Marco's Mother's Pastiera

I first encountered Pastiera, the traditional Napoletano Easter dolci, when we were doing an "Italian theme" Easter dinner back in 1990.  My friend John was delegated to make it using a recipe from the New York Times Sunday Magazine. Back in those days many of the ingredients were hard to find and the "wheat berries" had to be bought in a health food store and the lengthy process of cooking them followed. John wasn't too confident that this such a great idea for a desert and made an angel food cake as well. As I recall the "pastiera" was considered to be a bit on the exotic side.

 

I wasn't to encounter it again until I moved here four years ago and then only really became familiar with it after meeting my friend Marco, the Napoletano.  Two Easters back he talked about it - and how he had learned how to make it from his mother, whose pastiera was the best in Napoli.  Last year he snuck a piece from the family table and brought it back to Roma for me to try.  This year he shared the recipe with me and I'm attempting to make it myself.

As with most family recipes it is big on description and cautions but a bit short on details.  Measurements are by the eye, to taste and experience.  I've had to send him several e-mails asking for clarification about instructions such as "whip the egg whites, then incorporate them into the mixture" - good but whip them until what consistency?  Now Marco would have seen his mother do it, who had probably watched her mother do it - so the eye - and finger - had learned when the time was right.  My own thoughts were until they "form soft peaks" - turns out I was right.

Marco's Mother's Pastiera (sort of)

Half kilo of good quality cow's milk fresh ricotta
Half kilo of sugar (fine but not icing sugar)
1 small jar of pre-cooked grano* or about 300 gr
1/2 litre of milk
Candied fruit (little but some is required)
6 eggs
5 Vanilla packets
4 bottles Fiori d'arancio (Orange blossom essence)
Cinnamon
A portion of short pastry (say that you will need a pound)

*Grano is whole grain that has been soaked in repeated changes of water - sometimes for as long as seven days, though 3 days is more the norm - then cooked.  It can be bought precooked in jars and cans in supermarkets here and Italian food stores in other countries.

Making pastiera is a two day job and once baked it should ideally sit - though I've been cautioned never in the refrigerator - for a day or two to let the flavours blend.  So it is traditional to start it on Holy Thursday, complete it on Good Friday and service it on Easter Sunday.

So this morning - Holy Thursday - I started the easiest part of the cooking.

In a large bowl mix together the ricotta and the sugar.  When it has become creamy cover and let rest in the refrigerator for a day.

Boil the grano in the milk for about 20 minutes.  During the cooking add 1 tablespoon of lard, a packet of vanilla and a bottle of orange blossom essence. Allow to cool and then cover and store in the refrigerator for a day.

So far so good though I had worried about the consistency of the grano but Marco assured me that it would all balance out and not to worry.   I'll be making the shortbread pastry tonight - using lard not butter - though according to Marco in a pinch even frozen pastry will do!  I'm not sure but I think that may be his own addition as a bachelor cook.  As I say the recipe is passed down and its not unknown for people to make small changes for taste, availability and convenience.

So tomorrow - Good Friday - and Part 2 of making Marco's Mother's Pastiera.

21 aprile - Giovedi Santo

Lunedi Lunacy

I thought I'd look at food a bit more in depth this week so to start things off here's how to make "Macho" salad.

Jörgen (Torkel Petersson) will be our Monday morning guest chef. He's the star of the Swedish film Farsan and he's become convinced that his wife thinks he isn't manly enough. So he "embarks on a quest to become more assertive and studly in order to save his marriage."



06 settembre - San Zaccaria (profeta)

A Weekend in the Country

"A Little Night Music" has always been one of my favorite Sondheim musicals - and no not just because of Send in the Clowns (though Glynis Johns and Len Cariou singing it can still reduce me to tears - sadly that video is no longer available on YouTube) but more for the sort of writing heard in numbers like "A Weekend in the Country."


And tomorrow we're going on our own Weekend in the Country and Laurent will get a much-needed break from the glory that is Roma. After work today our friend Linda came and picked up Reese, who will be spending his own weekend in the country at her place. Of course that meant I spent this morning in the kitchen cooking up his food - ground beef, carrots, broccoli, zucchini, green beans and rice, that dog is eating better than some people I know!

