Food Lover's Odyssey

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

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

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

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March 26, 2013

Herb Bread Wreath - Cooking with Maria Grazia in Puglia

"When making bread, the dough needs to be cared for just as you'd care for your baby in your womb. It needs love and care in order to come out well. You need to listen to the dough. It will tell you when it's ready and has risen enough. The scent, the little "bollincini" wholes, the size and the dough's softness are the ways in which the bread tells you it has risen enough." This and other cooking philosophies I learned, along with recipes for a perfect Salentine lunch, I learned during my afternoon with Maria Grazia in Puglia.

I met Maria Grazia at her family's home, an exclusive masseria. She and her husband, Pugliese natives, had originally purchased it solely to entertain their friends from Milan and Northern Italy, where they live for much of the year. Their original plans were to have five guest rooms, but they ended up adding a few more and welcome a select group of guests along with friends. Maria personally greets every guest, friend or first-time visitor, and creates mouth-watering breads, marmalades, desserts and savory dishes for all those that visit. More than a restored ancient country house, their home seems like a movie set, where the story of a dream vacation in Southern Italy takes place.

The stark white of the masseria's walls, beams, pergolas, tables and curtains create such a contrast against the sage green of the olive trees and the big blue Salento sky that every color seems that much more intense. Maria Grazia added her personal touch to every room. Just as she has given a little of herself in each room, she adds much of herself into every dish that flows from her kitchen.

Although her "real job" was the law, she worked as a lawyer and law professor, she has always spent many hours daily in the kitchen. When we first met, food was the first topic of conversation as she immediately showed me her hands, stained from fruits and olives. Proof of the numbers of hours she spends working with the ingredients her native land Salento offers. In her kitchen, surrounded the a mix of the aromatic herbs she has on a wood block, and an almost rainbow array of seasonal vegetables just purchased at the market, we spent the afternoon cooking some of Maria Grazia's favorite dishes.

"Amore, passione e generosita' (love, passion and generosity), all are necessary when cooking and you can never be tired in the kitchen." This philosophy and her love for the herbs, vegetables and grano duro flour are at the base of all the dishes Maria Grazia creates. Breads are her specialty, but she adds herbs to everything she cooks, even desserts. She presents them in the most creative and elegant ways, like the mounds of ricotta she topped with her homemade peperoncino jam and then wrapped in raffia.

Bread was the first food on the day's menu. With the durham wheat flour, Maria made the bread wreath for which I've given you the recipe below, an herb focaccia, and also pasta: orecchiette which she used to make one of the quintessential dishes of Puglia, orecchiette con le cima di rape.

Along with those dishes, she shared her recipe for a beautiful and tasty vegetable cake, she called tortino di verdure, and also a most delicious stuffed calimari dish. The grand finale was a decadent dessert, a ricotta torte with a layer of orange marmellata in the center of the creamy ricotta. Like almost everything else that comes from the masseria's kitchen, Maria Grazia made the orange marmellata herself.

Maria Grazia knows her way around bread dough solely by feel, she explained to me her bread-making process and philosophy. She made to swift slits at the top of the bread dough before leaving it to rise. "Here in Italy, the cross I make on the top of the dough serves two purposes. The first is to bless the bread and the second helps let me know when the dough is ready." The dough is ready when the cross has spread and opened up.

With the well-cared for dough, we made the wreath bread that had a nice crunchy and herb-flavored crust and a pillow-soft center that was light as air. With her permission, I've given you Maria Grazia's recipe bread recipe below.

Herb Wreath Bread
(makes one 11-inch wreath)

8 ounces (250 ml) warm water (90°F - 100°F), plus more if needed
½ ounce fresh yeast
3 cups (380 g) “00” flour
1 cup (130 g) Durham wheat or semolina flour
1 tablespoon salt, plus more for garnish
About 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more if needed and for forming the wreath

2-3 tablespoons poppy seeds
2-3 tablespoons sesame seeds
2-3 tablespoons chopped rosemary
4 bay leaves, optional

Break the yeast into smaller pieces and dissolve in the warm water. Mix together both types of flour and the salt. Make a well with the flour mixture. In the center of the well, pour about 1/3 of the yeast/water mixture and combine some of the flour into the center of the well to mix with the liquid. Continue adding the water mixture into the well and mixing with flour from the sides of the well (the water should not run out of the sides) until the mixture is the right consistency. The consistency should be a very soft and slightly wet dough, but one that does not stick to your hands. (You may need to add more water depending on the flour and the amount of humidity.)

Once the dough is the right consistency, begin kneading by holding one end with one hand and stretching the other end out with the palm of your other hand. Once you’ve stretched the dough out, roll it back in towards you and the hand anchoring the other end of the dough. Turn the dough 95 degrees and repeat this motion. Continue kneading the dough until it is smooth and more elastic, about 7 minutes. Form the dough into a ball. With a sharp knife, score the top of the ball of dough with a cross. Cover with a towel, and as Maria Grazia does, a warm blanket and let rise until it is at least 2 times the size and has small balls of air inside, about 2 hours.

When the dough has risen enough, place it back on the working board and knead out the air. Separate the dough into 3 pieces and roll each piece out into a rope about 1 ½-inches in diameter and equal sizes in length. Spread the poppy seeds out the length of the rope of dough. Wet your hands with a little olive oil and roll one rope in the poppy seeds turning it until the rope of dough is well covered with poppy seeds. Repeat this with the second and third ropes of dough, using sesame seeds to cover one rope and the chopped rosemary for the other.

Take the three ropes of dough, line up and attach them at one end. Form the three ropes of dough into one braid and bring around to form a wreath. Attach both ends. If you're using the bay leaves, place each in the space where the braids come together. Place the wreath on the baking sheet. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Let rise again for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until it has doubled in size again. Bake the wreath at 375°F for 20-30 minutes, until the wreath has a nice hard crust and when you tap it, it sounds hollow. Buon Appetito!

