Soon after starting my blog, I posted on this miraculous concoction called Foriana sauce. I’d never heard of it before which is what I love about food and cooking. There is always something to discover.
The recipe is in the cookbook, “Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods” by Eugenia Bone. She claims its origin is a little island off of the coast of Naples. I definitely need to visit this island to see what other culinary treasures they’re keeping from me!
So I posted on foriana sauce back when I had about 3 followers, and it’s just too good to keep to myself. So this is a re-post of sorts.
foriana sauce
Foriana Sauce
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pine nuts
10 good-sized cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon dried oregano
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup golden raisins
More olive oil
Place the walnuts, pine nuts,and garlic cloves in the jar of a food processor. Pulse until the nuts look like “dry granola.” Add the oregano and pulse a few more times.
Heat a skillet over medium heat with the olive oil. Add the nut-garlic mixture and the raisins and cook on the stove, stirring occasionally, for about five minutes. The nuts and raisins will caramelize a bit.
Divide the mixture between 3 – half pint jars that have just come out of the dishwasher (sanitized) with their lids. Let the mixture cool. Tamp it down a bit to limit air pockets, then pour in olive oil until there’s about 1/2″ of oil over the nut-raisin mixture. When cooled completely, cover and refrigerate until use.
foriana sauce cooling off in the jars
After using, replace some of the olive oil on the top to protect the sauce.
To test it out, we spread chèvre on baguette slices and topped it with the foriana sauce. Everyone fell in love with this stuff. I quickly gave the other two jars away so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat more of it!
Then, the following Christmas, I made foriana sauce again, but this time with two different kinds of dried cranberries instead of the raisins. Just to make it more festive! Plus, I processed the nuts a bit more to make the sauce more spreadable. And once again, I can share with you that this stuff is heavenly!
I tested it with a variety of cheeses, for the sake of research, and I found foriana sauce especially good with warmed bleu cheese!
I hope you try this extraordinary “condiment” of sorts for the holidays. You will not regret it!
note: I can see this foriana sauce spread on chicken or fish, or added to lamb meatballs, or added to a curry. The author also has suggestions as to how to incorporate foriana sauce into various dishes. But I just want to spread it all over a brie and bake it…
This looks wonderful and would make a lovely hostess gift.
Thank you. It’s truly fabulous!
Oh this does look heavenly! How long will it keep in the refrigerator? Pretty sure I need this in my life!
Oh, you do! When you start toasting the nut mixture the garlic and oregano really become fragrant. It should last quite a few weeks, especially covered with oil, and I’ve always frozen some as well, and it thaws perfectly.
This is inew to me – sounds amazing! So glad you shared again :)
Thanks – I have seen seen this name before or since I originally discovered the recipe. It’s seriously to die for!!!
Wow! Have never heard of that. Will try soon!
I know – I’ve still never come across it!
Thanks for re-posting . I will make this for the holidays . I love sauces like this.
I may just have to serve science as well. For starters, I’ll see what I can find about this on Italian blogs. I’ve been to all islands near Naples that I know of, but haven’t come across this sauce before!
PS there is a town called Forio on the island of Ischia, near Naples, so the name must refer to that. The only reference I’ve found through Google is Italian restaurants in Provincetown though. The Italian recipe for pasta alla foriana I found is different (with tomatoes instead of nuts).
I hadn’t heard of this one before either but Aveur does a version of it and references Ischia and Lent. http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Foriana-Sauce
It is interesting that on-line it is mostly American sites that mention this. This could very well be due to the fact that in Italy, and certainly in a place like Ischia, the internet still isn’t as common and so not finding something online doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Oh that’s a very interesting theory. I’ve actually never come across the word “foriana” but then I haven’t searched for it, either!
The author has an Italian father, if I remember right. I might have to look in the book to see if she says anything else about the origin.
To say this looks strange is an understatement, but the flavour combinations are amazing. Exactly why we all follow each other, to learn new things. How can I get this into dinner tomorrow?
Since it takes five minutes to make, yes you can! It is odd, but incredible. One gets the nuts and raisins, but then there’s the garlic and oregano, which really come out when you toast the mixture!
I believe you on the “for the sake of research”.
Yes, I choose to gain weight for the sake of research!
This is so unusual and I can see it pairing beautifull with some blue cheese on a toasted baguette or a bruschetta.
The slight sweetness was really good with the bleu, but it’s been good on every other cheese so far!
Fascinating! The recipes are very similar as well. I can definitely see this with pasta, and on fish. We’re getting closer! Thanks!!!
Wow – I wish I’d been one of the recipients of the other two jars!
It seriously takes minutes to make, so you can have three jars full within the hour! I actually just made a half batch – didn’t want too much lurking around…
Chef Mimi, your description and history were enough to convince me before I even got to the recipe, but once I read the ingredients I knew I MUST make both versions. Thanks for “bringing this back!” Holidays at your house surely taste as beautiful as they look!
That’s so sweet – thank you. I just made half a batch, and I used dried cranberries and mixed raisins. Still festive, and still fabulous!
I came home with golden raisins, walnuts, and more pine nuts tonight, Mimi. Sooooo looking forward to tasting this! (Craisins are always on hand… love ’em for snacks.) Scaling down recipes to size (2-person household, 1-person “flavor adventurous”) is par for the course here, too. :) Merry Christmas!
