Posts under "Food"

Il Croccante

Posted by Serena No Comments
Sep 26 2011

In my last blog about the Antichi Mestieri there was a photo of il banco dei dolci, which showed a cook making il croccante (literally: the crunchy). A couple of days ago, per puro caso (by sheer chance), I came across this recipe. If you want to have a go at making il croccante at home here it is:

croccante

Ingredienti = Ingredients:

300 gr. di mandorle = 300 grams of almonds

300 gr. di zucchero bianco  = 300 grams of white sugar

1 cucchiaino di succo di limone = 1 teaspoon of lemon juice

2 cucchiai di acqua = 2 tablespoons of water

mezzo limone = half a lemon

Preparazione = Preparation:

Put the almonds in a saucepan with boiling water. Bring the water back to boiling point and then turn it off. Drain the almonds, remove the dark peel, and pat them dry. Spread the peeled almonds on a backing tray, and put the tray in a medium hot oven at 160 degrees C for about 5 minutes. Roughly chop half of the roasted almonds.

Put two tablespoons of water in a saucepan, add the sugar and the lemon juice, and put it over a very low heat, stirring all the time until the sugar caramelizes becoming a deep golden colour. Add all the almonds (both chopped and whole), and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Pour the mixture on an oiled marble surface (very common here in Italy, after all we have the famous marmo di Carrara = Carrara marble). If you don’t have a marble surface in your kitchen, you can use a baking tray or a large chopping board lined with greaseproof paper. Spread the caramel mixture and flatten it to a thickness of about one centimetre. Use half a lemon to rub the surface of the croccante, this will help to smooth it down. Leave the mixture to harden a bit, and then cut it into squares.

Variazioni =  Variations:

Instead of almonds you can use nocciole (hazelnuts), arachidi (peanuts), semi di sesamo (sesame seeds), or you can try and use your favourite type of nuts or seeds. Il croccante coi semi di sesamo (the sesame seeds crunchy) is usually thinner and paler in colour than that made with nuts.

Occhio ai denti! = mind your teeth! Warning: you’ll need strong teeth to be able to eat this hard and sticky sweet without any trouble!

Fig Blog

Posted by Serena 6 Comments
Aug 22 2011

It’s the season of plenty, fruit and vegetables in abundance, and it seems that everyone has too much of something!

Noi abbiamo troppe melanzane, un’amica nostra troppi pomodori, ed un’altra amica, l’Olga, troppi fichi. – We have too many aubergines/eggplants, a friend of ours too many tomatoes, and another friend, Olga, has too many figs.

Olga called us in desperation: ‘Per favore, venite a raccogliere dei fichi. Ho l’albero pieno, mio marito non li mangia, mio figlio non li mangia, a me piacciono molto ma non posso mica mangiarli tutti da sola.’ – ‘please come and pick some figs. My tree is full, my husband doesn’t eat them, my son doesn’t eat them, I love them but I can’t exactly eat them all on my own.

Well Geoff and I are matti per i fichi – mad about figs – so it didn’t take much persuasion. We decided to drive over to Olga’s place later in the afternoon when the solleone – lion sun – was a bit less intense. We’ve been having temperatures of over 40 degrees C = 104 degrees F – just lately, and didn’t fancy being roasted alive.

Olga was waiting for us with il suo cesto foderato di foglie di fico – her basket lined with fig leaves – and we set off down the parched hillside below their beautiful yellow ochre villetta to the shady place below il fico – the fig tree – where the golden fruit hung in abundance.

Fichi 1

Fichi 2

Mamma mia come sono buoni, sono proprio i migliori che abbiamo mai assaggiato  dalle nostre parti! – Wow, they are so good, really the best that we’ve ever tasted where we live!

Having filled il cesto we retreated to Olga’s shady terrazza for una tazza di tè, – a cup of tea -  yes, not very Italian I know but Olga insisted on making a pot of tea in Geoff’s honour.

Fichi 3

Above: The fruits of our labour. See if you can you spot the cat in the first photo?

