The gastronomic tradition of the Calabrian capital offers original and tasty dishes. Without a doubt, the typical dish par excellence is

’U MORZEDDHU 
In Italian, morzello. To pronounce its name exactly in the Catanzaro dialect, just turn your tongue towards the palate to obtain that slightly harsh sound, characteristic of the "ddhu" element found at the end of many words in our vernacular. This delicious dish is so famous that it has earned the title of "Most Illustrious" and there is even a school dedicated to it, run by the association "Antica Congrega Tre Colli" (see box) which teaches new generations how to prepare this tasty dish according to ancient tradition. ‘U Morzeddhu is a dish that has the "vocation" of street food, so much so that in the city the prevailing opinion is that the "true Catanzaro native" prefers to enjoy morzello in pitta (a type of bread shaped like a large ring, also characteristic of the city), to be eaten strictly with the hands, and with the sauce dripping "gargi-gargi" (literally: from the corners of the mouth), as they say, making those "small bites" that probably also gave rise to its name. In fact, this is one of the many theories about the etymology of the term, which remains uncertain since numerous legends have followed one another about the birth of morzello. Among the best known is the one created by the poet Achille Curcio, who tells of a very poor woman named "Chicchina", widowed with two children, who worked as a servant for wealthy families in Catanzaro. During the Christmas period, she also had the task of cleaning the courtyard of the scraps from the animals that were slaughtered there and whose prized parts ended up on the tables of the rich masters. One day, she wondered why she should throw away those scraps and decided to take them home, and after carefully washing them, she cut them into small pieces, boiled them in a large pot, and prepared a meal to feed her children. At the beginning of the last century, morzello reached the height of its popularity. Many small taverns called putiche were born, welcoming travelers and merchants who arrived in the city, and in which this typical dish was offered, to be accompanied by a local wine and "gazzosa" and preferably eaten in the early hours of the morning.

Below is the original morzello recipe, taken from the Usage Regulation registered with the UIBM, exclusively owned by the Associazione Antica Congrega Tre Colli of Catanzaro.

Ingredients for 4 people: 
• Tripe 1.5 Kg: Abomasum (so-called quagghiaru), Omasum (so-called centupezzi), Reticulum (so-called cuffia), Rumen (so-called smooth tripe); • Spleen 200 g; • Lung 200 g; • Heart (upper part - so-called delicate) 300 g; • Intestine (large and cecum) 200 g; • Beef fat (renal or cardiac) 150 g; • Sweetbreads (salivary glands) 100 g; • Esophagus 200 g; • Trachea 100 g; • Tomato paste 600 g; • Pepper paste (2 tablespoons); • Hot chili peppers; • Oregano (a bunch); • Dried bay leaf; • Salt (to taste).

METHOD: 
There are four phases: A) Washing, B) Pre-cooking, C) Cutting, D) Final cooking.

