Eating Italy: A Chef's Culinary Adventure (30 page)

Carefully pour the caramel into a metal or ceramic 8-cup (2-L) terrine mold or 9 x 5-inch (23 x 13-cm) loaf pan; the bottom should be covered with a ¼- to ½-inch (6- to 12-mm)-thick layer of caramel that will feel tacky when cool enough to touch. Refrigerate until completely cooled, at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Set a kettle of water to boil.

Give the refrigerated bonèt mixture a stir, and then pour it into the pan over the caramel. If using a loaf pan, you may have a small amount left over; discard it. Set the pan in a larger, deeper pan (such as a roasting pan) and pour boiling water into the deeper pan to come about halfway up the bonèt pan. Bake until slightly puffed yet wobbly in the center like a firm custard, 60 to 70 minutes. Remove the bonèt pan from the water bath and let cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Refrigerate in the pan until completely cool or up to 4 days.

Run a wet knife around the edge of the bonèt and unmold it onto a large platter. Cut into ¾-inch (2-cm)-thick slices and lay a slice on each plate. Sprinkle with some cookie crumbs and a drizzle of the liquid caramel from the platter.

PISTACHIO FLAN

During the 2010 Slow Food festival, I made a point to eat at Da Guido in Pollenza. I’d heard so much about the place, I had to check it out. It’s a stunning restaurant situated inside an old castle in town. Every dish in our meal was completely delicious, so for dessert, we ordered everything on the menu. This dessert floored me more than anything else. It’s a small green pistachio cake enrobed in melted chocolate. When you cut into the cake, a river of creamy filling oozes out like a molten chocolate cake, but it’s a gorgeous green color. The black and green colors make a striking presentation on a white plate. It took me two weeks to replicate this recipe, but I finally got it right. I ended up making my own pistachio paste in a Vitamix blender. Be sure to blend the pistachios until they’re as smooth as silk. That’s what makes the filling so creamy.

MAKES 8 TO 10

1¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar

4 large egg yolks

3 large eggs

9 tablespoons (125 g) unsalted butter, melted

1 cup (150 g) raw unsalted pistachios, preferably Sicilian, plus some chopped for garnish

¾ cup (175 g) whole milk

½ cup (62 g)
tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour, sifted

3 cups (750 ml) Chocolate Sauce (
page 285
)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter and flour ten 4-ounce (120-ml) baking tins or ramekins and place on a baking sheet.

Combine the sugar, egg yolks, and eggs in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until pale yellow and thick enough to drip in ribbons when the whisk is lifted, 2 to 3 minutes. With the machine running, gradually add the melted butter.

Combine the pistachios and milk in a blender and puree on high speed until super-smooth and thick, 6 to 8 minutes, stopping to scrape down the side a few times. Fold the pistachio mixture into the egg mixture. Fold in the flour.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tins or ramekins and bake until very lightly browned and set around the edges but a little wobbly in the middle, 10 to 12 minutes.

Immediately invert and unmold the dishes onto plates. Spoon the warm chocolate sauce over each flan to coat it completely. Garnish with some chopped pistachios and serve hot.

TORRONE SEMIFREDDO
with
CANDIED CHESTNUTS
and
CHOCOLATE SAUCE

The first time I went to Alba, I fell in love with torrone, the Italian almond nougat candy. You see mounds and mounds of it on display during the annual truffle festival. At Frosio, we made a torrone semifreddo that I always thought would be great with chocolate and chestnuts. So here it is, all the sweet flavors of Piedmont in one dish. The recipe yields a lot because each component can be kept for a week or two before serving. And it’s so good, you’ll want to serve it again and again.

MAKES 14 TO 16 SERVINGS

Torrone:

1 teaspoon (2.25 g) powdered egg whites

¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons (190 g) granulated sugar, divided

1 small egg white

2½ tablespoons (37 ml) glucose syrup or light corn syrup

¼ vanilla bean, split and scraped

⅓ cup (90 ml) honey

2¼ teaspoons (10 g) food-grade cocoa butter, melted

1¾ cups (250 g) whole almonds, toasted

Semifreddo:

8 large egg yolks

⅔ cup (133 g) granulated sugar

4 large egg whites

2 cups (475 ml) heavy cream

Candied Chestnuts:

8 ounces (227 g) peeled chestnuts, thawed if frozen

¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar

3 tablespoons (45 ml) glucose syrup or light corn syrup

To Serve:

4 cups (1 L) Chocolate Sauce (
page 285
)

For the torrone:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the powdered egg whites with 1 tablespoon (12 g) of the sugar to break up lumps. Add the egg white and whip on medium-low speed until combined, 1 minute. Let stand in the bowl.

Combine the remaining ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (175 g) of sugar with the glucose syrup, vanilla, and ¼ cup (60 ml) of water in a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat until the mixture reaches 302°F (150°C) on a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, heat the honey in a microwave until it is warm and pourable, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add it to the 302°F (150°C) sugar mixture, and continue to cook until it reaches 311°F (155°C).

With the mixer running on low speed, pour in the hot sugar mixture; when incorporated, change to medium-high speed and whip until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Leaving the mixer running, quickly wave a kitchen torch all around the outside of the mixer bowl to heat the torrone mixture. The mixture should become thick and ribbony and start to pull away from the sides of the bowl. When it does, change to low speed, add the melted cocoa butter, and when incorporated, change back to high speed, and then wave the torch again around the outside of the bowl until the torrone thickens again and pulls back away from the sides of the bowl.