Join me in Puglia where we'll dine with bellisimme views like these!

Join me in Puglia in 2013! For this food lover's culinary tour, we'll be making bread like this and cooking with both Italian mamme and professional chefs. We'll also be eating and exploring our way through the region and making delicioius dishes like those above!

For tour details, check out this page: Culinary Tours in Puglia 2013!

Other Posts on Puglia and its Food You Might Like:

Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

Gorgeous Italian Men of Puglia on the Food Lover's Culinary Tour

Pizza Makers for a Night in Puglia - Food Lover's Culinary Tour

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

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

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March 23, 2013

An Aperitivo to Whet Your Appetite for Puglia

“Benvenuti in Italia!” That’s what Ylenia said to me, not when she picked me up at the airport. No, she said this as I smirked down at my so-called small plate of “nibbles” and gave her a look that we both recognized as “so much for the diet!“ Sfizirie are what the snacks are called here in Lecce. Also known as sfizzi and stuzzichini these nibbles/finger food/snacks/appetizers are meant to wash down your aperitivo. Even they come in abundance here. Yes, I’m back in Italy, Puglia to be more specific, to kick off the first of what I hope to be many food and wine lovers’ culinary tours in Italy. In just 2 days, we’ll be COOKING IN PUGLIA!

We’ll be cooking with Italian mammas and chefs, exploring the food and culture of the Salento area, doing a lot of dining al fresco, amidst fig & olive groves, vineyards, and even poolside. Of course, Ylenia & I have left a little time for everyone to dip our toes into the cobalt blue sea, too. Want to join us? You can! Join us virtually as I’ll be back daily during the tour with highlights from each day’s food and other adventures. You might think of these posts as an aperitivo of sorts, as I'm certain each will whet your desire to actually join us next year. We’re already talking about more Cook in Puglia tours for 2013.

A great welcome to Italy and way to kick any party off is with aperitivi. This "happy hour" is one of my favorite things to enjoy during an Italian vacation, especially a summer one. Every city in Italy does it a little differently, but basically you buy a drink and along with the price of the drink, you get a nice plateful of food (see above) or have access to a buffet of finger foods. During the hot and humid days of an Italian summer, when a full meal of primi, secondo, contorno & dolce are just too much, one can make a meal off a few cocktails/aperitivi. (And for those traveling on a very tight, let’s say backpackers’ budget, might I suggest this instead of going to the supermarket for dinner.)

What could be better than aperitivo hour? How about two a day? Yes, ours started right after Noon. After church bells chime throughout the city, an aria plays from the main piazza, Sant' Oronzo serving notice to all that it's time for an aperitivo...and then lunch, if you still have room. Right before dinner, aperitivo hour begins again. Our Cocktail San Pellegrino, which very much resembles a Venetian Spritz, is a mix of the bitter Aperol and frizzante San Pellegrino water.

The beach at San Cataldo

After lunch aperitivi, we set up office at the beach in San Cataldo to finalize tour details and reconfirm all our reservations. Next we met with Mamma Anna, one of our Italian mammas in the kitchen, for a gelato and review of each day's menu. One thing is certain; the menu alone is enough to have you on the next plane to this delicious part of Italy!

See you tomorrow with more from Puglia....

Gelato with Ylenia and Mamma Anna - one of our Italian Mamme in Cucina

Join me in Puglia in 2013! For this food lover's culinary tour, we'll be cooking with our beautiful Italian mamme and professional chefs. We'll also be eating and exploring our way through the region. There are four tour dates available from which to choose! For tour details, check out this page: Culinary Tours in Puglia 2013!

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

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

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

Gorgeous Men of Puglia on the Food Lover's Culinary Tour

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March 19, 2013

Celebrating Saint Joseph's Day in Italy - Devotion, Hospitality and Always Food

All over Italy today, Italians are celebrating St. Joseph's Day. They honor both Joseph, the "earthly" father of Jesus, and also all fathers. In Southern Italy, and especially some villages in Puglia, parades and grand events are being held to honor San Giuseppe. As with all celebrations in Italy, food plays a huge part, and with food in Italy, there are always food rules that must be followed.

First, it is not a festa di San Giuseppe without the very decadent zeppole. Everywhere I looked this morning it seemed that someone was ordering a zeppola or eating one. Pastry shops and even the gelaterie flooded their pastry cases with the ring-shaped doughnut. In Lecce, where I am now, these fried treats are topped off with generous amounts of two kinds of pastry cream - a lemon-infused one and then a "dollop" of chocolate. In Naples, amarena cherries replace the chocolate pastry cream, and in Sicily, they slather their famous ricotta cream over the top of the zeppole.

Find the recipe here: Le Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Another food-focused feast happens in the villages near Otranto in Puglia where hundread of homes still practice the tradition of preparing a feast to show hospitality to others in St. Joseph's honor; this feast is known as Le Tavole di San Giuseppe. There are several renditions of how this feast started. Some say it was transformed from a pagan celebration to celebrate the end of Winter and beginning of Spring. Others say that it started when noble families chose one day to offer banquets to feed the poor. Whatever the origins, families in these villages prepare elaborately decorated tables filled with 13 different dishes (13 symbolizing the number that attended the last supper). At the main table is an "altar" to St. Joseph. There you'll find a statue of St. Joseph, his flower-covered staff, and the large rounds of bread, each having an orange in the center. The other tables are filled with meticulously plated dishes, all of which are typical farmers' or peasant's dishes of Puglia.

The tables set for the Feast of St. Joseph and his staff

On March 18th, the night before St. Joseph's day, these families open their doors to all who want to make this pilgrimage; friends, strangers, foreigners, tourists, and even enemies. At each house, those who enter say a prayer at the altar created for St. Joseph. Families start preparing for this feast weeks in advance, and many homes expect more than 400 visitors during the night. During this eve of St. Joseph, no one eats the 13 dishes. Instead the families usually prepare a pasta dish, called massa for the visitors. One house we visited had used hundreds of kilograms of flour to make the massa for their expected visitors.

