Food Lover's Odyssey

Cassata Siciliana for a Blog Birthday

 

Today Food Lover's Odyssey turns three. Before anything else, I want to thank all of you for helping me get here. I truly appreciate all your visits to the site, your comments, emails and Facebook "likes." I've been able to meet and cook with so many great people as a result of this blog, and it's all thanks to you!

Besides my recipes and food stories, I hope you've enjoyed my tales of magical desserts, limoncello misadventures and meeting royalty, and thank you for making the weekly roundup of Italian food, Italy on a Plate a success. This year I've started to branch out beyond the blog by hosting a fabulous Culinary Tour to Puglia! (By the way, plenty of spots are still available for September's trip.) 

I would love to hear from you about what you'd like to see, or see more of, in the upcoming year.  What have been your favorite posts? What parts of Italy & France do you want to read more about? (I'll be traveling again soon and will use your input to make my travel plans.) Please let me know in the comments.

 

 

 

In the meantime, let's celebrate with cake! I've made a special cake from Sicily, the elaborate Cassata Siciliana. Although cannoli are probably more popular outside of the island, cassata is just as iconic of a dessert. I wonder how the popularity of both these Sicilian desserts might have been reversed if that famous line from The Godfather had been, "Leave the gun, take the cassata."

Like cannoli, this cake uses the ricotta cream made with Sicily's spectacular sheep's milk ricotta. (There's really none better anywhere else, so if you're in Sicily you must indulge in at least one ricotta dessert).  A traditional dessert of Easter so rich and sweet, it is a great way to end the long Lenten fast. The sugar overload and the Baroque decor are attributed to Sicily's Arab conquerers who brought sugar to the island. Long ago only nuns in monasteries and chefs of the rich made this cake, but now it is a standard in the pastry shops all over the island. You can also find it in pastry shops on Italy's mainland, especially in Puglia, Campania & even Sicilian pastry shops in Rome.

Sponge cake (pan di Spagna) that has been doused in liquor encases a thick layer of ricotta cream filled with a chocolate bits and candied pumpkin (zuccata).  The cake is wrapped in green-colored marzipan and covered, sometimes only on the top and sometimes completely, with a sugar glaze. If that's not enough sugar for you, whole pieces of candied fruits cover the top in an elaborate decoration resembling a flower petal. More decorations of thin piping finish off this extravagent, Baroque (some might say over-the-top) cake. The cake brings toghether the sweet tastes that are quintessentially Sicilian: ricotta cream, marzipan and candied fruits.

 

 

 

Being of Sicilian ancestry, I thought it fitting that I make this cake to celebrate turning 3.  The cassata I've made takes into consideration a few of my flavor preferences, no candied fruit inside and icing only on the top. You can find cassata made exactly like this in Sicily, but purists may want a little more. I've noted in the recipe where I've strayed off the traditional path, so you can make it in the very traditional way, with a thick coating of icing all around and filled with candied fruits. I did a little bit of fruit decoration to the top, although I only found the cherries and candied orange peel here in the suburbs of San Francisco.  Being more of a minimalist, I think I should have stuck with my initial idea of only three cherries in the center. The sweet smell of candied fruit and crushed almonds mixed with sugar, from the marzipan, sends scents of Sicilian pastry shops through your kitchen.

 

 

 

Cassata Siciliana
(makes one 10-inch cake)

For the pan di Spagna (sponge cake):
8 eggs, yolks and whites, separated and at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (240 g) granulated sugar, divided in half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of cream of tartar
2 cups (240 g) cake flour, sifted


For the ricotta cream:
30 ounces (850 g) fresh ricotta, preferably sheep's milk, drained
2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
3 ounces (170 g) candied fruit*
3 ounces (170 g) dark chocolate chips*

*NOTE:  If you prefer, you can leave out the candied fruit and use 6 ounces of chocolate chips instead.

For the imbibing syrup:
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
Scant 1 cup (200 ml) water
2 to 4 tablespoons Maraschino liqueur or rum, to taste

For the marzipan:
10 ounces marzipan
2 to 3 drops of green food coloring
Powdered sugar, as needed to help keep the marzipan from becoming too sticky


For the sugar glaze:
6 ounces (150 g) powdered sugar
About 3 tablespoons water


For the royal icing:
8 ounces powdered sugar
1 egg white (or 1 tablespoon meringue powder plus 2 tablespoons warm water)

 

Whole candied fruit and candied orange peel for the garnish

 

 

Preheat an oven to 375 F

Butter the bottom and sides of one 10-inch round cake pan and one 8x8-inch square cake pan. Then lightly dust both with cake flour.

To make the pan di Spagna (sponge cake): In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk together the egg yolks, half the sugar and vanilla extract until the mixture is pale, thick and at the "ribbon stage" (meaning when you lift the beaters the batter falls back on itself in a ribbon-like effect), about 10 minutes.  Pour the mixture into a large bowl. Clean the mixing bowl and in it, whisk together the egg whites with the cream of tartar.  Once the mixture becomes frothy, slowly add the other half of the sugar.  Whisk until the mixture forms soft peaks. (You don't want firm peaks or the egg whites will be too stiff to fold in with the other ingredients.) 

Fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture to lighten the egg yolk mixture.  Then fold in half of the flour mixture.  (It's best if someone else sprinkles the flour into the egg mixture while you are folding it in; it allows the flour to be incorporated more slowly while keeping as much air in the batter as possible.)  Fold in another 1/3 of the egg white mixture.  Then fold in the remaining flour. Lastly fold in the remaining third of the egg white mixture. 

Pour 2/3 of the batter into the round cake pan and the remaining batter into the square cake pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes. The cake is done when you lightly touch the top of the cake and it springs back. Let cool for 10 minutes and remove from the cake pans.  Let cool completely before assembling the cassata.

 

To make the ricotta cream: Press the drained ricotta through a seive.  Add the powdered sugar and stir the mixture together, by hand or using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, until the mixture is creamy.  Add the candied fruit and/or chocolate chips and stir in.  Place in the refrigerator until you're ready to assemble the cassata.

 

To make the imbibing syrup: Bring the sugar and water to a boil. Let cool for 10 minutes. Add the Maraschino or rum, the amount depending on your taste. Refrigerate until it's cold and you're ready to assemble the cassata.

 

To prepare the marzipan: Add 2 small drops of green food coloring to the marzipan and knead in until the color is uniform and a light green. Add powdered sugar to the mixture as you're kneading in the color to prevent the marzipan from becoming too sticky. If you need to, add 1 more drop of food coloring to the marzipan to get the desired color. (Be careful as a very little coloring goes a long way.) Set aside until you're ready to assemble the cassata.  If the marzipan is too soft, put in the refrigerator until it firms up.

 

To make the sugar glaze: Do this only right before you are ready to ice the cake. In a small saucepan, melt the powdered sugar with the water, starting with 2 tablespoons and adding more if necessary.  The more water you use the thinner and more translucent the icing will be; it will also run more easily.