Now, what to do with all of those figs? As much as we love them we can’t eat them all without giving ourselves a serious mal di pancia – stomach ache! The solution:

Marmellata di Fichi

Pesate i fichi dopo averli privati del picciolo e il più possibile della buccia, e tagliateli in quarti – Weigh the figs after having first removed the leafstalk and as much as possible of the peel, and cut them in quarters

Metteteli in una ciotola capiente e, per ogni chilo di polpa dei fichi, aggiungete il succo di mezzo limone e duecento grammi di zucchero – Put them in a mixing bowl and, for each kilo of fig pulp, add the juice of half a lemon and two hundred grams of sugar

Mescolate bene e lasciate riposare per un paio d’ore – Mix well and leave it to rest for a couple of hours

Trasferite il contenuto della ciotola in una grossa pentola e fate cuocere per circa mezz’ora, mescolando spesso per non fare attaccare la marmellata – Transfer the content of the mixing bowl into a large saucepan, and cook for half an hour stirring often to prevent the jam from sticking to the bottom

Aggiungete altri duecento grammi di zucchero per ogni chilo di polpa dei fichi e fate cuocere finché la marmellata non ha raggiunto la giusta consistenza – Add another two hundred grams of sugar for each kilo of fig pulp and let it cook until the jam has reached the right consistency

Invasate la marmellata quando è ancora calda e sigillate i barattoli – Bottle the jam while it’s still hot and seal the jars

Gustate la marmellata di fichi durante i freddi e bui giorni invernali quando sentirete nostalgia per i profumi estivi – Enjoy the fig jam during the cold dark days of winter when you feel nostalgia for the smells of summer

Zucchine alla Scapece

Posted by Serena 5 Comments
Jul 11 2011

Zucchine, zucchine, e ancora zucchine. Ci pacciono tanto, ma ci sembra di non mangiare altro che zucchine in questi giorni. E pensare che di piante ne abbiamo soltanto tre! Questa è una bella sfida, e bisogna essere molto inventivi con le ricette. Eccone una tipica del Sud d’Italia, che ci piace molto:

Zucchini, zucchini, and more zucchini. We love them but we seem to be eating nothing but courgettes / zucchini these days. And to think that we only have three plants! This is a great challenge, and you have to be really inventive with the recipes. Here is a traditional one from Southern Italy that we like a lot:

Zucchine alla Scapece

Ingredienti (Ingredients):

un chilo di zucchine (1 kg of courgettes / zucchini)

olio per friggere (oil for frying)

due cucchiai di olio extravergine d’oliva (2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil)

un bicchiere di aceto di vino bianco (a glass of white wine vinegar)

una manciata di basilico (a handful of basil)

due spicchi d’aglio (2 cloves of garlic)

sale (salt)

Preparazione (Method):

In a medium size salad bowl mix together the extra virgin olive oil, the vinegar, salt and garlic, and set the mixture  aside.

Trim, wash and dry the zucchini then cut them into half cm slices. Put plenty of oil in a frying pan, and fry the sliced zucchini until they are nice and golden on both sides. Remove the zucchini slices from the frying pan and put them on the kitchen paper to absorb some of the oil. Put the slices in the salad bowl containing the marinade mixture, add the chopped basil, and mix everything together.

Cover with a plate slightly smaller than the bowl so that it presses the zucchini down into the dressing, and leave them to marinate for at least twelve hours. Serve le zucchine alla scapece at room temperature.

Varianti (Variations):

For a nice refreshing summer flavor, use mint instead of basil.

If you want a diet version, slice the zucchini thinly length wise and grill them instead of frying them.

Buon Appetito!

Albicocche al Marsala

Posted by Serena 1 Comment
May 24 2011

Going to the greengrocer at this time of year is a feast for the eyes and dolori per il portafoglio (pains for the wallet). Summer fruits such as fragole (strawberries), ciliege (cherries), albicocche (apricots), nespole (medlars), pesche (peaches) and meloni (melons), are just coming into season, but they are still very expensive.

Last week I was queuing at Renzo’s, my favorite fruttivendolo (greengrocer) here in Pontremoli, when a customer came in with her daughter, who must have been about seven or eight.

“Mamma, guarda, le ciliege!” (“Mum, look, cherries!”) exclaimed the daughter.

“Non toccare!” (“Don’t touch!”) said her mother.

“Le albicocche! Le compriamo?” (“Apricots! Shall we buy them?”) continued the daughter.

“Se Renzo ci fa un buon prezzo.” (“If Renzo gives us a good price.”) replied her mother.

“Ma io le posso comprare! Guarda, costano 6,50 Euro, e io ho 30 Euro a casa!” (“but I can buy them! Look, they cost 6.50 Euros and I have 30 Euros at home!”) was the little girls answer.