On St. Joseph's day, in the afternoon after mass, the priest goes around to each of the houses in his village and blesses the tables. Then the banquet starts and the guests, some of dressed to represent St. Joseph, the holy family, the apostles and other saints, eat the 13 dishes of the feast. They consist of the following:

The bread - shaped in the form of a circle (or taralli as they say in Puglia) with decorations on top that symbolize the holy family (Mary, Joseph & Jesus) and with an orange placed in the middle. There are also the fried fish, stoccafisso (a salted cod stew), boiled lampasconi (wild hyacinth bulbs), chickpeas - which are sometimes served with the massa (pasta), pasta with breadcrumbs, pittule (fried dough), cauliflower fried in pastella, le cime di rape (broccoli rabe), puccedruzzi (Puglia's version of the more popularly known struffoli), carteddate (another sweet fried dough with honey drizzled over the top), and wine.

Some of the dishes from the Feast of St. Joseph: The bread, stoccafisso, fried fish & boiled lampasconi

What a lot of food and what a feast!! And then to add one or two zeppole to the day's eats! One of the families we visited in addition to the pasta, even prepared extra gifts of sweets, little cups of various types of cookies, to give to the pilgrims who would come on the eve of March 18th. Whatever your religious beliefs are, or are not, this is quite a thing to witness. The amount of work and love these families put into every detail and how truly generous and hospitable they are to everyone who comes to their doors is astounding and would bring a tear to the eyes of even the most cynical of people.

Join me in Puglia in 2013! For this food lover's culinary tour, we'll be cooking with our beautiful Italian mamme and professional chefs. We'll also be eating and exploring our way through the region and making zepppole like those above, and many other traditional Pugliese dishes,too!

For tour details, check out this page: Culinary Tours in Puglia 2013!

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

Related Posts:

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

Pizza Makers for a Night in Lecce - Food Lover's Tour in Puglia

Crostata di Marmellata from Mamma Giulia

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento

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

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

Seafood and More with Chef Lino at Ristorante Donna Lisa

Crostata di Marmellata ~ Jam Crostata from Mamma Giulia

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March 11, 2013

Fruttone Leccese with Chef Luca - Food Lovers Tour in Puglia

Bienvenuti in Puglia! My dear and faithful readers, I'm back. Not only am I back here on Food Lover's Odyssey (sorry for the absence which I'll explain soon), but I'm also back in Puglia! I'll be in Puflia for the rest of March and part of April sharing delicious dishes from our escapades on the Food Lover's Tour and my cooking adventures with the many awesome Italian mammas and chefs.

Let's start the posts from Puglia with this pastry recipe you've been requesting the most: Fruttone Leccese. This pastry, along with pasticciotto are the two quintessential pastries of the area. You're sure to find them in every pasticceria in Salento. At it's base is a crunchy shortbread crust, which is commonly made using lard. In this recipe, I've substituted the lard for butter, which will make the crust extra crunchy. (Feel free to use lard if the purist in you wants to be very "authentic.") The sweet filling is a combination of pear marmalade and almond paste. And if that wasn't enough to entice you, the final touch is a topping of a sweet and shiny chocolate glaze.

During our cooking class with Chef Luca, we made both pasticciotto and fruttone. Along with the recipe are step-by-step photos, from the class, for assembling the fruttone. The fruttone are quite easy to make or maybe it was Chef Luca's flirtations and his filling us with all his sweets & wine that made them seem so easy. The hardest thing for you will probably be finding the oval molds. I purchased my tin molds here in Puglia, but you can find similar silicone molds here. Join us on the Food Lover's Tour in Puglia, and you'll get a set of molds in your gift bag!

Rolling out the pasta frolla with Chef Luca

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Fruttone Leccese
(Makes about 15)

For the Pasta Frolla:
2 ¼ cups cake flour
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 grams baking powder
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
5 egg yolks

For the filling:
About 1 ½ pounds almond paste (see recipe below)
About 16 ounces pear marmalade

For the almond paste:
8 ounces blanched almonds
8 ounces (1 ¾ cups) powdered sugar

For the chocolate glaze:
½ cup butter
¼ cup milk
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
5 ounces good quality dark chocolate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar

To make the pasta frolla: In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together on low speed the flour, baking powder, lard (or butter) and sugar until the mixture is the consistency of peas. Add the eggs yolks and stir together just until the mixture is combined. Divide into two equal mounds and cover each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling out.

To make the almond paste: Place the almonds and half of the powdered sugar into a food processor. Process until the almonds are finely ground. Add the rest of the sugar and process until combined and the mixture is homogenous. Set aside for assembly of the fruttone.

To assemble the fruttone: (Step-by-step photos on assembling the fruttone are below)
Roll the pasta frolla out into a rope about 2 inches in diameter. (You can do this in 2 or 3 parts if you’d like.) Cut the rope into 2-inch rolls. With the palm of your hand, flatten the dough into a round disk about 1/8-inch thick. Press each disk of dough into a mold of its own. The dough should just reach the top of the mold. If there is excess, you can remove it by running a knife along the edges. Place about 1ounce of pear marmalade at the bottom of the mold. (The quickest and cleanest way to do this is by using a pastry bag and piping the pear marmalade into the molds.) On top of the pear marmalade, add the almond paste just to the top of the mold. Run a knife along the top of the mold to ensure that the almond paste is even and level with the top of the mold. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and place each fruttone upside down on a flat surface until they are cool. (This will flatten out the tops of the fruttone for glazing.)