 

To make the royal icing: Make this when you are ready to decorate the cake.  In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk together the sugar and egg whites until it forms a thick icing.  Place in a pastry bag fitted with a small writing tip.

 

 

Assembling the cassata -

Line a 9-inch pie dish or pan with cling wrap.  (Ideally you would like the dish to have a smaller bottom in order to get the traditional dome-like shape of the cassasta.) Roll the marzipan out into one strip of 1/4-inch thickness and wide enough to cover the entire side of the dish. Place the marzipan strip in a ring-like shape along the side of the dish so that is covers the entire side of the dish. Trim any excess at the top.

Slice off  the thin layer of crust on the top and bottom of the round sponge cake. Then slice the round sponge cake in half horizontally, so that you have two round cake disks.  Using the bottom of the pie dish as a guide, measure one disk to fit the bottom, trimming away any excess.  Place that disk at the bottom of the pie plate. Using a pastry brush, give the cake a generous imbibing of the syrup.  

Cut four slices about 3/8-inch thick from the square sponge cake. Wrap the slices around the edges of the plate, laying they against the marzipan. Brush these pieces of sponge cake generously with imbibing syrup.

Fill the center with ricotta cream, filling it to the top and leveling the cream with an offset spatula.

Place the second round disk of sponge cake on top of the ricotta cream and brush generously with the imbibing syrup.  Bring the marzipan up around the sides of the cake.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight is best.

When you're ready to finish decorating the cake, make the sugar glaze. Remove the cake from the refrigerator and remove the plastic wrap.  Place a dish or cake plate on the uncovered sponge cake and flip the cake over. Remove the pie dish and plastic wrap.  Slowly pour the icing onto the top center and spread it outwards with a spatula.  If you would like to ice the sides, pour enough icing so that you can spread it down along the sides to cover the marzipan. If you want to ice only the top, pour a smaller amount of icing onto the center and spread it almost to the edge of the cake. It should settle itself into the edge. Let the icing cool completely until it hardens.

Decorate by adding to the top candied fruits, Maraschino cherries, and candied citrus peel in the shape of a flower petal. Finish decorating by piping royal icing along the sides and top of the cake.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Fraisier to Celebrate My First Blog Birthday

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

Cassetelle Siciliana (Sweet fried "ravioli" filled with ricotta cream)

One Cannolo, Two Cannoli

Eggplant Caponata and Sicilian Market Etiquette

Pasta con le Sarde and Cooking in Palermo

Taste of the Sea and Spaghetti Siracusana

Good Eats and Good Views in Taormina

Foods Not to Miss in Sicily

Totano Festival and a Weekend on the Aeolian Islands

Take Anything but Leave the Cannoli

 

 

 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

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A year ago, almost to the day, I arrived in Lecce for the first time.  I think you never forget your first impressions of a city, especially those cities that are close to your heart.  I remember stepping off the train late in the afternoon.  The streets of the historic center were so quiet, almost deserted.  The only sound I heard were the wheels of my suitcase click-clacking against the cobblestone street. As I made my first stroll through the baroque historic center, I felt a bit lonely.  The only eyes I met were those of the strange characters carved out of stone and hanging from buildings, churches and doorways.  They stared down at me with smirks that felt like recriminations for coming to Salento solo.

 

 

Then I met up with Ylenia and Claudia who introduced me to Antonella, Pina, Antonella, and Debora.  We gathered in Piazza St. Oronzo for the Italian unification celebration.  Most of Lecce's population came out for the celebration, too, and it seemed that these ladies knew everyone in town.  More and more people joined our group, as we popped in and out of cafes, wine bars, bread shops, and pastry shops, meeting proprietors and even more people of the city. Those strange stone characters on the buildings no longer laughed at me, and I have never again felt alone in Lecce or Salento.

Another thing that stands out about this trip, and all trips to Salento since, was that everyone I met either gave me some kind of food gift or offered me something to eat.  As it was almost March 19th, St. Joseph's day in Italy, zeppole di San Giuseppe were the most offered gift.  In the same way one might offer to get you a coffee, I was offered a zeppola everywhere I went.  I remember the first zeppola I had in Puglia with my new friends, and how they waited with baited breath as I chose between the fried and baked version.  I can still hear their collective exhale of relief when I chose the fried one.  Whenever I see or eat a zeppola di San Giuseppe, I think of my first day in Lecce and all those that I met, who I now call friends.

Fried dough, with an crunchy crust and airy in the center.  There's a generous topping of pastry cream flavored ever-so-slightly with lemon and that little bit of chocolate to add even more decadence to the whole thing.  If you're in Italy, you're obliged to have at least one of these over the holiday.

 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe in the pastry case (these are the baked version)

 

On March 19, Italy celebrates St. Joseph's Day, a day dedicated to Joseph the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus.  The saint is honored with feasts and parades, especially in the south of Italy. It is the onomastico (a second birthday of sorts) for all those named Giuseppe or Giuseppina.  Since 1968, the day is also father's day in Italy. Basically, there's a reason for everyone in Italy to celebrate. 

Besides the feast, zeppole di San Giuseppe are a huge part of the holiday celebrations. I saw the zeppole in pastry windows at least a week before the actual holiday.  The pastry is choux paste fried in the shape of a ring (ciambella) and topped with pastry cream. In Naples, where the first historic account of zeppole di San Giuseppe was recorded in 1837, they add amarena cherries to the top of the pastry cream.  The zeppole I've made to celebrate San Giuseppe are the Pugliese version I had on my first day in Salento, topped with a swirl of chocolate ganache.

 

 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe
(makes about 12)


For the dough (choux paste):

1 ½ cups (350 ml) water
6 tablespoons (80 grams) butter, cubed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/3 (180 grams) cup all-purpose flour
5 eggs

6 to 8 cups of peanut oil for frying


For the pastry cream:

3 ¼ cups (750 ml) whole milk
Rind of one lemon (only the rind, not the pith)
8 egg yolks
2/3 cup (160 grams) granulated sugar
Scan 1/2 cup (50 grams) cornstarch
3 1/2 tablespoons (25 grams) all purpose flour
4 tablespoons (55 grams) butter, cubed


For the chocolate ganache:

4 1/2 ounces (150 grams) dark couveture chocolate, finely chopped
2/3 cup (150 ml) heavy cream

 

To make the choux paste:  In a saucepan, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a rolling boil. (It's important that the butter is in small cubes, so it melts and combines with the water before the mixture comes to a boil.)  Add the flour all at once, and remove from the heat.  Stir until all the flour is combined.  Place back the mixture back on the stove and stir over medium heat for about 5 minutes to dry out the mixture.  Remove from the heat and, after allowing the mixture to cool for 10 minutes, add the eggs one at a time.  Stir in each egg completely before adding the next.

