May 18, 2012 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

Fresh pecorino cheese & new fava beans are heralds of Spring

In Italy, many things are done in old-fashioned ways – growing vegetables, caring for animals, cooking traditional dishes – that inevitably tie the people to the seasons. Spring is a time of renewal and many spring dishes reflect the season. Egg-rich dishes and desserts are a result of an abundance of eggs the chickens lay as the days get warmer and longer. Lamb shows up on menus more often, often with fried spring artichokes. In Tuscany, one of my favorite spring pairings is fresh pecorino, or sheep’s milk cheese, and fresh fava beans – cacio e bacelli in Tuscan dialect – that is the perfect example of how the simplicity of a seasonal dish belies the complexity of nature.

Most of us are far removed from the farm and little nuances of life tied to the land frequently escape and astound us when we learn of them. In the second year I lived in Italy, it came as a revelation to me that in order for a sheep, or any animal, to give milk, it has to have a baby every year. Tuscany is a big producer of pecorino, or sheep’s milk cheese, and I learned the facts of natural cheese making when my favorite farmer, Fabrizio, closed his dairy in the late autumn. He explained to me, as if I was a small child, that in late summer a ram is put in with the sheep to impregnate them; once the ram’s job is done, he’s put back out to pasture until the next year. (When a Tuscan is up to his ears in work he’ll say “I’m busier than a billy goat in September!”) The pregnant sheep are then slowly weaned off of milking, ending altogether in late October or early November, and the dairy is closed for the winter.

In the late winter, the sheep give birth to little white lambs and it’s another harbinger of spring when you see them frolicking in the fields. As you can’t keep every lamb born, many of them are butchered, and the mammas go to milking again.

In a natural setting, where the farmer allows his animals to live as nature intended, fresh cheese – aged less than 30 days – is available only so long as fresh milk can be obtained. The industrial food complex has developed to give us fresh cheese all year round, the natural process is controlled with hormones and a sheep never even sees a billy goat.

When they begin milking the sheep in the spring, the first cheeses made are fresh pecorino – soft, buttery yellow and aged less than a month. Its arrival is welcome after a long winter of eating only aged cheeses. It coincides with the season of new fava beans. Sold still in their furry pods, they were planted in the fall and have ripened with the spring warmth. Cacio e bacelli, the classic pairing that is a perfect example of Tuscans honoring the seasonings.

At the Italian Table we’ve been thrilled to get our hands on both imported fresh pecorino and cases of fresh fava beans and have been making little baked custards with the cheese and serving them with blanched fava beans and fresh thyme from our herb garden!

May 5, 2012 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

Loris and his Poggio al Bosco (place in the woods)

I was up in northern Chianti Classico region, closer to Florence than I usually go, and being hungry I stopped for lunch at a little osteria on the side of the road. The food was delicious and the quarto of red wine was exceptional, so I asked who made it and where I could get some more. The waiter directed me to a small azienda up the road, Poggio al Bosco, and said, “Ask for Loris.”

As if he would be hard to find! Loris is everywhere and his personality is bigger than he is. Loris is the most ebullient man I’ve ever met and makes one of the most delicious wines I’ve ever drunk. I spent a lovely afternoon tasting the vast array of wines he makes, looking at his Vin Santo barrels, meeting his mother and wife and in general being welcomed and made to feel like I can’t wait to get back there!

There is an old recipe for Chianti Classico, laid down by the Baron Ricasoli himself at Castello Brolio back in the mid 1850’s. Mostly sangiovese, the red grape of Tuscany, the recipe called for a small percentage of white Trebbiano grape as well. That recipe was revamped a long time ago and now Chianti Classico is made with all red grape, some indigenous and some French. I was astounded to learn that Loris and a small number of producers still make their Chianti Classico with Baron Ricasoli’s original recipe! Actually, he makes several Chianti Classico’s, all with the Baron’s recipe but some aged more than others, so obviously I had to try them all. Research, my friends. Come on over and do some for yourself! When you’re south of Florence around Tavarnelle or Barbarino, give Loris a call, you won’t regret it!

Poggio al Bosco

via Chiostrini 5

50028 Tavarnelle Val di Pesa (FI)

http://www.poggioalbosco.it/index.php/en/

April 28, 2012 by Gina Stipo Leave a Comment

How to fry a slipper.

In a previous post, I talked about how much Italians love frying and how averse to this cooking technique Americans seem to be. (Click here to see that post) The reasons for this reluctance are many and completely understandable: the smell of cooked oil that lingers in the house; the fear of getting burned by hot oil, a real and present danger; the fear of not getting it right and producing an inedible mess, wasting time and money.

Growing up I knew very little about how to fry and shared many of those fears. In my family, we never made fried food at home, we went out to get our fix. I have fond memories of Howard Johnson’s fried fish special on Friday nights.

When I moved to Tuscany, I was in awe of how simple they made it look. Working with Loredana, my Tuscan mentor, I stood at the stove and watched her turn out platter after platter of perfectly fried, golden brown nuggets of rabbit or cardoons or eggplant. I wanted to be able to master frying without fear, to have complete confidence in turning out evenly cooked and beautifully golden crunchy goodness. In the end it was just a matter of practice.

The process is simple. You need a skillet or saute pan with oil, kept hot over a moderately high fire. Pat the meat or vegetables with paper toweling before dipping in the batter. Don’t crowd the pan. After a few batches the oil may cool down; let it heat back up to temperature before continuing with another batch. Use tongs to turn each piece as it browns and when the pieces are evenly browned, lift each piece with tongs and let the oil drip back into the pan. Stand each piece up on paper towels to drain.

Each season brings something new to fry, so start here, keep practicing and Buon Appetito!

Pastella per Friggere (batter for frying)

1 cup flour

1 cup white wine (or beer for fish)

½ teas sea salt

peanut oil

This is enough to fry 20 zucchini blossoms or a pound of mushrooms. Make as much as you need.

Put the flour and salt in a bowl, whisk together and begin adding the wine in a slow steady stream while whisking constantly, until you have incorporated all the flour and the mixture is smooth with the consistency of thin pancake batter.

Put 1½-2” peanut oil in a deep skillet and heat until drops of batter bubble immediately and turn brown quickly. Dip each piece of food into the batter and add to the oil until the pan is full but not crowded; turning each piece when it’s golden brown. Drain each piece on paper before serving.