To make the chocolate glaze: Make the glaze right before you want to use it. In a saucepan, heat the butter, milk and corn syrup until the butter melts. Add the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate melts. Take off the heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Whisk in the powdered sugar and pour into a bowl wide enough to dip the fruttone in. Use immediately to glaze the fruttone. The glaze will set in 20-30 minutes.

To glaze the fruttone: Once the fruttone are cool, dip the tops of them into the chocolate glaze and place right side up. Let the glaze set for approximately 20 minutes. Buon Appetito!

Step-by-step photos for assembling the fruttone:

Roll dough into logs & cut ~ Flatten into disks & press into molds ~ fill with pear marmalade

Molds filled with pear marmalade ~ fill with almond paste & bake ~ when cooled top with chocolate glaze

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Pastries in Puglia ~ Along with Fruttone we'll be making these on the Food Lover's Tour in Puglia

Join me in Puglia for the Food Lover's Culinary Tour! We'll cook with Chef Luca, other chefs and our fabulous Mammas in the kitchen on the Food Lover's Culinary Tour of Puglia - Plenty of spaces are still available for tours in May and October.

Pasticciotto Leccese

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

The Pastries of Lecce with Chef Luca Capilungo

Pizza Makers for a Night in Puglia

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December 20, 2012

Mamma Agata's Herb Fritters {Coccoli} and the Winner is....

Thank you to all who participated in the Mamma Agata cookbook giveaway. Out of all the great comments about your favorite Italian dishes, I randomly chose #29, Janie's comment (her favorite dish is homemade ricotta ravioli with a simple tomato sauce to remind her of lunch with her grandparents). Janie will be receiving an autographed copy of Mamma Agata's Simple and Genuine Cookbook. And today, for everyone that would like a glimpse at the recipes in the cookbook, I'm sharing one of them, Mamma Agata's Coccoli.

These herb fritters were just one of the amazing antipasti that I tasted during my day cooking on the Amalfi Coast, a simple yet oh-so delicious fried treat. Versions of fritters are a classic starter to Italian meals, especially pizza, and as usual, their names change depending on the region. I've heard them called in pastella in Rome, pasta crescuita in Naples, and pittule in Puglia. Who doesn't love fried batter, golden, crunchy and salty outside with the softest pillow-like savory dough inside?

Mamma Agata takes them to another level adding fresh herbs, parmigiano and pancetta to the batter. The herbs give them a pop of freshness, the parmigiano adds extra cheesiness and the pancetta is a subtle addition of the sweet pork fat flavor. They are perfect little starters to any special meal, even your holiday Christmas dinner, for example. The batter (pastella) can also be used as a dipping batter. Dip a mix of seasonal vegetables or shrimp in the batter; fry them and you will look like a god or goddess in the kitchen with this assortment of antipasti.

Mamma Agata adding the pancetta, parmigiano and herbs to the coccoli batter

The recipe and exactly how to make the batter and fry it is beautifully illustrated in Mamma Agata's cookbook. In the book you'll find all her secrets to making the coccoli flavorful and how she gets the pillow-like pefection inside while keeping things crunchy outside. She has also dedicated a full page in her book to share her frying secrets. Below is the recipe and then highlights from her frying instructions.

Frying the coccoli during my day cooking with Mamma Agata

If you'd like to order the book, you can order it directly from Mamma Agata's website. Chiara and Mamma Agata share some fabulous family recipes and classics of Neapolitan cuisine. With those recipes, along with the stories and photos in the book, they will transport you to the family's Ravello terrace and views of the Amalfi coastline. It would make a beautiful gift for yourself or that special Italian food lover in your life.

Mamma Agata's Simple and Genuine Cookbook

The terrace at Mamma Agata's Cooking School

Coccoli di Mamma Agata (Herb Fritters)
(from Mamma Agata’s Simple & Genuine Cookbook, recipe published here with her permission)

Mamma Agata’s Pastella:
2 cups (250 g) “00” flour, or white pastry flour
1 teaspoon (25 g) sugar
3/4 cup (100g) Parmigiano cheese, grated
1 egg
1 cup (200 ml) lukewarm water
1 3/4 tablespoons (25 g) yeast (dry or fresh cake yeast)
2 pinches sea salt
2 teaspoon vinegar

For the Coccoli:
1/2 cup (100g) Parmigiano Regiano cheese, grated
1/2 onion, grated
1 3/4 oz (50 g) pancetta or salami, finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
1 teaspoon finely chopped sage

1 quart (1 liter) peanut or grape seed oil for frying (or another oil with a high smoke point)

To make the pastella: In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and cheese. Add the egg to the bowl and mix together thoroughly. In a separate bowl, dissolve the yeast into the water. Once the yeast is dissolved into the water, slowly add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Combine together with your hands until the mixture is the consistency of a thin pancake batter. (NOTE: If the batter is too thick, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water; if the batter is too thin, add a little more flour to thicken it.) There will be lumps in the batter, do not try to whisk them out; or you will overwork the dough and get tough fritters. Cover the bowl and set it aside in a warm, draft-free location for one hour.

After one hour, the batter will have risen. Add the vinegar and salt to the batter and stir. (The batter will deflate when stirred; this is normal.)

To make the Coccoli: In a bowl, mix togehter the cheese, onion, pancetta, and herbs. Add this mixture to the pastella batter and mix together just until the ingredients are combined. (Do not overwork the dough.)

Follow Mamma Agata’s frying instructions: In a frying pan, heat the oil to 375°F (190°C). Using a tablespoon, gather a tablespoon of batter and place it in the oil, letting the batter slide off of the spoon into the oil. Continue this process until you have around 10 coccoli in the pan (Do not overcrowd the pan or it will reduce the ideal temperature of the oil and the coccoli will absorb too much of the oil and be greasy.) Fry the coccoli on each side for 1-2 minutes, until both sides are golden brown. Remove them from the oil and place on paper towels. These are best served hot. Continue frying the remaining batter in batches in the same manner until you fried all the batter. These are best served hot. Buon appettito!