In a deep pot, heat the oil to 360° F (180° C).  Place the choux paste into a piping bag attached with a 14mm star tip (the tip opening should be about 1/2 inch in diameter).  Cut 4X4-inch squares of parchment paper.  Pipe the choux paste onto the parchment paper, making rings that are little smaller than the paper, 3 1/2 inches in diameter.  (I actually piped little "snails" filling the center, but it wasn't necessary as the dough rises quite a bit as it fries, leaving only a small hole in the center.)  Place the choux paste and parchment paper into the oil.  Once the dough starts frying, the paper will fall away easily; then remove it from the pan.  Fry the zeppole about 4 minutes on each side. Depending on the pan size, fry only 2 or 3 zeppole at a time, so you don't lower the temperature of the oil.  Once the zeppole are cooked through, place on paper towels to drain.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar once they've cooled slightly.

 

 

To make the pastry cream:  Place the milk and the lemon rind in a nonreactive heavy bottom sauce pot and leave for 20 minutes.  Then bring the milk to a scald.  Let the lemon rind steep in the milk for 10 minutes.  In the meantime, in another bowl, whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until the mixture becomes pale.  (The whisk must be nonreactive also.) Add the cornstarch and flour and whisk to combine.

Strain the lemon rind out of the milk, and slowly pour the warmed milk into the egg yolk mixture.  Whisking together as you pour.  Once all the milk and egg yolk mixtures are combined, place back into the saucepot and over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil, whisking vigorously the entire time.  Once the mixture has boiled, cook for another 2 minutes, again stirring the entiring time.  Remove from the heat and strain through a fine-mesh seive.  Add the butter to the top of the pastry cream, stirring in once the butter has melted. Place the bowl into an ice bath and let cool for 10 minutes.  Spread the pastry cream into a 9x13-inch glass dish and cover with plastic wrap.  The plastic wrap should be touching the pastry cream to keep the cream from developing a film.  Refrigerate until cold.

 

To make the chocolate ganache: Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl.  In a sauce pot, heat the cream just until it's scalding (little bubbles appear around the rim).  Pour the cream over the chocolate.  Let the mixture rest for a minute, then slowly whisk together.  To create a smooth ganache, place the whisk in the center of the mixture and whisk in a small, slow, circular motion until the chocolate and cream combine.  Let the ganache cool and thicken just to the point that it will hold its form when it's piped.

 

To assemble the zeppole:  Place the pastry cream into a piping bag fitted with a 12mm star tip.  Into the center of each zeppole, pipe the pastry cream.  I piped a generous two "snail-shaped" circles of pastry cream, one on top of the other.  Place the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a 10mm star tip.  Pipe a small ring of ganache on the top center of each zeppole.  They are best minutes after they've been garnished, and should be eaten the day they've been made.  Enjoy!

NOTE:  To make the Neapolitan version, with a cherry topping instead of the chocolate one, you need a jar of amarena cherries, or another type of sour cherries, in syrup.  Drain some of the syrup from the cherries, and top each zeppole with one cherry.

 

Zeppole di San Giuseppe from Scaturchio in Napoli

 

This week (and last) is dedicated to a "Taste of Puglia." Like this post, the others included little tastes of Puglia and some of the things we'll see, do and taste on this Food & Wine Lover's Culinary Tour in Puglia.  Ylenia will be with us the entire trip, and her love and knowledge of Salento and the people she introduces us to will be some of the most memorable parts of your trip.

Read more about the food and beauty of Puglia - Puglia section here on the blog.

 

 

 

Related Posts:

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

Making Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

Artisanal Cheese at Masseria CinqueSanti in Puglia

The Art of Making Pasta by Hand: A Pugliese Pasta Lesson with Nonna Vata

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

Under the Salento Sun - The Masserie of Puglia

Wedding in Puglia

Traditional Salentine Dishes at Locanda Rivoli in Lecce

Lecce: The Baroque Beauty of Puglia

Pugliese Pasta Dish: Sagne Ncannulate con Sugo Schiattariciati

Classic Salentino Cuisine Reinvented at Sette di Sette in Lecce

Tour of Masseria L'Astore and its Frantoio Ipogeo in Salento

Lunch Salento Style at Cantine Menhir

Shopping and Eating Local in Italy - Farmers' Market in Lecce

Sagne Ncannulate Schiattariciati - Pugliese Pasta with Schiattariciati Tomato Sauce

The Dish from Lecce: Rustico Leccese

The Dish from Puglia: Ricci di Mare (sea urchins) from Porto Badisco

This Dish from Puglia: Friselle

Christmas Around Italy - Christmas Desserts in Salento

Eclairs with Chocolate Pastry Cream

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

Tiramisu

Journey Through the Pastries of Napoli

 

 

Nutella filled Venetian Frittelle for World Nutella Day & Carnival

 

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Today is the international holiday, World Nutella Day, hosted by Michelle from Bleeding Espresso and Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy.  Six years ago "with a dream and a spoon" they deemed February 5th the Nutella Day holiday and history was made.  So popular this holiday is, they've even made a book about it.

 

For the last three years I've been participating in the celebrations, not only by eating spoonfuls of Nutella, but also by making something sweet and even sharing the story of my first taste of Nutella. This year the Nutella holiday fell on the same weekend as the start of Carnival in Venice. I couldn't resist making these fried Carnival treats and filling them with the chocolate and hazelnutty goodness - Nutella!

 

 

Frittelle in Venice

 

During the Carnival season, you'll find pastry shop windows in Venice full of the various kinds of frittelle - with raisins & pine nuts, filled with pastry cream or cream chantilly, and apple fritters.  Only once last year during Carnival did I see frittelle filled with Nutella; it was on my food walk with Monica.  But once I saw them, I knew they would be the treats I made for this year's celebration.  Here's the recipe, adapted from the traditional recipe in the cookbook, Venice Tradition and Food, one of the many cookbooks I've brought home from my travels.

 

 

 

 

Frittelle Veneziane filled with Nutella
Adapted from Venice Tradition and Food by Pino Agostini, Alvise Zorzi & Luca Steffenoni

(Makes about 24 frittelle)


3 ½ cups (500 grams) flour
3 ½ ounces (100 grams) sugar, plus more for garnishing the frittelle
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1 ¾ cups whole milk, divided in half plus more if needed
1 ½ ounces (40 grams) yeast
6-8 cups sunflower oil (or another oil with a high smoking point) for frying
1 large jar (26 ounces) Nutella

 

In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt.  Stir the eggs and half of the milk together and add it to the flour mixture.  Stir together until combined.  Warm the other half of the milk and add the yeast, stirring until the yeast is dissolved.  Add the milk and yeast mixture to the flour mixture and stir until all the ingredients are combined, scraping down the sides to make sure the dough is homogenous.  The dough will be quite loose/wet. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise for about 5 hours when it should have doubled in size.

When the dough is ready, stir it again.  It should still be very loose and sticky.  If it's not, add a little more milk. 

In a heavy pot for frying, heat the oil to 365° F (180° C). Spoon the batter, scooped into 1 1/2 inch balls, into the oil. (I used an ice cream scooper, spraying it with non-stick cooking spray).  Fry until the frittelle are cooked through, about 5 minutes. Don't overcrowd your pot, or you will reduce the temperature of the oil, and they will not cook properly.  I fried 5 frittelle at a time in my large pot.

