There's one size in the kitchen that gets used more than all the others. Not the one for special occasions, not the one for Sunday lunch with the whole family. The everyday one, the one that ends up on the stove almost every evening, the one that knows by heart the taste of sugo, of beans, of the vegetables in season. The 16 centimeter terracotta pot is that size. The most used, the best suited, the one that fits into any kitchen without taking up too much space and never leaves you without what you need.
Maurizio makes it in Altomonte, in a small workshop in the province of Cosenza. The process has always been the same: clay from the Calabrian hills worked on the wheel, glazed by hand with non toxic glazes, fired in the kiln. Every pot that comes out of that workshop differs from the next by a few millimeters, by some small shade of color. These are the marks of manual work that uses no molds, that never repeats anything identically, that leaves on every piece the sign of the hands that made it.
The 16 centimeter terracotta pot is the pot for Tuesday's pasta and beans. For 'nduja sugo that comes together in twenty minutes but tastes like something that simmered for hours. For lentils with pork rind, for crushed peppers fried in hot oil, for vegetable soups that in winter need to be served hot and thick. It's the size that covers most home recipes without having to choose between one too small and one too big.
What terracotta does differently from metal is in the heat. It doesn't concentrate it at the bottom, doesn't shoot it straight up: it spreads it out from every wall, holds onto it, keeps it steady even after the flame has already been lowered. This is what makes the difference in a long simmered sugo: the flavors come together, the liquids stay where they should, the bottom doesn't burn even without constant stirring. Anyone who has cooked in terracotta once understands immediately why in Calabria it was never abandoned.
This pot works on a gas stove, on a cast iron plate and in a traditional oven. The only thing to watch for is sudden changes in temperature: after cooking, let it cool before rinsing it under water. Clay doesn't forgive sudden cold while it's still hot, and a crack can form in an instant. Wait for it to cool, wash it, put it back in its place. That's really all there is to it.
In Calabria these pots have stayed in home kitchens, in farmhouse cupboards, in the hands of those who still cook the way it used to be done. Not as a museum piece: as a tool. Something you use, that gets dirty, that gets washed and put back on the stove. Terracotta ages well when treated with respect: it takes on a patina, grows darker with use, carries with it the memory of everything that's been cooked inside it.
Braalla offers it as part of a way of cooking that isn't in a hurry to get anywhere. A way that knows the difference between a sugo made in five minutes and one made in forty, and already knows which of the two you'd rather eat.
Diameter: 16cm Ø. Handmade in Altomonte. Non toxic glazes. Works with gas, cast iron cooktops and traditional ovens.