Yes, I must admit the apricots were very tempting. If you are lucky enough to have more apricots than you can eat, here is a tasty recipe for preserving them:

Albicocche al Marsala (Apricots with Marsala)

Ingredienti (Ingredients):

tre chili di albicocche non troppo mature (three kilos of not too ripe apricots)

sei etti di zucchero (six hundred grams of sugar)

quattro etti di acqua (four hundred grams of water)

mezzo litro di Marsala secco (half a liter of dry Marsala, Port, or Sherry)

un limone (one lemon)

due chiodi di garofano (two cloves)

un pizzico di cannella in polvere (a pinch of ground cinnamon)

Preparazione (preparation):

Firstly make a syrup by dissolving the sugar in boiling water. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the Marsala, a few pieces of the yellow outer rind of the lemon, the lemon juice, cinnamon, and cloves. Leave it cool.

Quickly rinse the apricots in cold water, and leave them to dry. Cut them in half with a sharp knife, remove the stones and place them in preserving jars. Pour the Marsala syrup over the apricots in the jars, until they are approximately three quarters full. Seal the jars and sterilize them by boiling them for ten minutes. Store in a cool dry place.

Try and resist for at least ten days before opening a jar or, better still, wait until the middle of winter when you are feeling nostalgic for the warm sunny days of summer.

L’Etimologia della Pasta

Posted by Serena 7 Comments
May 9 2011

I thought it would be fun to have a look at just a few of the innumerable varieties of pasta that we produce in Italy, and to discover where they get their names from. Click on the images below to enlarge them.

Pasta 1

Va bene, cominciamo con la pasta italiana più famosa: gli spaghetti (o.k. let’s begin with the most famous Italian pasta: spaghetti)

The name spaghetti comes from the word spago = string, and means ‘little strings’, we even have spaghettini, literally ‘very little strings’

Even thinner than spaghetti are i capellini, from the word capelli = hairs + the suffix ‘ini’ = ‘little hairs’. The full name of this pasta is capellini d’angelo – ‘little hairs of an angel’

Fat spaghetti, or spaghettoni, are called vermicelli from the word vermi = worms. It’s probably best not to think about the name whilst eating them!

The fat spaghetti with a hole through the middle are called bucatini, from the word bucato = holed + the suffix ‘ini’ = little holed

 

Let’s move on to the next group:

Pasta 2

Penne take their name from quills, the feathers which were once dipped in ink and used for writing. The English word ‘pen’ shares the same root

Rigatoni means ‘big lined or striped’ and comes from the word rigato = lined + the suffix ‘oni’ = big

You’ll notice that we also have penne rigate i.e. lined pens, and penne lisce = smooth pens

Fusilli take their name from fuso, the spindle used by spinners. In fact fusilli were originally produced by twisting them around a fuso to give them their spiral form

Farfalle means butterflies, and if you have a look at them it’s easy to see why! You’ll also notice the similarly shaped fiocchi rigati, literally ‘lined bows’

The third group:

Pasta 3

In this group we have: riccioli = curls, torchietti – which resemble the screw of a torchio (winepress), and gemelli = twins, which are composed of two pieces of pasta joined together in a spiral

Then there are radiatori = radiators, fisarmoniche = accordions, pipe = pipes, conchiglie = sea shells, orecchiette = little ears, ruote = wheels, and spighe = ears of corn

Group four:

Pasta 4

This group contains all the smallest pasta which we use when making la minestra (soup). This type of pasta is called pastina da minestra. Here you will find: filini = little wires, lancette = little spears, anellini = little rings, stelline = little stars, and ditalini which comes from the word ditale = thimble, which is itself derived from dito = finger

Group five:

Pasta 5

Tagliatelle comes from the verb tagliare = to cut or slice, hence the name literally means ‘little slices’. Here we also have tagliatelle paglia e fieno = little slices of straw and hay

The etymology of the word lasagne is obscure, and there is a lot of controversy about its origins

 

There are, of course, many more types of pasta to explore, but perhaps knowing that the next time you eat in an Italian restaurant you may be offered ‘little pieces of string’, ‘butterflies’, ‘sea shell’, or ‘little worms’ will add a special ‘divertimento’ to your meal.

 

Buon appetito!

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