Remove the frittelle with a slotted spoon and place on a plate covered with paper towels to drain.  Once they've cooled enough to handle, roll them in granulated sugar.  Once you've fried all the frittelle, poke a hole in the tops of them.  Fill a pastry bag fitted with a round tip with Nutella and pipe Nutella into each frittelle.  They should be eaten while they are still warm.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

***************

Happy Nutella Day!  What is your favorite way of eating Nutella and/or your best recipe with Nutella?

***************

 

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Gianduja and Nutella Cheesecake for World Nutella Day 2010

Nutella Love Cakes (Flourless Chocolate & Hazelnut Cake with Nutella Ganache) for World Nutella Day 2011

Italian Hot Chocolate Recipe and Carnival in Venice

Frittelle, Hot Chocolate and Costumes - Welcome to Carnival in Venice

Tasting Venice - A Food Tour with Moncia Cesarato

Favorite Scenes and Costumes from Carnival in Venice 2011

Gianduja Budino and a Chocolate Pass in Turin

History of Chocolate in Turin - Gianduja and Much More

 

 

Christmas in France: Aix-en-Provence Christmas Market

 

 

I have another friend stopping by, this time from France, to share a little Christmas in Provence.  I'm welcoming Tuula, an American expat living in Provence. She is the author of the beautiful blog and travel site, Belle Provence Travels.  On her site, Tuula shares much of magical Provence with us, while discovering out-of-the-way little villages and markets along the way.  After meeting her virtually via our blogs, I had the great fortune of meeting Tuula in person during my trip to France in October.  It was one of the highlights of my trip. She took me to little villages on hills, outdoor food markets, wine tasting and on several other culinary adventures - all of which you'll be hearing about soon.  Today we're talking Christmas, as she shares a day at the Christmas market in Aix-en-Provence - and many of the treats on offer at the market.  Enjoy!

 

Being an American living abroad certainly has its ups & downs, but undoubtedly one of the high points of residing in the beautiful land of France is the chance to experience the Christmas season... à la française.

What France may lack in splashy decorations (believe me, I really do miss my sparkly, pot-bellied Santa from home), it more than makes up for in simple sophistication.  Holiday traditions in Provence, as in other French regions, are quite a subdued affair - full of elegant pine trees (les petits sapins), lots of twinkling white lights (think woodsy meets Coco Chanel), and thankfully, a Christmas market in almost every city.

Which brings us to perhaps one of the most quintessentially Provençal cities of all: Aix-en-Provence.  It's difficult not to fall under the spell of this charming university town which somehow manages to do "high-brow" and "stone-washed village" all at the same time.

Having visited this southern gem on many an occasion, I can safely say Aix really shines during the holiday season - and nowhere is this more apparent than at the annual Christmas market.  This past weekend, I braved the somewhat less-charming holiday crowds to shop the "snowy" chalets lining the main boulevard of Aix: Cours Mirabeau.

Representing not only Provençal specialties, including many of the key ingredients needed to make the famed 13 desserts of Christmas, the market was filled with traditional French favorites.  Chocolates of all shapes & sizes, macarons, cookies (navettes from Marseille & calissons from Aix), mulled wine (vin chaud), and gingerbread - to be served beneath a huge slab of fois gras, of course.

This is a French Christmas after all...no skimping on taste or quality by any means.  And if you ever happen to be this far dans le sud (in the south), you may just want to check out the Christmas market in my town.  Oyster bar anyone?

 

"Gingerbread man" - Pain d'Epices vendor at the market

 

 

Calissons - Almond paste "cookies" from Aix in holiday colors

 

 

A French Christmas market isn't complete without macarons

 

Navettes - Cookies from Marseille

 

Buches de Noel

 

Boules de Mousse - in the shape of Christmas bells

 

Santons de Provence

 

 

*All photos in this post are courtesy of Tuula - Belle Provence Travels

 

Related Posts:

Christmas Around Italy: 10 Addresses for Christmas Sweets in Rome

Christmas Around Italy: Traditional Venetian Christmas Dinner

Christmas Around Italy: Christmas Traditions in Naples

Holiday Dessert Recipes

Paris Christmas Market: La Defense - Belle Provence Travels

A Day at the Market with Chef Kathy  - Belle Provence Travels

 

 

Holiday Dessert Recipes

 

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"It's the most wonderful time of the year," yes?  Christmas is here and for someone that loves to bake and share what I make, it is a wonderful, and also busy, time of the year.  For those of you looking for holiday dessert ideas, I've put together a list of my favorite dessert recipes.  Inpsired by travels to France & Italy & baking memories with mom, all of them would be a sweet ending to a fabulous holiday meal, or make a great edible Christmas gift.  There are many super easy yet elegant recipes and also those that are a little more elaborate, but definitely worth the extra effort.

Wishing all of you a sweet and happy holiday!

 

 

 

~ Super Easy and Elegant Dessets ~

Apple Tart from Gascony - Croustade aux Pommes 

Gianduja Budino

Gianduja - Nutella Cheesecake

"Magical" Chocolate Kahlua Budino

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Torta Caprese - Flourless Chocolate Cake from Capri

 

 

 

 

~ More Delicious Desserts ~

Cannoli Siciliani

Cassatelle alla Siciliana

Chocolate Eclairs with Chocolate Pastry Cream

Meyer Lemon Tart Topped with Lightened Lemon Cream

Nutella Love Cakes

Quince Crostata

Tiramisu

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

 

 

 

 ~ Cookies and Other Small Bites ~

Cantucci - Biscotti from Tuscany

Four-Spice Palmiers

Pignolata (or Neapolitan Struffoli)

Snowball Cookies (Palle di Neve)

 

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Christmas Around Italy - 10 Addresses for Christmas Sweets in Rome

Christmas Around Italy - Traditional Venetian Christmas Dinner

Christmas Around Italy - Christmas Traditions in Naples

Christmas in France - Aix-en-Provence Christmas Market

Christmas Gingerbread House

French Pastries and 10 Top Patisseries in Paris

Paris Pastry Binge - Some of the Best Pastry Shops in Paris

Paris Walks for Food Lovers - Along Rue de Seine and Bonaparte

 

Christmas Around Italy: Traditional Venetian Christmas Dinner

Christmas lights in Saint Mark's Square

 

Continuing with our Christmas Around Italy  guest post series, today we welcome Monica Cesarato from Venice!  I had the pleasure of meeting Monica, a Venetian, last March during Carnival and taking a personal food walk with her.  Monica blogs about Venice and owns and runs the Faronhof Bed and Breakfast, just outside of Venice. She also is one of the two people who run Cook in Venice, where they offer food tours in Venice and Venetian cooking courses, specializing in traditional dishes of Venice and the region.  Today Monica is sharing a typical Venetian Christmas Dinner, the dishes that make up the dinner and the traditions behind them.  Enjoy!

 

Snowy Saint Mark's Square

 

Have you ever wondered what Venetians eat traditionally for Christmas?