A) Washing: • With due attention for scrupulous hygiene, the different ingredients (offal) are washed separately, according to the groups and the method that follows: • as for the omasum, reticulum, and rumen, they must be rinsed, rubbed with salt and lemon, left to soak in water for two hours, and finally rinsed again; • the abomasum and intestine must be rinsed and left to soak with water, salt, and lemon for three hours, then rinsed; • the remaining offal (spleen, lung, heart, sweetbreads, esophagus, and trachea) must be left to soak in water for one hour to eliminate the effect of residual bleeding. To facilitate the end of bleeding, it is advisable, before soaking, to roughly cut the heart, lung, and spleen. The esophagus, before the aforementioned soaking, must be cut lengthwise, deprived of the inner membrane, and rinsed.
B) Pre-cooking: This phase is also divided according to the different ingredients. • The omasum, reticulum, and rumen, after a first rough cut, with the addition of 2/3 bay leaves, are cooked for 15 minutes from boiling. The cooking water is left to cool, to collect the condensed fat on the surface. • The abomasum and intestine, together with 2/3 bay leaves, are cooked for 5 minutes from boiling; both, at the end of pre-cooking, must be rinsed thoroughly. - The spleen, separately to avoid discoloring the other ingredients, with the addition of a bay leaf, must be blanched twice, taking care to change the water and then rinsed. - All the remaining offal (except for the lung, which will be mentioned immediately after) must be pre-cooked together for 5 minutes from boiling; the lung, however, needs a further 10 minutes of pre-cooking; afterwards, they too must be rinsed. C) Cutting: Proceed to cut the omasum, rumen, and reticulum, which are reduced into pieces of about 4x1 cm. The trachea remains whole. All the other remaining ingredients must be cut into pieces of about 1x1 cm. D) Final cooking: Premise: during the last phase of final cooking, so at the same time and separately, the "sauce" is prepared off the heat, combining the tomato paste, pepper paste, and a quantity of warm water, so as to create a mixture that is not too thick nor too liquid. This mixture, thus formed, will be poured at the right time into a pot (as per the following paragraph) with all the parts (except for the spleen) just sautéed. Returning to the final cooking, after cutting, all the cut ingredients are poured into a suitably sized pot, including the residual fat from the tripe cooking water and the portion of fat (renal or cardiac). Then, everything is sautéed for a few minutes. At this point, add to the aforementioned pot: the "sauce" prepared separately and indicated in the premise, the bay leaf (4/5 leaves), salt (in adequate quantity), and a bunch of oregano, which is also used to repeatedly stir the contents of the pot, as a sort of spoon. Everything is left to cook over low heat for 4/5 hours. The spleen will be added to the pot, together with the rest of the ingredients, 15 minutes before the end of the overall cooking. The trachea can be removed at the end of cooking, or before it falls apart, together with the portion of fat (renal or cardiac) that has not melted. Before serving the "morzello" thus cooked piping hot, add some fresh hot chili peppers. The "morzello" must be served in the traditional pitta, whose pieces, about 18/20 cm long, are first cut open and soaked with sauce at both ends.

‘A PASTA CHJINA
Ingredients for 6 people: 
• 500 g of smooth penne or rigatoni • 1.5 ml of tomato puree • 200 g of Calabrian soppressata • 2 hard-boiled eggs • 200 g of provola or silano caciocavallo • 100 g of Calabrian pecorino or grated parmesan • 1/2 Tropea onion • salt • basil • meatballs; Ingredients: • 200 g of ground meat • 1 egg • 100 g of dry rustic bread • 1 tablespoon of parmesan • parsley • garlic • salt • oil for frying. 
METHOD: 

First, make a nice tomato sauce. Then prepare the meatballs by putting the ground meat, soaked and well-squeezed bread, egg, grated cheese, parsley, and garlic in a bowl. Knead until you get a soft, non-sticky mixture and form the meatballs, trying to make them as small as possible. A deep fryer is certainly convenient for frying the meatballs, but if you don't have one, use a large, high-sided pot with hot oil. Place them in gently, without dropping them in, otherwise you risk burning yourself, one at a time and a few at a time, they should not overlap in the pot. Remove them as soon as they are golden, let them drain, and set them aside. Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water, drain it al dente and, in the same pot, pour in the tomato sauce, mix, add the meatballs, the provola or caciocavallo cut into pieces, the soppressata cut into cubes, the sliced hard-boiled eggs, and some grated cheese. Pour everything into a baking dish, sprinkle with more cheese, and bake at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes, until a golden crust forms.

‘A TIANA
Ingredients for 4 people: 
• 800 g kid goat cut into pieces • 4 artichokes • 4 potatoes • 200 g peas • 1 clove of garlic • a handful of breadcrumbs • a handful of grated pecorino cheese • olive oil • rosemary • oregano • parsley • salt • ground pepper.
METHOD:  

After rinsing the pieces of lamb in cold water and vinegar, drain and dry them well with a cloth, put them in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil and brown them over high heat for a couple of minutes, turn off the heat and set aside. After boiling the potatoes, which you have previously peeled and cut into wedges, in lightly salted water for three minutes, drain them, run them under cold water and set aside. Clean the artichokes, cut them in half and sauté them for two/three minutes in a pan with a drizzle of oil, a clove of garlic, chopped parsley, and salt. Boil the peas for 5 minutes in lightly salted water, drain and set aside. For the final gratin, mix the breadcrumbs with the grated cheese and a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Pour everything you have prepared, preferably into an earthenware pan. Adjust salt and pepper, add a pinch of oregano and a sprig of rosemary and mix. Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring everything again halfway through cooking. After thirty minutes, remove the pan from the oven and cover with the breadcrumb mixture. Finish cooking for another 10 minutes, raising the temperature to 200 degrees.