"I Segreti della Frittura" (Secrets of the Fry)

Mamma Agata's secrets and tips for making Coccoli and for frying:

For the pastella batter and coccoli:

The batter will be lumpy - Don't try to dissolve the lumps or you will overwork the dough and get tough fritters.

The water for the yeast must be lukewarm to the touch. If it's too cold or too hot, it will kill the yeast. The batter will not rise and you will not have pillow-like fritters.
Whenever you make batter or dough with yeast, you must add sugar to activate the yeast.
Mamma Agata uses type "00" flour for all of her recipes. She suggests substituting it with white pastry flour if you can't find "00" flour.
Adding vinegar to the batter helps to inhibit the oil from penetrating during the frying process and preventing the coccoli from being greasy.

Mamma Agata's frying tips:

The best frying pans are ugly! She uses a pan that's about 3 to 4 inches deep and 10 inches across. And, she uses this pan and only this pan for frying, letting it get seasoned with each fry, and also uglier with each fry. Her ugly pan lasts at least 3 to 4 years.

Mamma Agata is generous with the quantity of oil and recommends at least 1 liter or quart for her type of pan. She keeps a space of about 1 inch from the oil leve and the top of the pan and never overcrowds the pan when frying. This can cause the oil temperature to drop and the fritters to take too long to cook and to absorb too much oil.

The temperature of the oil is very important. It should be 375 F or 190 C.

Quality of the oil is also important. Seed oils are best for frying because they have a high smoke point and have a neutral flavor that will not change the flavor of what you are frying. Mamma Agata uses peanut oil. She never uses olive oil for frying.

She always uses "clean" oil and never reuses oil from a previous day's or meal's frying.

Related Posts You Might Also Like:

Cook with Me and Italian Mammas in Puglia in 2013

Torta Caprese - Flourless Chocolate Cake from Capri

Zeppole di San Giuseppe

Nutella Filled Venetian Frittelle

Pasta alla Genovese and Other Neapolitan Pasta Sauces at Citta del Gusto

Neapolitan-Style Mussels (Cozze alla Marinara)

A Drive Along the Amalfi Coast

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December 13, 2012

Cooking with Mamma Agata on the Amalfi Coast and a Cookbook Giveaway

The scent of garlic simmering in olive oil beckons you from the doorway of this hidden Amalfi treasure. The aroma, one Chiara calls the "Chanel of the kitchen" leads you directly to the source of one of the most fundamental fragrances in an Italian kitchen. Mamma Agata and Gennaro give a boisterous buon giorno from behind the stove, and Chiara gives you a hug with one arm and a turn with the other putting you face to face with a plate full of eggplant rolls and a glass of red wine.

Prompted to taste before I could even reply to my greeters, I savored one, or two, of Mamma Agata's involtini di melanzane. Fried and meaty melanzane rolled around provolone & arugula, and another, this time rolled around a soft creamy cheese and sun-dried tomotoes. An appropriate start to a most fabulous day cooking, eating, drinking and lapping up all the flavors that this sensory playground had to offer. I was on the Amalfi Coast and cooking with Mamma Agata at her cooking school in Ravello.

Our amazing view - looking down from the terrace

From the kitchen Chiara led me to the terrace, a lush garden and dining area where a long table dressed in white linen and Amalfi lemons led out to the garden. The garden is a thing of beauty in its own right, greenery & flowers crawl up trelisses that line one side and the other side has a mouth-dropping mezmerizing view of the blue Amalfi sea and its coastline. We spent the afternoon there dining on the terrace, perched high atop the hillside with the family's fruit & vegetable gardens and then the deep blue sea below us. And we ate, and ate, and ate, dish after dish of Mamma Agata's specialties.

The Amalfi Coastline ~ View from our terrace dining table

Chiara Lima, Mamma Agata's daughter, had invited me as their guest for a day at their cooking school. The cooking school is entirely a family affair. Chiara was our hostess/translator/storyteller. Mamma Agata and Chiara's husband Gennaro, also a sommelier, handled the cooking demonstration part of the class. Chiara translated and added many family stories, anecdotes and Mamma's secret tips for each dish. All the fruit and vegetables we used came from the family's garden located on the terraces right below the house. The fruit & vegetable garden is managed by Salvatore, Mamma Agata's husband and Chiara's father. Mamma Agata has been cooking for others since she was 8 years old! Many of her specialties are family recipes handed down to her from her mother and her aunts.

In the kitchen with Chiara and Gennaro

Class starts at 10:30am when guests are greeted with food, of course, upon arrival, a huge slice of Mamma Agata's treasured lemon cake. (I arrived a little later, thus the reason I had the just-made eggplant roll appetizers.) You cook, with Mamma Agata overseeing it all, and recreate a many-course meal of her famous dishes, some of them served and loved by the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Pierce Brosnan, just to name a few. Mamma Agata's knowledge and experience is evident in the way she knows exactly how to coax the most flavor from each ingredient. She has a secret for perfecting every one of her dishes, and throughout the course of the day, she shares each of them with you.

Our meal was one flavorful and perfectly cooked dish after another. Mamma Agata's cooking philosophy is based on simplicity, quality ingredients and love. Each dish used only a few quality ingredients - all the fruits and vegetables came from their garden.

Here's our meal, in photos:

***We also had one of the best eggplant parmigiano dishes I've ever eaten. I gobbled it up before remembering to take a photo.

Mamma Agata's Coccoli {Herb Fritters}

Spaghetti al Contadino {Farmer's Spaghetti} with tomatoes from their garden, olives, capers & arugula leaves

Pappardelle with bell peppers and sausage

The extra sausage & bell peppers served as a secondo

Mamma Agata's pollo al limone (chicken with lemon) - Lemon juice from the garden's lemons added just before serving

Mamma Agata's Lemon Cake adored by Humphrey Bogart

Mamma Agata's home-made limoncello ~ How any meal on the Amalfi Coast should end!