Julia Child said: “You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.”    This typifies Venetian cooking: simple fresh ingredients enriched by herbs and spices, turning a simple uncomplicated recipe into a sublime dish. This is usually what appears in both the Grand Canal palaces and the normal houses of people living in Venice and in the Veneto region during the festive season!

 

Murano Glass Christmas Tree

 

Since the 15^th century the Catholic Church has set a big distinction on what you are usually allowed to eat on Christmas Eve and what you should eat on Christmas day.  This is why, in days bygone, Christmas Eve's lunch would have been the only meal of the day: by decree of the Church, Venetians  were supposed to fast from morning till evening with the exception of midday, when they were allowed to have a small meal of Bigoli co la Sardela (Venetian spaghetti with sardines), Mandorlato (nougat) e vin Bon (good wine).

 

 

Fish at the Rialto Market

Nowadays the use of eating “magro” (light -  that is eating fish and vegetables) continues but instead of having a midday meal, the banquet has moved to the evening, with a light (if we can call it that) dinner. Venetian Christmas Eve's tables will be full of traditional fish based recipes, like Risotto de Pevarasse (Venetian Clams risotto), Branzino al forno (oven cooked Seabass) or Anguilla (Eel) accompanied by mixed fried fish together with some grilled or stewed vegetables. No matter that they will be smothered with mayonnaise and other sauces, the perception of “magro” still persists!

 

 

Antipasti of Salami

 

Then Christmas day comes.   Always back in the middle ages, the agrarian rituals demanded that people should eat “ossocollo”, a typical Venetian sausage, made by using the pieces of meat from the vertebrae of the pig's neck. The meat is marinated with salt and saltpeter for a week, then it's dried, covered with milled pepper and mixed spices and then it is packed in the guts of the pig. It is tied and hanged for 2 months. In the 15th century ossocollo would be used to make broth as well as constituting the main meal of this special day.

 

Today a typical Venetian Christmas meal would still start with an antipasto (starter) of ossocollo but also with other cold meats like Soppressa, Salame, Prosciutto Crudo e Cotto served with grissini (breadsticks) and pickled vegetables (onion, gherkins, peppers, carrots).

 

 

Capeeti (photo courtesy Andrea Buoso - Flickr)

 

But for centuries right up to today, three main traditional dishes have been served on Venetian Christmas tables for the joy of all diners: Capeeti or Ravioli in Brodo di Cappone (Ravioli in Capon broth), Cappone lesso (boiled Capon) and  “Musetto” (boiled salame) with Puree di patate (mashed potatoes) and spinaci (spinach).

 

The “mare” (the mother, the woman of the house) prepares the broth with the cappone (a capon is a rooster that has been castrated to improve the quality of its meat) on Christmas eve, boiling a large capon together with salted water and carrots, celery, onion and herbs. This broth will be used to cook the capeeti (small homemade tortellini) in it. The capeeti would be prepared with flour, eggs and water, mixing to a dough, rolling it and cutting out some rounds which would have been filled with a mixture of pork meat, turkey meat, Parmesan cheese, nutmeg and eggs.  Just exactly like Tortellini or Ravioli.  This tradition is so old, that in Venice it would not be Christmas if you didn't find this dish on the table.

 

The Capon is then cut into chunks and served as the main dish together with the “Musetto”, a salame similar to the cotechino in shape, but at the same time very different in taste. The worldwide famous cotechino is made using the rind of the pig together with lean and fat pork meat.  “Musetto” is made using the meat from the head of the pig (previously boiled) which is minced and then mixed with lean pork meat and spices.  The musetto is then cooked in boiling water for a few hours and served in slices.

The Capon and the Musetto are always served on a bed of mashed potatoes (in Italy our mashed potatoes are a more chunky then the American ones) and spinach (either boiled or stewed) together with different sauces like cren (horseradish sauce), mayonnaise, mustard. Many times there will also be the unmissable hot creamy polenta, either yellow or white.

 

 

Pandoro (photo courtesy Conanil - Flickr)

 

And last, but not least, desserts!!!!  Venice is famous for having a dessert for every occasion (Carnevale, Easter and so on), but Christmas brings the best out of Venetian bakeries and patisseries and this is reflected on the festive menu. At the end of a very large and succulent meal, Venetians will have for sure first some dried fruits like nuts, walnuts, peanuts, figs, dates followed by the real dessert, which would have come either from a local baker or patisserie: most probably Pandoro (the typical raised all butter soft bread cake from Verona) or Panettone (similar to Pandoro, but filled with raisins and mixed peel), but they might also have Torrone (nougat) or Mostarda con Mascarpone.  

Mostarda is a condiment typical of some Northern Italian regions, dating back around the year 1300.  Not yellow mustard as Americans know it, mostarda is a condiment of candied fruit and mustard essence.  Mostarda allowed people to keep extremely perishable fruit for a long time. A typical mostarda is made with sugar, mustard essence and whole fruits, but Venetian mustard is made with different types of candied fruit and finely chopped quince as well as mustard essence. The combination with the mascarpone cheese makes it a really tasty and delicate dessert.

 

Obviously all of this opulence would be paired with the best wines the Veneto region can offer: rivers of Prosecco or Raboso, fountains of Merlot or Manzoni, gushes of Soave or Verduzzo. And to end it all the best of dessert wines, like the worldwide famous Cartizze, the Recioto or the Moscato.

 

So, hoping to have tantalized your taste buds, as we say here, Buon Appetito e Buon Natale!

 

*This post is part of Wander Food Wednesdays.

 

 

Related Posts:

Christmas Around Italy: 10 Addresses for Christmas Sweets in Rome 

Christmas Around Italy - Christmas Traditions in Naples

Christmas in France - Aix-en-Provence Christmas Market

Holiday Dessert Recipes

Tasting Venice - A Food Tour with Monica Cesarato 

Italian Hot Chocolate and Carnival in Venice

 

Christmas Around Italy: 10 Addresses for Christmas Sweets in Rome

Christmas lights on Via del Corso in Rome

 

This week and next, some friends from Italy are "stopping by" on Food Lover's Odyssey.  They'll be sharing a little bit of Christmas Around Italy from their part of the bel paese.  Today, a big welcome to Tavole Romane (Roman Tables)! Their reviews of Roman eateries (now in both Italian and English) have been regular features on my weekly roundup Italy on a Plate.  Tavole Romane also provides food tours in Rome, and today they are taking us on a virtual stroll through Rome in search of sweets for Christmas, and Hanukkah. Enjoy!

 

 

Let’s bring our attention to Christmas, in a “gourmet” way. There are the savory treats: tortellini, cappone, bollito, capitone, and “frittelle” made of fried dough filled with baccalà or vegetables. And still, there are the sweet Christmas treats: panettone, pandoro, struffoli, panforte, torrone...the list could go on forever! For those of you who are into the gastronomic side of Italy, all of this surely reaches immediately to your head and senses. So, let us focus on the “sweet” side of the gastronomic sensation and let us turn it into reality! How? Follow us through a quick Roman “passeggiata” as we walk through 10 special sweet addresses in Rome.

