there in exactly how to recreate this delicacy.

Another Milanese dish, cassoeula (a name that derives from the Castilian cazuela) is instead a legacy of Spanish rule. In 1540, Hapsburg Emperor Charles V invested his son, soon to become Philip II of Spain, with the local duchy. Spanish rule stayed in place until 1706. This dish has countless variations, but the most common adds sausage, pancetta, and goose gizzard to a base of cabbage, pork rind, pig's feet, and other pork products. Cassoeula is served with bread or polenta.

A Milanese dish that has spread throughout the world is minestrone, which literally means "big soup." This is a soup of beans, vegetables, and pasta or rice. Ingredients will vary depending on the season and a particular cook's recipe, but minestrone is always hearty and satisfying.

Finally, because Milan is a city on the go, it has more than the average share of paninoteche or sandwich shops. These feature Lombardy's famous cheeses, as well as all sorts of cured meats and vegetables. One terrific place to find fresh sandwiches—and just about anything else—is Peck, an enormous food hall in downtown Milan. In addition to sandwiches, Peck offers delicious baked goods, roasted meats, cheeses, wine, and truffles. It is the place to stock up for a picnic or a homemade gourmet meal. A visit to Peck ranks as one of the great Milanese experiences—like the city in which it is located, this beautifully presented shop is alluring, sophisticated, and expensive.

Not only is Milan the fashion capital of the world but the city also boasts some very chic eateries.