Tomorrow morning we set out - our trusty TomTom set for Rieti, about 80 kilometers north-east of here. We're meeting up with a small group of people - Susan from Italytur, two other Canadians and a trio from Naples at the Fiano Romano roundabout and heading for:

• A stroll through an olive orchard with spectacular views of the Appines and an olive tasting
• a visit to an 11th century Monastery including a look at the Illuminated Manuscripts in their Scriptorium
• Lunch at the Monastery
• A visit to an olive mill that still grinds and presses for oil using the old methods
• Then off to Susan's B and B for a cooking class with chef Maurizio concluding with dinner combining some local wines with the fruits (and meat and vegetables) of our labour

That's Saturday then on Sunday:

• Breakfast at the B and B
• A visit to a chestnut grove and processing facility - its chestnut season here and marroni canditi are in all the pastry and sweet shops
• A visit to a castle that has been in one family since it was built in the 10th century
• Lunch at a local wine shop with tastings
• A look-in at Reiti itself - once a major stop on the great Via Salaria

At that point we'll head over to Linda's place about 40 kms away in Capena for dinner with her and Nazareno and pick up Reese. The pace promises to be country-speed and fortunately, not as tenison fraught or hectic as the one Sondheim's characters are about to endure.

They (who the hell are "they" anyway) are calling for 20% chance of showers tomorrow in the Reiti region. Auld Hat, Lorraine, Cowbell and the rest of you Fire Dancers please start your engines and dance those clouds away.

16 novembre - Santa Marguerita di Scozia

Nonno Willym's Minnestrone

There's been a decided chill in the air over the past few days and in a concrete apartment with marble floors it is more noticeable. So what better way to ward off an Autumn chill than a hot bowl of Minestrone liberally sprinkled with grated provolone, a loaf of crusty bread, a plate of spicy olives and a nice robust Chianti. And maybe some spiced cold meats as an antipasti to get the appetite in shape. Follow that up with some of those late season pears and a chocolate biscotti and Saturday night should be just fine.

What we have here are the fixin's for tonight's dinner: a Neapolitan Minestrone. There are as many types of Minestrone as there are regions in Italy and as may variations on those types as there are Nonne (Grandmas) in the regions. Guess this is going to be Nonno Willym's version.

The recipe I'm using is from that classic of Italian Cooking Il cucchiaio d'argento (The Silver Spoon). Thankfully this 1200 page bible of Italian cooking has been translated into English and published by Phaidon in 2005 (back then the price in Euros was exactly the same as the price in USD - oh how times have changed.) Originally published in Italy in 1950 Cucchiaio was an attempt to preserve old recipes which were fast disappearing from household kitchens. Now in its 8th edition, some of the recipes have been updated to cater to current tastes but many of the old recipes remain - I know I'm just going to run out and get the ingredients for Brain Sauce*. The book is still a traditional wedding gift for an Italian bride (I know, I know but in many ways they're still in a time warp here, hell women didn't have the right to vote in Italy back in 1950.)

I've tried a few of the recipes and like most Italian recipes they are simple and quick but depend on the ingredients being fresh, preferably local and tasting the way they should.

*Brain Sauce
1 bay leaf
1 small lamb's brain, membranes and blood vessels removed (I should hope so) and soaked in water for 1 hour
2 eggs, hard-boiled
olive oil, for drizzling
1 baby onion, chopped
1 fresh parsley spring, chopped
1 tablespoon of capers, drained and rinsed
juice of 1 lemon, strained
salt

Fill a large saucepan two-thirds full with water, add the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Drain the brain, add to the saucepan and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain the brain, place in a bowl and crush carefully with a wooden spoon. Shell and halve the eggs and scoop the yolks into the bowl. Stir the mixture, drizzling in the olive oil to obtain a pouring consistency. Stir in the onion and capers and season with lemon juice and salt to taste.

Service with boiled meats.

Unfortuantely I don't like boiled meat.

20 ottobre - Santa Irena

General Who? No, General Tzo!

Anyone who has spent anytime there can tell you that you won’t find Chop Suey or Chow Mein on a menu in China. Nowhere in any of the many ethnic cuisines will you find either of these purportedly Chinese dishes. Apparently it was the Chinese cooks on the U.S. transcontinental railways who dreamt them up using some basic Chinese cooking techniques – stir frying - with what they had at hand. Surprisingly Canadian-Chinese chow mein differs from the American-Chinese variety and in Canada we have three different styles depending on where you are in the country. Who would have thought?

Now according to an article in this weekend’s New York Times magazine General Tzo Chicken is also a culinary myth. What we in North America consider the ultimate in Hunan cookery doesn’t fit into that Province’s traditional palate of flavor combinations. They have thoughtfully included a recipe for a version that has the hot-sour mixture that is more truly Hunanese. I may try it for a dinner next week. I’ll let you know how it turned out.