 

 

 

Let us begin with pastries and sweets which have a pure and radical ROMAN IDENTITY.
This category's main ingredients are dried fruits, raisins, honey, spices and chocolate. Various combinations of these ingredients come together to create different pastries: panpepato (a peppered bread based on fruit, almonds, nuts, honey, and peppered chocolate), pangiallo romano (made with dried fruit, nuts, almonds, pine nuts and sweetened by the addition of sultanas to result in a relatively low-sugar content), mostaccioli romani (diamond shaped sweets covered in chocolate and nuts, almonds, fruit and honey) and the classical torrone (soft and white nougat, with honey, almonds and pistachios, and sugar coated).

 

1) Pasticceria Valzani - An earlier post of ours referred to “Those sweets which set time still...” and that motto does justice to the production of this bakery! Valzani has always been in the same location and has been producing the same high-quality pastries since 1925. They are famous for their preparation of chocolate-based products, such as Sacher Torte, Easter eggs and pralines as well as for their Mont Blanc and their seasonal specialties. At Christmas time of course you can find the traditional products: pangiallo, panpepato, roman mostaccioli and the classical torrone along with variations characterized by different coatings such as pine nuts, pistachios, and chocolate. (Their web site provides for on-line purchase of their products.)
Address: Via del Moro 37 (Trastevere), tel. 06.5803792, closed on Monday and Tuesday morning

2) Pasticceria Regoli - Another pastry shop with a 100-year tradition like Valzani.  As you enter the place you can see their claim to have been in this business “since 1916!" Over the years they have consistently been among the top producers of pastries in Rome (according to us at least!). Definitely worth mentioning are the outstanding profiteroles, maritozzo (a dough filled with cream) and “bavarese." For Christmas, of course, pangiallo and roman mostaccioli.
Address: via dello Statuto 60 (Esquilino), tel. 06.4872812, closed on Tuesday.

3) Panella l'Arte del Pane - As old as the previous ones, we have another business started in the twenties, 1922 being the actual start. Panella is like a casket full of baked products. (and not only that!) They also have sweet and savory selections. Over Christmas the shop windows are filled with a variety of torrone and other Christmas delicacies. Watch out not to empty your wallet here!
Address: via Merulana 54 (Esquilino), tel. 06 4872435, open every day.

 

 

Sufganiot (photo courtesy of savtadotty - Flickr )

 

Let us tour now around the JEWISH TRADITION.
True, Christmas is not a Jewish celebration. However, you should not miss a walk through the Ghetto in Rome, where you can find a number of delicious products which come out for the "festival of Lights" hanukkà. Fried sweets in this season: specifically Latkes (sort of potato pancakes in sour cream) and Sufganiot (donut filled with jam or custard and covered in sugar, they bring back to memory the roman "bomba"). And after a quick immersion into the Jewish tradition let us take a look at the addresses. We cannot be positive you shall find latkes e sufganiot in the places we suggest, but these are undoubtedly among the best in Rome when it comes to the Jewish tradition.

 

4) Boccione - A must in the Ghetto! The place looks exactly like it did in the old times. You can easily find a line at the entrance. After a short wait you will be able to collect your “ricotta and visciole” or “ricotta and cioccolato” tart, or sweets based on dried fruit, honey and “beridda bread." In this season, as well as over the rest of the year, you should rely on the “house suggestions” and you will be happy.
Address:  via del Portico d’Ottavia 2 (Jewish Getto), tel. 06 6878637, closed on Saturday. Kosher-certified.

5) Il Mondo di Laura - Here we come across  a little of magic: mixing Kosher tradition, the international experience of Laura Raccah, and high-quality ingredients, to get a number of different cookie productions. So, over Christmas time, stop by and fill in a box with nuggets, candy spice, "miss cioccolatissima," "green lady" and many more. The products are available at their direct sale point as well as at resellers (such as Castroni).
Address:  via della Reginella 18 b (Ghetto) or via Tiburtina 263 (close to Bologna subway stop), tel. 06.5880966, closed on Saturday and Friday afternoon. Kosher-certified.

 

 

 

And let us finish our tour with tastes coming from the TRADITION OF OTHER ITALIAN REGIONS.  How can we not mention the Panettone (we are supporters of the original recipe based on raisin and candied fruit!) from Northern Italy and the sweets coming from the South in a triumph of ricotta and citrus flavors.

6) Antico Forno Roscioli - One more historical address which, over the generations, bakes bread, pizza (widely recognized the famous pizza bianca!) and gastronomy products. At Christmas time there is room for some Northern recipes and you can find an amazing panettone with raisin. For the few who would not know, we point out their delicatessen shop and restaurant close by in via dei Giubbonari.
Address: via dei chiavari 34 (Campo de' Fiori), tel.06 6864045, closed on Sunday.

7) Pasticceria Perle - A brand new address in the suburbs of Rome (Capannelle area). A shop in Rome, after the original one in Velletri, for Fabrizio Donatone and his creations (widely recognized  are his pan brioche but also cakes, profiteroles, and mignon - little desserts). For Christmas you can find a panettone prepared with high quality ingredients and yeast. Available in the traditional recipe as well as in chocolate and orange. Our special thanks to Lorenzo “Linguini” who let us discover this shop.      Address: via Appia Nuova 1220/b (Capannelle), tel. 06 45421748

 8) Forno Farinando - One more Bakery – in the heart of Testaccio – which bakes yeast breads following natural procedures. For Christmas you can find a tasty panettone filled with lots of bitter chocolate chips. Maybe it is not top notch quality but still we feel they well deserve to be mentioned as a reference in this list!
Address: via Luca Della Robbia 30 (Testaccio), tel. 06 5750674, closed on Sunday.

 

9) Pasticceria Sal de Riso - Slowly slowly we go down south in Italy and our thoughts arrive in Campania! The sweets of Sal de Riso have been, over the years, a seductive synthesis of taste and flavor of the Amalfi Coast, high quality mastery and ingredients! For Christmas panettone baked according to the Milanese classical recipe, but he also adds a number of “deviations” (such as almond coated with candied orange, sultanas and diamond citrus coated in almond glacè, orange flavored cremderì with nut cream in extra virgin DOP olive oil, limoncello in limoncello cream and IGP Amalfi’s lemon peels,...).
Address: via Gallia 12, (San Giovanni), tel. 06 68135738, closed on Sunday.

10) Pasticceria Siciliana Svizzera - And here we come to the southern top! As the name suggests, this place is all-for-Sicily and its products, based on ricotta and candied fruit. So, for Christmas you can find “cassatine” (Sponge Cake covered in royal dough and sugar glaze and filled with sweetened sheep ricotta and candied fruit) and “Buccellati” (a donut filled cookie with dried figs, almond, raisins, lemon peels).
 Address: piazza Pio XI 10 (Aurelio-Gregorio VII), tel. 06 6374974, closed on Monday.