Quickly stir in the almonds and immediately transfer the torrone to a half-sheet-size silicone mat. Working quickly, top with another silicone mat and roll the torrone to an even ½-inch (1.25-cm) thickness before it hardens. Let cool and harden completely, about 30 minutes, and then chop into pieces the size of dimes.

For the semifreddo:
Coat ten 4-ounce (120-ml) baking tins or ramekins with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, use a whisk to vigorously whip the egg yolks and sugar until pale yellow and thick, 2 to 3 minutes. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until they form medium-soft peaks when the beaters are lifted, 3 to 4 minutes. Fold the whites into the yolks in three additions. In a clean mixer bowl, whip the cream on medium-high speed until it holds medium-soft peaks when the beaters are lifted, 2 to 3 minutes. Fold the whipped cream into the eggs. Fold in the chopped torrone and spoon the semifreddo into the baking tins. Cover each tin and freeze until partially frozen, at least 2 hours or up to 1 week.

For the candied chestnuts:
Put the peeled chestnuts in a saucepan and add enough water to just cover them. Simmer over medium heat until they are soft enough to eat and just start to fall apart, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and reserve.

Combine the sugar, glucose syrup, and 2 cups (475 ml) of water in a large saucepan and boil over high heat until it reaches 224°F (107°C) on a candy thermometer, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the cooked chestnuts. This mixture can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks before using.

To serve:
Unmold the semifreddo onto plates (gently heat the outside of the molds, if necessary, to loosen the semifreddo; you can dip them in hot water or use a kitchen torch). Completely cover each semifreddo with chocolate sauce, and spoon some candied chestnuts on the side.

IT’S LIKE A SURREALIST DREAM, WALKING DOWN STREETS THAT CIRCLE BACK TO WHERE THEY STARTED, OVER BRIDGES THAT LEAD TO NOWHERE, CONTEMPLATING UNFATHOMABLE BUILDINGS, AND GAZING AT MESMERIZING DISPLAYS OF ODD-LOOKING FISH AND VEGETABLES. HERE YOU STAND ON ONE OF ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN TINY ISLANDS BARELY HELD TOGETHER BY ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY CANALS AND FOUR HUNDRED FOOT-WORN BRIDGES, ALL FLOATING ON A GIANT LAGOON. VENICE IS A CRAZY PLACE, AND IT’S MY FAVORITE CITY IN ITALY.

I first went there in the spring of 2005 and have gone back almost every year since. On that first visit, Claudia and I had been together for about twelve months, and her mother invited us to stay with her at her timeshare. Pina has an apartment right next to La Fenice, the opera house famous for hosting such great artists as Verdi and Donizetti since the late 1700s, despite burning down and being rebuilt several times. Just a few blocks away is Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square), the most happening piazza in Venice. Every time I visit, as a chef, I can’t help admiring the architectural design of the Basilica di San Marco. I build little structures every time I send out a plate of food. It’s part of my DNA. The buildings in Venice inspire me every time I visit.

But the food interests me most. I’m not talking about big-ticket restaurants. They’re too touristy, catering to the ten million people who flock to the “City of Water” every year from all over the world. No, I’m talking about the markets and the pub food. Every time I come to Venice, we shop the markets in the morning, and before cooking our evening meal back at the apartment, we grab some bar snacks and a glass of wine in the afternoon. That afternoon meal is called
ombra e cicchetti
(wine and nibbles) and it gives you a better sense of Venetian food than you’ll get at any of the touristy restaurants during dinnertime.

The big Rialto market is just a five-minute walk from Pina’s apartment. Right near the city’s oldest bridge, the fishmongers start selling at six in the morning. They sail in from the Adriatic Sea and the lagoon surrounding the city with some of the best-looking seafood I’ve ever seen. . . fresh whole turbot, sole, and sea bass; glistening steaks of tuna and swordfish; mountains of plump sardines;
moscardini
(baby octopus), calamari (squid), and
seppia
(cuttlefish); and unusual local shellfish, such as
lumache di mare
(sea snails),
arselle
(pinkie-tip-size clams),
vongole veraci
(2-inch/5-cm-diameter clams),
cape longhe
(razor clams),
granseole
(spider crabs),
schie
(small gray prawns), and
canoce
(mantis shrimp). You see fish brought in from farther away, too, such as
gambero rosso
(Mediterranean red shrimp), monkfish, grouper, and lobster. And twice a year in the spring and fall, you can buy
moleche
, tiny molting softshell crabs. They’re barely bigger than silver dollars. Venetians like to soak them in beaten eggs until the crabs stuff themselves with egg. Then they deep-fry the softshells and eat them whole.

You have to get to the fish market before noon, or all the good stuff is gone. And don’t be shy about haggling. They keep the best bits and pieces in back. Ask the fishmonger, “What else do you have back there?” One time I asked that question, and a guy came out with some of the biggest
monkfish cheeks I’d ever seen. Even if you don’t cook fish in Venice, you owe it to yourself to check out the market, if only to know what you’ll be eating when you order food later in the day.