Italian cooking

MypinchofItaly said:
mmmm, Peposo dell’Impruneta, splendid dish and yes I’m familiar with it as I have a thing with Tuscany.
And it’s another dish on my “to do and post recipe” list
Have you ever ate Peposo?
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No. I just think it looks awesome -- like something I really want to eat. It is on my to do list to cook, as well.

CD
 
Recipe - Apulian Wheat Berries with Pomegranate and Mulled Wine

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This recipe comes from the Apulian tradition and is usually prepared on November 2nd to celebrate All Souls’ Day.

In the past only walnuts and pomegranate grains were added to boiled soft wheat seasoned with mulled wine, ‘Vin Cotto‘ in Italian, or cooked grape must. Then, over time, pieces of dark chocolate and cedar/mixed candied fruit and cinnamon sometimes were also added.
If you can’t find Mulled Wine you can replace it with some acacia or millefiori honey, it won’t be stick to Apulian tradition, but it will be very good as well. Although soaking and cooking the wheat berries takes quite a while, it can be done in advance – and it will then take you only 5 minutes to put together this delicious traditional dish.

A brief curiosity about Vincotto:
The ageing processes of the grapes have been known since ancient times, in fact the vincotto or cooked must was produced since the times of the ancient Romans. The cooked grape must took two specific names, Sapa when it was reduced by half during the process (a term still in use today in the regions of Central Italy and especially in Sardinia) or Defrutto when it was reduced by a 1/3.
However, the Apulian peasants realised that cooking the grape must for several hours over the fire produced a hot drink with a strong and sweet taste that helped to invigorate the body during work in the fields.
 
Recipe - Barolo Wine Beef Stew

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Barolo wine beef stew, ‘Spezzatino di manzo al Barolo’ in Italian, is a traditional second course from Piedmont region, it has an intense, very tasty taste because of the wine in which the beef is first left to marinade for 4 hours and then cooked with one of our best Italian wines, Barolo, a full-bodied wine produced in Piedmont in the village of Barolo, Langhe area. This wine requires ageing for at least 38 months, it is a robust wine with an intense and persistent bouquet. Usually the Barolo stew is served with polenta or even with mashed potatoes.

If the preparation of this dish is rather simple and fast, its cooking instead must be rather slow and prolonged to favour the absorption of the wine by the meat in order to make it soft and tender as this stew is, thus take your time and make yourself comfortable.
 
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MypinchofItaly said:
Recipe - Barolo Wine Beef Stew

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Barolo wine beef stew, ‘Spezzatino di manzo al Barolo’ in Italian, is a traditional second course from Piedmont region, it has an intense, very tasty taste because of the wine in which the beef is first left to marinade for 4 hours and then cooked with one of our best Italian wines, Barolo, a full-bodied wine produced in Piedmont in the village of Barolo, Langhe area. This wine requires ageing for at least 38 months, it is a robust wine with an intense and persistent bouquet. Usually the Barolo stew is served with polenta or even with mashed potatoes.

If the preparation of this dish is rather simple and fast, its cooking instead must be rather slow and prolonged to favour the absorption of the wine by the meat in order to make it soft and tender as this stew is, thus take your time and make yourself comfortable.
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It is unusual to see such a good wine used for cooking, but I understand this is a signature dish. I would struggle not to replace the Barolo with a lowly Cabernet Sauvignon, and celebrate by drinking the Barolo!
 
epicuric said:
It is unusual to see such a good wine used for cooking, but I understand this is a signature dish. I would struggle not to replace the Barolo with a lowly Cabernet Sauvignon, and celebrate by drinking the Barolo!
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Yeah I know, using a whole bottle of Barolo sounds such a shame, but as you said, it’s a signature dish... I have the solution though: buy two Barolo bottles! 😂
 
Recipe - Neapolitan Ragout

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Unlike the Bolognese one, in the Neapolitan Ragout or Ragù, the meat is cut and cooked in pieces and not minced: this is due to the fact that preparing the ragout long time ago was a way to use difficult cuts that needed to be cooked for a long period of time before becoming tender enough to be eaten. In the Neapolitan Ragù there is no soffritto (diced carrot, celery and onion) but only onion; there is no tomato paste, only tomato sauce and no broth. It is a meat sauce that once you put it on the fire you almost forget it, even if better to keep an eye on it.
Traditionally it cooks for a minimum of 5 hours, but it can touches the 6 hours of cooking and sometimes even 8 hours. At the end of cooking this Neapolitan meat sauce becomes dark and thick. Preparing this ragout meant and still means nowadays, sorting out the meal with one recipe: the ragoutis used to dress the pasta, whilst the meat cooked in is eaten as a second course.

You can vary the cuts of meat depending on what you prefer and what you have at hand. According to the Neapolitan tradition, almost anything is fair in ragout: beef, chicken, turkey, pork sausage, game, beef ribs, small meatballs, veal and beef rolls.
 