Nice! Can’t wait to see what you think! I just made a half batch a few days ago, and that made a pint jar, packed, plus a little extra.
But I didn’t measure exactly, either.
P.S. Your cookbook holder is stylish! Smiling about the “snow” on your blog, too. :)
I know! That’s the first thing I noticed!
I remember you posting this sauce before and I thought it sounded wonderful, glad you posted again I will make it. It really does sound like a great accominament with bread and cheese.
I need to try it other ways as well, but I can’t get past the cheese pairings!
That’s how I see it really being a stand out condiment. It would be interesting on vegetables like green beans maybe. It really does sound good!
It’s nutty, and you taste the sweetness, but it’s also garlic and oregano. It’s really fascinating.
I think it would be amazing on a grilled cheese maybe with a cheese like taleggio.
Yes! Or in a panini. Even with fresh ricotta. It’s just wonderful!
It sounds divine with warm bleu or brie cheese, I’m with you on that one! Thanks for sharing it again, I obviously wasn’t the first of your three followers, lol! :)
It might have been 12….
:D
Looks heavenly…I just have to try it!!! I have never heard of it before, thanks for sharing Mimi :)
Maybe the author made it up? No one has heard of it!!! But I’m just glad I found it!!! This will actually be the fourth time I’ve made it, and I don’t often make the same thing twice!
Am hoping to give it a try for the holidays and thanks again for sharing Mimi :)
I am so happy you brought this back. I can only imagine how wonderful this sauce is. That melted blue with the berries looks amazing!
It is really amazing “stuff!” I could just about spread it on anything!
This is really unique and some major goodness! :-) I think it would be good right out of the jar–a good reason to give some of it away. I have been making sourdough bread quite regularly and I think I just found a new topping to enjoy! Thank you for thinking of the re-post. This is too good to miss.
Oh that would be a fabulous combination! And some cheese…
Wonderful recipe indeed!
As much as I love the pairing with cheeses, I can see it going well with grilled fish,or wine poached trout. I will definitely give it a try once the holiday craze is over. :)
The author suggests fish as well, but I haven’t gotten past the cheeses yet!
I can see why! :)
Reblogged this on Chef Ceaser.
Thank you!
That sounds delicious. Thanks for this recipe. I am catering Hors d’oeuvres for a dinner for 80 tomorrow here in Dordogne and am going to make this to serve on toasts with chèvre.
Fabulous! I will be loved by all I can assure you!
Sounds delicious! And the presentation is delightful! Would love to serve this at our next get-together or give away as gifts…Thanks for sharing Mimi! – Pinned it!
I can’t imagine anyone not liking this, unless they have a nut allergy!
They’d be a nut not to like it!! 💝
Never heard of this before now and it looks fantastic, Mimi! Gotta try this one.
Oh you do! You won’t be disappointed. This time I used dried cranberries and a pretty raisin mixture that I chopped a little. Delightful!
What a beautiful concoction – I don’t think I had ever heard of foriana sauce before either, except till now. It looks so versatile, you can serve it every which way by the looks of it.
Exactly! Although I haven’t gotten past cheese pairings…
I’m sure I remember this sauce from when you last posted it, and I loved it then :)
I actually posted twice, but i had very few followers even the second time! Just a few days ago I made a half batch for my family coming for the holidays, and it takes minutes to put together. It’s amazingly good!
It looks gorgeous! I think it was definitely worth posting it again :)
Never heard of it but sounds yummy!
It really is pretty incredible.
Wow. I’m glad you redid this! It looks soooo good. Right up my alley. I love little preserved things that add that something special to a dish. This is certainly one of them.
Exactly! I can’t imagine anyone not loving this stuff!
Well, I just want to go on record as saying that it scares me. It looks like that kind of thing that you never think will be good, but it turns out to be amazing, and then you can never stop eating it. So … I can’t wait to try it! I think I would LOVE it on fish. Or maybe pork loin!
That’s exactly why I gave the other two jars away! I love it also because it’s not overly sweet – you can really taste the garlic, oregano, and a hint of sweetness. Like for me, I’d rather have chutney on baked Brie, rather than honey. I do need to try it on fish. I just made a half batch a few days ago, and I’m going to try and be more creative with this!!!
Another holiday hit! Looks delish with the warm blue cheese.
Thank you! It’s pretty amazing!
Never heard of it before. Does the book mention the origin? and so simple.
Never mind – I got lost in the making of it and you did write it’s from an island near Naples. Definitely a Southern flavor.
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Foriana-Sauce
Somebody gave me this link!
This was definitely worth reposting! So, if one can’t eat garlic, would you substitute shallots? Just curious how important you think the garlic is to the flavor.
I really think it’s important, because it’s what keep the concoction less sweet. May pre-sauteed shallots, diced finely.
I will give that a try!
Sometimes it pays to be behind… make that way behind … in reading posts. This dish sounds great on its own but then so many wrote uses for it. Now I have to make it!
Oh, you do John! And it’s Italian!
Very interesting! Always something new to learn with cooking. Love it!
Absolutely! I don’t know why this stuff isn’t more popular!!!
Thank you for reposting! And … wishing you all the best and a very happy and festive holiday season!
Thank you and Happy New Year!!!
Adding an afterthought here after TASTING this… simply marvelous… soooo good! I’ll be making this again and again. Thanks, Chef Mimi!
You are so welcome! It’s addicting, too, isn’t it?!!! Happy New Year!