We can’t help but close this post with our “Sweet” wishes for the upcoming holidays to our fellow Roman citizens and to all of you who will happen to be in the “Capitale” over these magic days!

 

*Photos in this post, unless otherwise noted, are by Tavole Romane.

 

Related Posts:

Christmas Around Italy: Traditional Venetian Christmas Dinner

Christmas Around Italy - Christmas Traditions in Naples

Christmas in France: Aix-en-Provence Christmas Market

Holiday Dessert Recipes

Christmas Gingerbread House

Snowball Cookies (Palle di Neve) and Christmas Baking Memories

 

Tasting Venice - A Food Tour with Monica Cesarato

 

Another absolutely gorgeous day in Venice, and I had the great pleasure of spending the afternoon with Monica Cesarato, a Venetian and Venetian food afficianado. Monica writes a blog about Venice and owns and runs the Faronhof bed and breakfast, outside of Venice. She also is one of the two people who run Cook in Venice, where they offer Venetian cooking courses and food tours in Venice. Our plan for the afternoon was to eat a lot of cicheti. The day was so warm and sunny, we veered off course a little, walking along Zattere and stopping for a gelato (yes, it was that warm). Instead of just cicheti, I learned a lot more about the food in Venice.

 

 

 

Venetian Carnival Treats

Since it is Carnival time, we did a lot of talking about the fried foods treats of Carnival. I have seen the round "doughnuts"(frittelle) in five different variations. The three most typical are alla Veneziana (with rum soaked sultanas and pine nuts), filled with pastry cream, and filled with Zabajon (zabaglione). I've also seen them filled with cream chantilly (sweetened whipped cream). On our walk, we also found some filled with Nutella. There were also sliced apple rings dipped in frittelle batter and fried that I found at Tonolo Pasticceria. Lastly, there are Kraffen. These come from Austria and stayed in Venice after the Austrians left.

Fritelle with Zabaglione, Venetian Style, and with Pastry Cream

 

Fritelle with Nutella

 

Kraffen - (came with the Austrians) filled with pastry cream

 

Fried Apples Dipped in the Frittelle batter before frying

 

 

Venetian Sweets

On our walk, Monica also gave me a lesson on some of the other sweets that fill the pastry windows in Venice. One thing I noticed was that the same cookie were called different names in different pasticcerie windows. The Venetian dialect is still very strong in the city, and that's the reason for the two types of spelling for the same foods.

Zaletti (also Zaeti) Cookies

These cookies that are between are a sort of crunchy cake are made with corn flour, which gives them their yellow color. The name comes from Venetian dialect for yellow.

 

Bussola (also Bussolai) Cookies from Burano

Bussole are ring shaped shortbread cookies, with a little lemon zest added, and come from the island of Burano. I also saw these cookies with little chocolate chips in them. Monica told me she was a purist when it came to recipes, so I think she might not approve of the chocolate chip filled cookies, but they looked good this chocolate-chip cookie loving girl.

Pinza (also Pincia) - A kind of Bread Pudding

Monica explained Pinza as a kind of a bread pudding, made with corn flour, where you put whatever you have leftover into the mixture. This pinza had sultanas. She also suggested I buy a Venetian cookbook, A Toea coi Nostri Veci. It's traditional Venetian food. The only problem is that the book is written in Venetian dialect. (Monica, I'll be emailing you frequently for help ;-) I bought the book and plan to make and share several recipes from it.

 

Tiramisu

Of course, there is Tiramisu. We had a nice discussion about this dish, which is actually from Treviso (not Venice, but nearby). Monica, being the purist, said you cannot call it Tiramisu unless the eggs are raw. I knew I took liberties with my recipe, making a French bombe and cooking the eggs by whipping in cooked sugar, but she also didn't like my idea of adding melted chocolate to the espresso. Oh well, I might have to change the name of my recipe and make a new "original" version of tiramisu here.

 

Cicheti (cicchetti) and Ombra

Cicheti and Ombra are all the rage now, but at one time the person who went out for an ombra was considered a wino. Ombra means shadow. Legend has it that the little tumblers of wine that go with the finger food, known as cicheti, gets its name from the old wine sellers. They would move their barrels/carts to be under the shade, keeping the wine cool. Ombra can also be the "shade" or small bit of wine you get in those small tumblers.

Cicheti is another word that I've seen spelled two different ways. Monica let me know that cicheti (pronounced chee-keh-tee) is the Venetian spelling and cicchetti is the Italian spelling. Both are correct, and both are used throughout the city. We had cicheti at La Cantina Carbonera Vecia. Monica also gave me a list of other cicchetterie that she likes. I'll have more for you soon on all the cicheti I've been tasting.

 

Chocolate and Hazelnut Gelato from Nico

 

Carnival

During our walk, we also talked about Carnival in Venice. Monica reminisced that when she was younger everyone would be in costume. It's dress up for people of all ages. There were less of the extravagent costumes - those are furnished by many of the costume and mask stores in the city who pay the wearers to "pose" around St. Mark's Square. Not everyone was dressed up, but all ages were definitely participating.

One of the more extravagent costumes riding in a gondola

 

Adults in Costume on a Bridge in Venice

 

 

The youngsters posing and celebrating Carnival with confetti

 

Monica's personality is quite the opposite of the devil Carnival costume she had

 

Thanks again Monica for a wonderful afternoon and for all the information on Venetian food and Carnival in Venice!

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Frittelle, Hot Chocolate and Costumes - Welcome to Carnival in Venice

Snow one Day, Sun the Next - Carnival 2011 in Venice

Martedi Grasso- Fat Tuesday in Venice

Favorite Scene's and Costumes from Venice's Carnevale 2011in Photos

Italian Hot Chocolate

Italy in Chocolate at Turin's CioccolaTo Festival

Eurochocolate Perugia - Italy's Biggest Chocolate Festival

Cicheti and Ombra - Little Tastes of Venice

Best Ways to Savor Venice

A Lesson in Venetian Mask Making

Sfogi in Saor - Venetian Style Sole in Agrodolce

Tiramisu

Chiacchiere - Ready for Carnival in Italy

 

 

Are you ready for Carnevale? I certainly am.  As with every celebration that happens in Italy, food is a huge part of the festivities.  Carnevale is no exception.  I've fried up some sweet treats, an essential food for any Carnival celebration, for my post at Napoli Unplugged.  These fried treats are as much a Carnival tradition in Italy as are masks, costumes, parades and pranks.

They start popping up in pastry shops right after the Epiphany. Although you will find them throughout Italy, their name and shape differs throughout the boot.  Never have I seen so many names for such a simple treat:  Called chiacchiere (meaning chatter - gossip - chit chat) in the south of Italy, they also go by other names in other areas: frappe (tassels) in Rome, cenci - (rags) in Tuscany, bugie (lies) in Piedmont, sfrappe in Le Marche, sfrappole in Emilia, nastri (ribbons), lattughe (lettuce), guanti (gloves), fritole, crostoli, galani, cioffe.  These are the names I've seen for them, but I'm certain there are even more.  If you've heard them called by any other name, please add it in the comments below.

