Italy From The Inside

Archive for the ‘food’ Category

A few days ago, I attended a Christmas potluck with some Italian friends and since I was in charge of bringing un dolce (Italian term to define a dessert) I decided to make the pandoro farcito con crema al mascarpone (pandoro cake with mascarpone cream). This is a very simple and yet delicious dessert that has become a classic in Italy during the Christmas holidays. If you decide to make it, this is what you need:

- 1 pandoro (I got mine at Marshall’s in Bellevue, WA, but you can find it also either at Ross Dress for Less, World Market or any Italian specialty food store)
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp mascarpone cream
- powdered sugar
- Gianduiotti chocolate (optional)

First beat the egg yolks with the sugar, then add the mascarpone cheese until you get a smooth cream. Set aside.

Cut the pandoro in 5 layers.

Spred the crema al mascarpone on each layer (the more liquid the better, it will make the cake softer).

Place each layer back, without matching the edges, in order to create a Christmas tree like shape.

I used Gianduiotti chocolate to decorate the cake, but you can use any other decoration, sometimes we even use small candles.

Finally, sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar and decorate the top with your favorite object (I “borrowed” baby Jesus from my kids’ Fisher-Price nativity).

Enjoy it, Buon Natale!

There’s one thing Italians associate with Christmas every year and that’s the lavender box of the pandoro Bauli. The Bauli brand has been around since 1937, when Ruggero Bauli opened his workshop in Verona (AKA Romeo and Juliet’s town) where in 1950 he started producing pandoro, the traditional Veronese Christmas cake. However, besides producing very good Christmas cakes and sweets, the Bauli company has been producing also memorable commercials for its products, you know, in the Coca-Cola style, with songs that you still remember and sing after many years.

This commercial was running in the 80′s (when I was attending middle school and eating sweets with no guilt, just to give you an idea…).

Most recently, Bauli launched a new commercial which features, in my opinion, one of the best Italian Christmas songs  titled “A Natale puoi” (literally translated as “At Christmas time you can…”).

Oh, by the way, if you want to sing it AND taste the pandoro at the same time, just remember that you can find it on Amazon! Is there anything Amazon doesn’t sell?

Merry Christmas everyone!

Ok, ok, I admit it, the only participant to the contest was actually me, but since this was a big personal challenge, I really felt like a winner when my Nutella tart turned out to be not only delicious (it didn’t survive 12 hours, including night time since I baked it after dinner…) but also, and especially, perfectly baked (a.k.a. not burnt).

As you may probably already know, Nutella cannot withstand high temperatures, as opposed to jam, but before explaining you the trick, here’s the ingredients I used to make it:

• 300gr flour
• 100gr butter
• 100 gr sugar
• 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Vanilla flavor

How to make it
Throw everything into the Kitchen Aid and forget about it until the dough has formed. Cut off 1/3 of the dough and set is aside. Spread the rest into a baking pan, possibly non-stick.

Bake at 350F until almost done. In the meantime, cut many stripes with the dough that you put aside. Quite easy so far, right?

Ok, here’s coming the tricky part:

• Spread the Nutella over the warm tart. Easy.
• Create a web on top of it with the dough stripes. Easy.
• Lower the oven rack to the lowest level. Easy.
• Switch the setting to low broil. Easy as well.
• Put the tart back in to the oven and “stay alert”. Hard, maledettamente hard, and here’s why….

The first time, that “stay alert” statement translated into: “Oh well, it took 20 minutes to bake the base, the top will be at least 10″. Result: badly burnt.

The second time, that “stay alert” translated into: “I have only a few minutes to check my email, let’s go, quickly”. Result: quite burnt.

The third time that “stay alert” translated into: “Questa volta non mi freghi“, meaning “This time you are not going to trick me”, and I stayed by the oven, opening it every 30 seconds (fortunately you can do this when you bake a tart since it is not going to collapse). And… I did it! I won the contest!

Now look at the photo and tell me if I didn’t deserve the first prize…

Francesca
(Author of the eBook Italy From The Inside)

December is a magical time in Italy, the Christmas spirit is everywhere and people are immersed in a world of colorful lights and jolly sounds.

Every 6th of December, Trieste celebrates San Nicolo’ (Saint Nicholas, who had a reputation for secret gift-giving) with a popular fair, which becomes the city’s main attraction for several days and attracts vendors from all over Italy.

The fair takes place in the famous Viale XX Settembre, a long pedestrian avenue with many shops, gelaterie and cinemas that has been one of the main social points since forever.

The fair is the delight of the adults who can buy food specialties (like succulent olives from Sicily, torrone candy or goat cheese from Tuscany) and unusual gadgets to give as a present for Christmas, and the joy of the kids who can get candy and toys.

It is almost impossible not to meet an old friend or schoolmate while walking by the booths, and this makes the whole experience even “merrier”.

I recently went to a Pizzeria with some friends and finally, after years, I was able to enjoy one of my favorite desserts: the profiteroles.
Profiteroles are small round puffs either filled with pastry cream or whipped cream, and covered with a chocolate sauce. Whipped cream is also used to add sweetness, decoration and calories…
Don’t forget to order some next time you go to an Italian Pizzeria!

P.S. In our eBook we devote an entire chapter to the Italian cuisine. Get the insider scoop!

What is like doing grocery shopping in Italy? How do you call the various food items in Italian? My daughter Silvia Tosolini, 9 invites you to a tour of an Italian supermercato.
Let her know what you think by leaving a comment on YouTube or writing her a note to [email protected].

- Can’t see the video? Watch it from YouTube
- iPod version (MP4 – 20Mb)
- More Italian videos by Silvia

One of the pleasures of visiting Italy is to be delighted by its food and…flowers. This time I was lucky enough to find the fiori di zucca at the grocery store, so I bought them with the intent to make one of the easiest and yet most delicious recipes of the Italian cuisine.

Ingredients:
-about 15 zucchine blossoms (note: the correct word is zucchine not zucchini!)
-4 tbsp flour
-About 1/2 cup water or milk
-1 egg (optional)
-frying oil
-salt

Remove the pistils and gently wash the flowers inside and outside. Pat them dry. Prepare the batter by mixing the water (or milk), the flour, a little salt and the egg, if you decide to include it in your recipe. Make sure the batter is smooth and creamy. Dip the fiori di zucca into the batter and then fry them in very hot oil. Drain them on absorbent paper and lightly salt them. Serve them hot.

If you want to combine some language and cooking practice, we recommend Francesca Valerio’s blog on Italian recipes.
Buon Appetito!

Like every Italian, I love pasta.
Every time I go back to my home town, I make a point to visit a large grocery store to enjoy the unmatched variety of food on display. In this video I capture the experience of walking down the pasta aisle.

- Can’t see the video? Watch it from YouTube
- iPod version (MP4 – 6.7Mb)

Among my favorite treats I get all the times when I visit Italy are the cream filled croissant (brioche alla crema) and the hot chocolate (cioccolata calda). Every coffee shop (bar) will sell fresh croissants as they are part of the traditional Italian breakfast cappuccino e brioche.

American hot chocolate is usually prepared by mixing hot water with cocoa powder. If you order one in Italy, you’ll find that the barista will mix the cocoa powder with real milk and stir and foam it for 15-20 seconds until a thick consistency has been achieved.

I often found that hot chocolates that could hold my spoon standing still were the most delicious ones.

Enjoy this video about traditional food flavors of Trentino region. I previously covered this area in a podcast with the Trentino Tourism Office, which kindly granted me permission to post this video and a few more to come.

- Can’t see the video? Watch it from YouTube
- iPod version (MP4 – 12Mb)