Mesciua

Mesciua is a traditional cucina povera soup originating from the Ligurian province of La Spezia. It's made with a combination of chickpeas, pearl barley, cannellini beans, buckwheat, olive oil, bay leaves, sage, and stock. The ingredients are cooked in a pot until they soften up, and the soup is then served with Ligurian olive oil and lots of black pepper. In local dialect, mesciua means mixed or a mixture, referring to the different ingredients used in the soup. It is believed that the soup was invented when there was a scarcity of grains and beans to prepare fagiolata, so port workers and their wives collected spillages from torn food sacks that were being loaded off the ships. Mesciua is especially popular during cold winters.