Chiara has created a cookbook of Mamma Agata's recipes - both a great gift for those who can't make it to the cooking class and a special souvenir for those who have enjoyed cooking with her. Each of the dishes we made and more are included in Mamma Agata's cookbook. Along with each recipe, there are step-by-step photo instructions and Mamma Agata's tips. For example, when making her pollo al limone, she advises that you add the lemon juice at the very end of cooking to get the best lemon flavor. Adding it at the beginning causes the lemon juice to have a bitter taste. The instructions and the tips are so clear it's extremely easy to create dishes as delicious as if Mamma Agata had made them for you.

Chiara showing us the well-illustrated instructions in the cookbook

The cookbook is in English and full of all the recipes above, yes even the limoncello! There are so many others; many of Mamma Agata's take on the traditional dishes of the Campania region and some of her own creation. All look delicious, but some of my favorites include: the risotto al limone, stuffed and fried zucchini flowers, gnocchi alla sorrentina, the veal roast, stuffed squid (totani imbottiti), fried pizza, and Mamma Agata's zeppole (doughnuts)! In addition to the easy-to-follow recipes, there are stories about each family member, family photos and stunning photos of their home, the hidden treasure, and the Amalfi Coast.

I definitely recommend both the class and the cookbook; both would make fabulous Christmas gifts for that food-loving Italophile in your life! The book is 29,50 euros plus shipping. You can order it directly from Mamma Agata online here: Mamma Agata Simple and Genuine Cookbook. You can also book a class directly on Mamma Agata's website.

Inside the cookbook - photo instructions for making Mamma's chicken cacciatore

The Cookbook Giveaway: For the holidays, Chiara and Mamma Agata have been so generous as to offer you an autographed copy of Mamma Agata's Simple and Genuine cookbook. All you need to do to win is leave a comment below telling us what your favorite Italian dish (or dessert) is. The contest will end at Midnight P.S.T. on Wednesday, December 19, 2012. I'll randomnly draw a name from the comments using www.random.org and will announce the winner on Thursday, December 20, 2012. Each person may enter the giveaway only once.

Good Luck and Happy Holidays!

The Amalfi Coastline

UPDATE on Dec 20, 2012: We have a winner and she is Janie (comment #29)!!! Congratulations Janie, an autographed Mamma Agata's Simple & Genuine cookbook is on its way to you!

Thank you all for your commments and letting me know what your favorite Italian dishes are. And yes, I understand how very difficult it was to choose. Every dish each of you chose, ranks among my tops. I was also so touched to see the comment from Lydia, one of our guests on the Food Lover's Tour in Puglia, and that now some of the Pugliese foods she had on the tour are her favorites!

Related Posts You Might Also Enjoy:

Cook with Me and Italian Mammas in Puglia in 2013

Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

A Drive along the Amalfi Coast (in photos)

Pasta alla Genovese and Other Classic Neapolitan Pasta Sauces at Citta del Gusto

Torta Caprese - Flourless Chocolate Cake from Capri

Pizza Lover's Odyssey in Naples

Neapolitan Style Mussels - Cozze alla Marinara

Journey Through the Pastries of Naples

Dining Around Naples with Napoli Unplugged

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December 04, 2012

Crostata Marmellata {Jam Crostata} from Mamma Giulia

Christmas holiday baking has begun! Maybe it's because I love to bake and some of my first baking memories are of making Christmas cookies with my mom that Christmas is my favorite of all holidays. Besides all the lights, glitter, and shopping (what girl doesn't love those things), it was always a time when dessert for breakfast was ok, even encouraged! My mom kept us from tearing up the house and terrorizing her over our Christmas vacation by having us "help" with cookie baking. She would start her mornings during the holidays with two biscotti, which she only made around Christmastime, and coffee. Because our kitchen was overflowing with cookies, she let us choose our favorite cookie or two to dip in milk for our breakfasts.

To kick off the season, I thought it best to share with you another sweet that had double duty as both dessert and breakfast for me, the crostata marmellata. This recipe comes from Mamma Giulia, one of our amazing "mamme in cucina" in Puglia. Mamma Giulia is like the energizer bunny in the kitchen; she keeps on going and going and going from sun up to far past sundown. Not all she churns out in the masseria's kitchen is sweet, but it's all delicious. This crostata was the first thing she offered me when I first met her. It was also part of our daily breakfast spread during our Food Lover's Tour in Puglia.

Mamma Giulia making the crostata dough

Jam crostata is to Italy as apple pie is to the U.S. It's definitely a home-cooking kind of dessert, and probably every Italian mamma has her own recipe, but you see crostate in various shapes and sizes throughout Italy's pastry shops and biscotterie. It even ended my amazing meal at the fine dining restaurant Cibreo in Florence. Even though you can find a crostate throughout Italy, they can vary in quality. A crunchy, crumbly, buttery crust is what makes this simple and unpretentious dessert so delicious.

A few notes & tips: The key to the crust is the butter, the flour and not too much kneading. As there are basically only two components to the dessert, the pasta frolla and the jam, you want to make sure you also have a good quality jam - one where the fruit (and not only its juices) are used in making it. Butter will give you the crunchy, crumbly and flavorful crust, but it's important to pay attention to its temperature. It should be cold and stay that way, so i'ts important to work quickly and to keep your hands from being in constant contact with the butter. Mamma Giulia uses the delicate double zero flour also used for pasta making. In the U.S. it's sometimes hard to find and can be expensive, so I tested the recipe using only all-purpose flour, only unbleached all-purpose flour and a mix of cake flour and unbleached all-purpose flour. The mix of cake flour and unbleached all-purpose flour came closest to Mamma Giulia's. If you can find it, I would suggest using 300 grams (2 1/2 cups) of double zero flour as it creates the most delicate and buttery crust.