 

 

For as many different names as these treats have, they might have as many variations in forms.  I've seen squares, sheets, strips, diamonds, knots and twisted ribbon like shapes. Sweet fried dough with the requisite dusting of powdered sugar, they are a sweet and simple indulgence, both delicious and addictive.  It's impossible to eat just one.

For the recipe and a tidbit on another Carnival traditon, make sure to check out my post on NapoliUnplugged: Chiacchiere for Carnival

 

 
 

Related Posts:

Italian Hot Chocolate and Carnevale in Venice

Cassatelle alla Siciliana - Sweet Fried "Ravioli" filled with Ricotta Cream

One Cannolo - Two Cannoli

A Lesson in Venetian Mask Making

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina: A Taste of Sorrento - my post for Napoli Unplugged

 

 

Braciola di Maiale - Braised Pork Roll for a Sicilian Holiday Dinner

 

 

Braciola, a stuffed roll of meat, reminds me of my mom.  Not because she made it; actually she never made it.  She would talk about it, pronouncing it bru-shah-loh-nee or shortening it to brah-jyohl, and always complain about the eggs in the dish.  "Why not take the eggs out?"  I asked one day.  Well, that's not how my mom cooked.  She didn't tamper with recipes, especially family ones.  You made them the way the previous generation made them.  If you didn't like the dish, you made something else. 

Not my philosophy at all, especially when I was younger and just starting to bake and cook. If I didn't like something in a dish, I would want to leave it out, even if it changed the dish altogether. I wanted to put chocolate in everything and take walnuts out of everything.  Being the strong-willed child, adolescent and young adult I am was, my mom and I would have debates about how much I could change a recipe while keeping the integrity of the dish.  (I still believe you can take those yucky walnuts out of rocky road and still call it rocky road--the marshmallows make it rocky, too, you know.)  We'd banter over almost every dish on a menu.  Her testa wasn't as dura as mine, so she'd give in more than I would, and some recipes got changed.  Well, except the rocky road. 

We'd also have debates over the Italian language.  My mother and my aunts learned from their parents, and spoke Sicilian dialect.  My grandfather passed away when I was two, and my grandmother only taught me a few words.  I learned at a private school in San Francisco (they didn't offer Italian at my public school). Many of the teachers were from Florence.  The language I learned was sometimes so far from what my mom spoke, she would insist that I wasn't speaking Italian.  I was; maybe with an American accent, but I had the words right.  I would bring her my Italian dictionary and show her, "See, mom, this is the word for lemon, 'limone', NOT lemuna.  This is the word for cherry, 'ciliegia' NOT cirazu"  And so it went, with many other words, including braciola.

As I've become older and have cooked more, I realize there should be a balance struck between honoring the traditions and recipes of the past and changing them.  Before changing a recipe, I strive to understand why an ingredient is in it and whether it's necessary to the essence of the dish.  In the case of braciola, I don't think the eggs are necessary and have actually found other versions without them. 

Because the braciola was so popular at the dinner, I decided to treat my aunts to it and make it again (as most of you know, my mom is no longer with us).  I told them I was going to make, braciola (pronouncing it: brah-chee-oh-la).  Both of them said, "What's that?"  Changing my pronunciation, I repeated, "I'm making bru-shah-loh-nee or brah-jyohl." Then they understood.  I added, "Oh, and I'm leaving the eggs out."

 

 

 

This pork roll recipe came about after Paula emailed me a recipe from Mario Batali saying she would like it or one similar to it for the secondo (main dish).  Mario's was a rolled pork shoulder and had eggs in it.  At the time, I was leafing through the My Calabria cookbook I had just received (my prize from a giveaway at My Bella Vita) and noticed that there was a recipe for Vrasciole (dio mio, the Calabresi are just as bad with the dialect). These were individual-sized pork rolls that looked divine.  The filling in these Vrasciole was pork fat, parsley, and garlic.  Since I often make my grandmother's spiedini (known as involtini to the rest of Italy), I know they take a lot of time to wrap up individually.  To save on time, I decided to make a large roll and combined ideas from both recipes that I thought would enhance the dish.  As I said, it was a hit.  Only the desserts, the Torta Setteveli and Lemon Granita, were more popular. Now, I share the dish with you.

Along with this dish, you can find all the recipes for an Italian (and Sicilian)-inspired holiday dinner here on Food Lover's Odyssey:

Antipasti: Involtini di Melanzane

Primo Piatto: Spaghetti Siracusana

Secondo Piatto: Braciola di Maiale (below)

I Dolci: Granita di Limone  and Torta Setteveli

 

 
 

Braciola di Maiale

Adapted from recipes from Mario Batali and My Calabria by Rosetta Costantino

(Serves 8-10 people)

4 1/2 pounds pork shoulder, bone out, butterflied and pounded to a rectangle about one-inch thick**

About 2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste

About 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

About 10 slices prosciutto, either di Parma or San Daniele

1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1 cup grated Parmigiano Regiano cheese

3/4 cup currants (yellow raisins)

1/2 cup toasted pinenuts

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus more for the garnish

Rind of 1 lemon, grated

4 tablespoons dried oregano, divided in half

About 1/4 cup extra vigin olive oil

2 large onions, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes

3 cups dry white wine

Two (28 oz. cans) San Marzano tomatoes, peeled and whole

4 cups Chicken Stock

**NOTE: You could ask your butcher to butterfly and pound out the pork shoulder for you.

Open the pork shoulder out onto a working surface and sprinkle the salt and pepper over the meat.  Make sure you have a dutch oven or heavy bottom sauce pot that is big enough for the length of the pork shoulder to fit in it.  (If not, cut the pork in half.) Lay the prosciutto slices over the meat so that the prosciuotto covers the entire surface.

In a mixing bowl combine the cheeses, currants, pinenuts, breadcrumbs, parsley, grated lemon rind, and 2 tablespoons of the oregano.  Spread this mixture on top of the pork, over the proscuitto layer. Roll the pork up tightly and securely tie with twine. 

In a dutch oven or heavy bottom sauce pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat until it is translucent.  Add the pork roll, and sear all sides until they are all a golden brown. This will take about 15 minutes in total.  Remove the pork from the pan; set aside.  Add the onions and a pinch of salt.  Sweat the onions until they are translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the carrots, and cook another 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook about 1 minute more (do not let the garlic brown).  Place the pork back in the pan. Add the wine and turn the heat to high to deglaze.  Scrap any bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Once it boils, lower the heat to a simmer and cover with a parchment paper circle.  Cook 2 1/2 hours turning the meat every 15 minutes so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.  Remove the meat, cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes.  While the meat is resting, turn the heat up to low, keep the sauce uncovered and let it reduce a bit.  Slice the meat into 1-inch thick portions and serve with the sauce and a garnish of the chopped parsley.  Buon Appetito!

NOTE: In this case, and to confuse matters further, this roll is really a braciolona (a big braciola), but I called it a braciola initially, so I'll keep it that way. 

 

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