Tartelletta di Gamberi con Non Salsa di Soia

The **Tartelletta di Gamberi con Non Salsa di Soia** is a signature dish from **Spontaneo** in Sulmona, Italy, as featured by *Where The Foodies Go*. This refined starter reimagines surf-and-turf conventions through an Italian lens. The name translates to "shrimp tartlet with not-soy sauce," a playful nod to the chef’s technique of creating a savory, umami-rich condiment that mimics soy sauce using local ingredients—often fermented legumes, mushrooms, or aged cheeses—rather than imported soybeans.

Key ingredients include plump, locally sourced gamberi (shrimp), a delicate pastry shell, and the house-made "non-salsa di soia." A great version balances the shrimp’s sweetness with the sauce’s deep, salty complexity, while the tartlet remains crisp and buttery. The dish exemplifies Spontaneo’s philosophy of elevating Abruzzo’s coastal and mountain products through modern, sustainable cooking.

Regional variations are rare, as this is a contemporary creation rather than a traditional recipe. However, similar dishes appear in other Italian fine-dining contexts, where chefs substitute the shrimp with langoustines or scallops, and the "soy" sauce might be made from fermented barley or black garlic. Spontaneo’s version remains the definitive interpretation, praised for its precision and the bold, counterintuitive pairing of seafood with a sauce that tastes familiar yet is entirely local.