Recipe - Salt-Free Tuscan Bread


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The main characteristic of Tuscan bread is being completely salt-free. Basically is a simple bread made with soft wheat flour, water and brewer’s yeast.

It has a crunchy crust that can be recognized by its hazelnut color. The taste is precisely without salt but with a slightly acidulous note.

Biga is a pre-mix left to ferment for several hours (from 12 to 48) and is used in bread making. The use of Biga allows to obtain a product with great digestibility, longer storage times, more fragrant and a more compact crumb.

Why Tuscan Bread is salt-free?

It’s not the error of a distracted Tuscan baker, the reasons are lost in time, even Dante Alighieri mentions it in the Divine Comedy in the Canto del Paradiso.

A first hypothesis could date back to the rivalry between Florence and Pisa in the Middle Ages, when the Pisans had control of access to the sea and blocked the import of salt into Firenze, thus the Florentines, in order not to surrender, decided to make bread without salt.

A second hypothesis could be in refusing to pay taxes in Florence.
In the Middle Ages taxes on salt were very high, so to save money the Florentines decided not to put salt in bread anymore.

Or because in Tuscany cold cured meats such as prosciutto crudo or finocchiona are definitely salty, the absence of salt in the bread allows a perfect match.

In Tuscany they call it ‘Pane Sciocco’ – Silly Bread. This is because it takes its reference from the Italian saying ‘not having salt on your head’ that refers to a person who is not very smart and therefore silly, which is why bread without salt in Tuscany is called like this.
 
Recipe - Savoy Cabbage Rolls Stuffed with Mortadella and Minced Pork

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Savoy Cabbage, Verza or Cavolo Verza in Italian, also known in Italy as Cavolo di Milano or Cavolo di Savoia, is a variety of cabbage, but unlike this one it has wrinkled leaves with prominent veins.

Savoy cabbage is great for making rolls to be stuffed with minced Mortadella and you’ll have a hearty nutritious meal served.

Savoy cabbage is a very low-calorie and a very satiating vegetable, can also be eaten raw as long as it is cut very thin, then mixed with other salads with the difference that its flavour is a bit strong.

It is cultivated mainly in the central-northern regions of Italy, particularly widespread is the production in the Canavese area in Piedmont, which has a traditional Savoy cabbage festival that takes place in November.

Its use in cooking is widespread in a large part of Europe and also in many North-Central Italian regions, particularly in Lombardy and Piedmont, since savoy cabbage loves the cold climate that is certainly not lacking in these regions. Savoy cabbage is excellent for the preparation of primi piatti such as soups and also combined with pasta, especially in Valtellina – in the mountainous area of Lombardy – it is used for the preparation of Pizzoccheri, a type of pasta made with buckwheat flour similar to tagliatelle. In secondi piatti it is often combined with pork and minced meat.
 
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We live next door to Italy by road and sea. Before Covid we would visit friends in the North we made doing business there. w In general we both prefer the cuisine, politics and the temperament of the people of the northern regions. The late great Antonio Carluccio is from Piemonte. He left Italy because of a family tragedy and developed a very successful culinary career in the UK. Gennaro Contaldo is from the south and also was very successful in the UK . Like their food they are as different as chalk and cheese. This was a wonderful series called Two Greedy Italians.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj3bHGYV8O8&ab_channel=FlamingHedgehog
 
MypinchofItaly said:
They both came from Costiera Amalfitana (South of Italy - Campania) actually. Carluccio only worked for a bit in Turin, then left for London
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However, his spent most of his life in Italy growing up in the North. When he moved north with his family ( he was about seven months old, when the family moved to Castelnuovo Belbo, a small village in Piedmont) , he started following his father into the woods due to picking mushrooms. He was only seven when he first went to collect mushrooms and fungi with his father. This was the love at first sight and he never stopped since then. Carluccio moved to Vienna at age 21 to study languages. He lived in Germany from 1962 to 1975, working as a wine merchant in Hamburg. He came to the United Kingdom in 1975 to work as a wine merchant, importing Italian wines. He first met Gennaro when he employed him as his assistant for 15 years at Neal Street Restaurant London.
 
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Burt Blank said:
However, his spent most of his life in Italy growing up in the North. When he moved north with his family ( he was about seven months old, when the family moved to Castelnuovo Belbo, a small village in Piedmont) , he started following his father into the woods due to picking mushrooms. He was only seven when he first went to collect mushrooms and fungi with his father. This was the love at first sight and he never stopped since then.
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Eh, e quindi?
 
Burt Blank said:
However, his spent most of his life in Italy growing up in the North. When he moved north with his family ( he was about seven months old, when the family moved to Castelnuovo Belbo, a small village in Piedmont) , he started following his father into the woods due to picking mushrooms. He was only seven when he first went to collect mushrooms and fungi with his father. This was the love at first sight and he never stopped since then.
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What is the point Mr.?
 
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