Jam Crostate in pastry shops in Italy

Ingredients needed for pasta frolla: flour, sugar, salt, butter & egg yolks

Crostata Marmellata
(Makes One 9-inch crostata)

1 ½ cups (200 grams) cake flour**
1 cup (100 grams) all-purpose flour**
Zest of 1 lemon
175 grams butter, (ideal temperature is 65-70° F)
½ cup plus 4 tablespoons (125 grams) sugar, plus more for the top of the crostata
3 egg yolks, mixed so the yolks are broken

2 ½ cups fruit preserves or best-quality jam (The fruit should be used to make the jam, not just the fruit’s juice)

**If you have/can find Type “00” flour, use this instead.

To make the pasta frolla: Stir together the flour, salt and sugar and lemon zest and form the mixture into a well. With a pastry cutter cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is the consistency of peas. Make another well with this mixture and add the eggs yolks and knead the mixture only until it is combined into a homogenous dough. Divide the dough into two balls; with 2/3 of the dough for one ball and the remaining 1/3 for the other. Flatten each into a round disk, and cover each with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling out.

To assemble the crostata: Roll out the bigger disk of dough between two sheets of wax paper until it’s ¼-inch thick. Place into a 9-inch tart mold and refrigerate. Roll out the second disk of dough, also between two sheets of wax paper, until it is ¼-inch thick. Using a fluted pastry ring, cut the dough into strips that are ½-inch in thickness. Remove the pastry dough-filled tart mold from the refrigerator and spread the fruit preserves/jam out evenly on top of the pastry dough.

Starting in the center, place the longest fluted strip of dough on top of the jam, then another across it, forming an X with the two strips. Working out from this center, add two more strips on each side of one of the center strips, spacing the strips about 1 1/2 inches apart. Then add two more strips on each side of the other center strip, again spacing each strip about 1 1/2 inches apart. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Before placing the tart into the oven, sprinkle to top strips of dough with granulated sugar.

Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes, until the crust is a golden brown and the jam begins to bubble. Cool and serve. Buon Appetito!

Other Dessert Recipes You Might Like:

Snowball Cookies and Christmas Baking Memories

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Torta Settevelli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

Meyer Lemon Tart with Lightened Lemon Cream Topping

Cassata Siciliana

Torta Caprese - Flourless Chocolate Cake from Capri

Gianduja - Nutella Cheesecake

Pasticciotto from Lecce

"Magical" Chocolate Kahlua Budino

Cantucci - Italian Biscotti from Tuscany

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake

Flaky Apple Tart from Gascony {Croustade aux Pommes}

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October 25, 2012

Pizza Makers for a Night in Puglia

I know not all Italian food lovers are the same, but I'm pretty sure there is one thing all of us love: PIZZA. Whether you prefer the soft & chewy crust of a Neapolitan pizza, the thin crunchy crust of a Roman pizza or some of the other styles & forms of Italian pizza, one thing is certain: there's no better place to eat pizza than in Italy. A night at a pizzeria was certainly part of our Puglia culinary tour itinerary, but we had an even better experience than just eating pizza, we were pizzaioli for a night!

Yes, we donned our "Cook in Puglia" aprons and pizza maker's caps, got on the pizza maker's side of the floured work table, caressed dough into thin round disks, topped each pizza according to each person's taste, and ever-so-carefully slid pizza onto peel and into oven. We even got a lesson in working the pizza oven and rotating the pizza so it would cook quickly and evenly. It was definitely a bucket-list experience!

Del took on the pizzaiolo persona as soon as he put on his cap

The pizza-making part wasn't actually on our official itinerary. Oronzino, the pizzaiolo & owner of La Pagghiara in Lecce, suggested that it might be fun if each guest made his or her own pizza. A big, "SI!" came out of my mouth before he finished asking. This is just one example where one of our hosts in Puglia went above and beyond to make us feel so welcome and part of the community; it was one of the many memorable moments of the tour.

Pizza in Lecce is a thin and crunchy-crusted pizza, similar to that of Rome. Oronzino explained how he prepares the dough and then he took each guest on a private pizza-making lesson alongside him at his work bench. Each person worked with him as he guided him/her through the process of coaxing a thick round ball of dough into a flat circular disk. Each person made a pizza, worked the peel and the oven. As pizzas came out of the oven, we tasted the others' in what was to be a taste competition. I don't think we ever determined a winner, though, as we all got lost in enjoying the experience and eating.

As usual with meals on this tour, there wasn't only pizza. We started with yet another onslaught of assorted antipasti. The fried treats - pittule (fried dough), arancini, vegetables in pastella (fried vegetables in batter - think Italian tempura) - made by Oronzino's mamma were some of the best I've had in Salento, and Italy.

Our pizzaioli in action & pizza-making steps in photos:

Oronzino showing Gloria how to work the dough

Topping the pizza

With just one try, Lydia mastered sliding the pizza onto the peel

Working the pizza oven - placing the pizza inside, turning it & removing it when ready

Eva slicing up her double cheese pizza (note: Slicing pizzia is not usually done in Italy - each pizza is for one person - but because we were tasting one another's, we sliced ours up)

Helen's pizza gets a thumbs up from Oronzino

Gloria and Eva proudly displaying their finished pizzas

Looks like Oronzino has declared Helen the pizza-making champ!

