I am from Brianza, the beautiful countryside not far from Milano, and I love its excellent traditional cuisine. One of my favourite Brianza dishes is definitely the risotto alla monzese (Risotto Monza style). It has as a main ingredient a sausage called luganega, that is typical of the city of Monza. Not many people know the ancient legend linked to this mouth-watering recipe, whose protagonist is a wicked witch named Giuliana.
The witch called GiulianaAccording to tradition, that is to say according to my grandmother, Giuliana was a monstrous witch with
incredibly long legs. She walked through the woods and – thanks to her extraordinarily long limbs – she was able to move from tree to tree without ever touching the ground. She had a gruesome occupation:
kidnapping children to eat them. She would hide in a tree and when a child, unaware of her presence, walked the path below, she would grab him with her clawed hands, bring him home and devour him.
The vengeance of a courageous mother
One day a mother, frightened by the possible kidnapping of her son, decided to deceive the witch. She cooked saffron rice in a huge saucepan. To make it better and irresistible, she added the luganega sausage. The
brave mother brought the humongous pot into the wood and left it there. At nightfall, the witch, attracted by the incredible perfume, left her hiding place in the trees and went to check the dish that had been left there for her, and started eating it. The pot, however, was so large and full that it took her all night to eat the risotto. The witch, blinded by gluttony, did not perceive that dawn was coming and, taken by surprise, she died pierced by the rays of the sun.
The meaning of the storyThis is the frightening story that many grandmothers and mothers have been telling their children and grandchildren for ages to
explain why they cannot venture into the woods alone. “Don’t wander into the woods without an adult or you’ll be eaten by witch Giuliana” is the warning that I’ve heard over and over during my childhood. Which is funny because the witch is dead, so she’s not a danger anymore. Well, to all of us from Brianza the actual meaning of the story is clear: rice with saffron means risotto in the style of Milan, therefore the one in the style of Monza is tastier. Rice in Milan style would have never deceived a witch.
The origin of the legendAll of this happened one night in January. In fact, still nowadays all over Brianza region the event is commemorated with a huge “
stake of the witch” and a binge of risotto with sausage. This is the legend, but there may be some more to it than its funny and gruesome details. Some say that originally it could have been an ancient, pre-Christian
myth. Some relate the name “Giuliana” to Juno, the great goddess and wife of Jupiter, who in countless myths persecutes innocent children whose only fault was to be the result of one of the numerous Jupiter’s romance. I’ve always wondered why did Juno unleashed her wrath against poor children instead of against her own husband. Others relate the name of the witch to the god Janus, after whom the month of January is named. Others say that there is no relation between the name of the witch and the meaning of the story, that is originally a myth about the poor soil of winter which is symbolically fertilized from the death of a goddess (transformed into a witch during medieval time). Well, I prefer the new version of the witch's tale, for a very simple reason: its protagonist is the delicious risotto that was definitely not part of the ancient, pre-Christian myth!
Update : where else to taste if not in the city of Monza itself? Click
here if you’d like to read our short guide to visit this charming little town just outside of Milan.