Everyone had such a great time making pizza, that we've officially added it to the 2013 itinerary. Want to join us and be a pizzaiolo for a night? You can! There are four tour dates throughout 2013 from which you can choose: Food Lovers' Culinary Tour in Puglia 2013

La Pagghiara Trattoria Pizzeria
Via Taranto, 64
Lecce
Phone: +39 0832 240659

Food Lovers in Puglia - Day 1 & 2: Gelato, Feasts, Otranto, Olive Groves & More

An Aperitivo to Whet Your Appetite or Puglia

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September 17, 2012

Food Lovers in Puglia - Day 3: Lecce, Pastry Lessons and Cooking with Italian Mammas

Day three of the food lovers' tour began and ended with much swooning, and it wasn't only for the food but also for the many masters in the kitchen we met - pastry chefs, Italian mammas and chef/restauranteurs. Yes, this is a food & wine lovers' tour, but we also soaked up a little bit of culture during the day. We had a guided walk through the baroque historical center of Lecce and a carta pesta (paper-mache) demonstration.

Pastry Making with Chef Luca Capilungo ~

I think all the ladies, and maybe even Dell, were head-over-hells with our Leccese pastry lesson of pasticiotto and fruttone with the very handsome and charismatic chef Luca Capilungo. He took us into his pastry kitchen where we were again behind the scenes and making the typical pastry of Lecce, pasticciotto. Everyone made a batch, and whenever one of us needed a little help with technique, Luca was quick to take our hands and show us the proper way to work the dough or pipe the lemony pastry cream into the molds.

Chef Luca showing Gloria exactly how to pipe the pastry cream into the pasticciotto

Chef Luca demonstrating how to make fruttone

Luca also gave us a demonstration on making fruttone, another typical pastry of Puglia. It starts out with pasta frolla (short crust pastry) in a mold, just like the pasticcioto. Instead of pastry cream, the pastry is filled with pear marmalata and marzipan, baked and then topped with a chocolate icing. We sampled the finished fruttone and many other of his delicious cookies. He even brought out a sweet wine to dip our quaresimali ("Lenten" biscotti) into. As if the group didn't already adore chef Luca and his pastries, he made many of us happy by posing for a photo with each person in the group. We took the pasticiotti we made with us, and it was dessert after our evening meal.

Gloria and chef Luca

A Tour of Lecce and a Carta Pesta Lesson ~

The girls with our driver Antonio

The group in Piazza del Duomo with Fabiola

Taking a break in between pastries and lunch, we took a giro around Lecce in an antique car - 1935 to be exact. Afterwards we had a guided-walking tour of Lecce where we learned a little about the cities history and its baroque-style facades.

The tour ended with a carta pesta demonstration where the group learned all about how the paper-making technique arrived in Italy, how paper is made, and how the carta pesta figurines of Lecce are crafted. Some of the group also got to make a few sheets of paper themselves.

Nuncia demonstrating how they make carta pesta

Luigi showing the final touches made to the carta pesta before they are painted

Helen making paper

The finished carta pesta figurines

Lunch with Antonella at Locanda Rivoli ~

Lunch was in Lecce at the very delicious Locanda Rivoli where Antonella greeted all of us with a big smile and countless plates of antipasti. Although we were quite satisfied with the never-ending plates of antipasti, we couldn't leave without having a pasta course, or two. We delighted in the traditional dish of ceci & tria (chickpeas and pasta) with a twist. Antonella adds mussels to the dish. Our other pasta was sagne ncannulate (the pasta that I made with Nonna Vata) in a sauce of fresh tomatoes & ricotta forte. The ricotta forte added a nice tang to the sweet tomato sauce. The meal ended with little cookies shaped in the form of wrapped candies and filled with marmalata. And if we weren't already in love with Antonella and her food, she also gave each of us a gift of olive oil and autographed her recipe that we found in the Puglia recipe book each of us had purchased.

Some of the too-many-to-count plates of antipasti included: tiella, friselle, peperonata, ricotta mouse, spinach & ricotta focaccia, focaccia di patate, grilled eggplant, fagioli in tomato sauce, carpaccio of zucchini

Antonella autographing her recipe for sagne ncannulate schiattariciati

Cooking with Mamma Giulia ~

In the kitchen with Mamma Giulia (photo courtesy of Ylenia)

Del and Gloria frying up the eggplant for our involtini

After only a few days, everyone realized that food never really stops coming on this tour. We had a short break to rest or sit poolside at the masseria, and then we were back in the kitchen for our first hands-on cooking lesson with mamma Giulia who is a quite a wizard in the kitchen. Now, the menu was supposed to be three plates: Pomordori Schiattariciati for the antipasto, penne with a cream of bell pepper sauce for the primo, and involtini (rolls) of eggplant for the secondo. Instead we learned a favorite phrase of mamma Giulia's, "Non buttiamo niente." (We don't throw anything away.) With leftover ingredients and those that others might think of as scraps, she made three other dishes. Take a look at our meal:

Pomodori Schiattariciati (tomatoes bursted in olive oil) and fried green bell peppers

With the left over tomatoes and bell peppers, Mamma Giulia added olives, olive oil & a little vinegar for another antipasto

With the eggplant skins (what most people would throw out), she fried them and added olive oil & vinegar for yet another antipasti

Cream of bell pepper sauce with penne pasta was a favorite of all

Involtini di Melanzane - eggplant rolls filled with tuna and capers

Our dessert was the pasticciotti from our lesson with Luca

If you'd like to see more photos from this tour, you can view them on the Food Lover's Odyssey Facebook page.

Join us in Puglia in 2013! We'll be cooking with our beautiful Italian mamme and professional chefs, and we'll also be eating and exploring our way through the region. There are four tour dates available from which to choose! For more information check out this page: Culinary Tours in Puglia 2013!

***Early booking discount: Book and pay by check by January 31, 2013 and receive a $200 discount off the tour price.****

An Aperitivo to Whet Your Appetite for Puglia

Making Pasticiotto in Puglia

Orecchiette and Salentine Breads - Cooking with Mamma Giulia in Salento

Tradtional Salentine Dishes at Locanda Rivoli in Lecce

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

The Pastries of Lecce with Pastry Chef Luca Capilungo

Cheese in Puglia - Making and Eating Fresh Cheese in Salento