Videos about Italian baking traditions

[Franci]

I think I want to start to make videos available on my website. Could you guys help me out thinking what people might be interested into?

 

Let me make a small introduction first. I make an sell traditional Italian cakes. As my business expands, I'd like to make more regional products available, sort of a culinary travel through Italy. And that's also what I'd like to do with these videos, talk about traditional baking with maybe a more modern accent.

So, I am start thinking what kind of angle should I take.

Things that come to my mind: level of expertise. Should I focus mainly on average level of skill of the public? Keep it fairly simple? Length of the videos? Making a series. What kind of subjects might interest more...what is the trend nowadays and if my style is different mistakes I should try to avoid. 

 

What do you think. I'll start making a list of subjects that I find interesting. Could you give me your feedback, please?

 

 

 

[cakewalk]

Will you concentrate on cakes only, or do you plan to include breads as well? Good luck with this venture. (I have no advice to offer, but I'm looking forward to seeing the videos!)

[Franci]

not just cakes, anything sweet, so also sweet breads.

[ElsieD]

I would love to see a video on making panettone.  As you can see, I have the key ingredient, Fiori di Sicilia.

[Smithy]

I can't speak to trends, but speaking for myself I'd say that if any given video is to be longer than around 5 minutes there should be a compelling reason for it.  A "tourist" video that describes a product and its background - what it looks like, the region it comes from, and some of the people and sights of that region (if possible) - is an example of something that I think should be relatively short.  A "how-to" video giving in-depth instruction - say, to make a specific type of cake or bread - would probably be justifiably longer. 

 

An overview or introductory video might be a great way to start.  I like your idea of a series. I also like ElsieD's suggestion about pannetone.

 

[dcarch]

You may need to hire professional video producers, if you are think of this as part of promoting your business.

 

Making good video, it is very complicated.

 

dcarch

 

[Franci]

@dcarch definitely hiring a professional, don't have the time nor the tools to do a good job on my own!

 

@ElsieD I'll talk about panettone but most likely is not going to happen at the beginning and maybe not at this time of the year. Maybe the aroma di sicilia from King Arthur is nice, usually they have always great quality extract and aromas. In Italy there is not such thing as "aroma di sicilia" and honestly they even sell a nasty product called "aroma panettone" but you can make easily an "aromatic paste for panettone". Your aroma di sicilia would be nice to use also in many other recipes. This come to mind: brioche col tuppo (the sicilian brioche to eat with ice cream), migliaccio napoletano, sfogliatelle frolle (not the "ricce"), in the shell for cassata al forno. And in any ricotta cheese cake.

 

 

Example of what I have in mind.

 

Now Easter is coming and I might a bit late for it, but besides the most famous "colomba", there other many other great sweet breads around Italy at this time: fugazza veneta (this is wonderful and easier than Panettone), and various pizze dolci from Pesaro, Civitavecchia, from Umbria and Tuscany. Pinza pasquale in Trieste. Presnitz still in Trieste and many more. 

 

Then we want to start talking about sweet baked goods made with ricotta?

Besides the most famous pastiera and cassata siciliana, or cannoli, there is much more! Sfogliatelle frolle, migliaccio, cassata al forno, castagnole di ricotta, soffioni  abruzzesi, pardulas from Sardinia, ricotta infornata, torta ebraica con le visciole and much more!

 

Also, besides panforte, there are many panpepati in Italy. From Emilia Romagna to Lazio, to Umbria and Abruzzi.

 

And I could go on and on.

Edited April 2, 2017 by Franci (log)

[Anna N]

 I think the very first thing you need to consider is how you want to approach this. Do you want to do it by region,  by product, by style or in some other fashion. Your next step should be to start listing under whichever method of organization you have chosen those that seem the most important to you to reflect what it is you're trying to say.   So let's say you choose to go by Region. Draw up a table with all the regions you hope to cover as column headings.   Now start filling in those things that most closely and most traditionally represent that region. Now you should start to see some things beginning to emerge. Are there breads associated with each region? Cookies?  Cakes?  Is Region the best way to organize this or is something else beginning to show itself?   I am a great believer that once you start getting things down in writing the page will begin to talk to you and tell you what you need to know.  The cooking of Italy is vast as you well know, and you cannot even begin to cover all of it but if you sit with pen and paper  and an open mind I think a format will begin to show itself. If you are familiar with mind-mapping it would be my approach. (Click). 

  Once you have something that looks somewhat organized and that you can visualize as being made into videos then I would approach professionals who will be in a better position to make suggestions how best to approach the projects so that it comes out as a whole that is properly held together by a theme. 

 

[DianaB]

There is another member who is developing video documentaries about Italian cuisine, I was in touch with him a while ago to help with his English but unfortunately pressure of my work preventing me from becoming as involved as I would like.  This was the member's entry in the Welcome New Members thread: Cia  Hope I've done that right!  He does have a YouTube account for his 'Culinary Italian Anthropology'.

 

Another person who I greatly respect and who blogs and writes abundantly on Italian cuisine can be found here:

chestnutsandtruffles.com

This guy is amazing.  I came across him when he was living in Paris and we were both trying to follow the French Bake Off, a television cookery competition, and create some of its challenges.  He had a wonderful French Patisserie blog but that went down when he moved to Italy.  I understand he is part Italian and he is certainly building a reputation as a food writer and film maker.

 

Of course creating high quality film requires skill and it can require expensive equipment.  In these times of portable telephones with amazingly powerful cameras built in it is amazing what can be produced with very little.  There is now an annual prize giving event for full length feature films shot entirely with portable telephones!  I would love to cite the link but I'm still swamped with work.  I came to eGullet today having recently renewed my subs and wanting to search out a specific thread that has nothing to do with this one!  I'm so glad you started it though @Franci, I've been following your posts for a few years and admiring from a distance.  Please let me know when you start shipping to England....  

 

Luca's 'Chestnuts and Truffles' cited above includes links to his YouTube films where I think everything has been produced with a smart phone.  Might be wrong and apologies to Luca if he has gone on from there. I'm still mourning his French food blog, Some of my favourite ever recipes came from there.  I've told him about eGullet but I've not seen any sign of him joining - of course I don't read all of the topics and limited time of late means I've read hardly anything.

 

A slight and brief off topic that seems relevant enough to chance:

Steve Jobs of Apple developed his computers thinking that users would be particularly keen on creating and editing their own 'movies'.  His biography goes into the subject in some detail but as a result of his, if you like, error of thought, those of us interested in playing with film editing, in possession of cell phone and some kind of Mac device, can install iMovie at very little cost and quickly learn to be proficient in its use.  Of course there are other film editors out there, I am not on commission from Apple and in fact limited film making skills were developed using Adobe software on a Windows PC.  One day our (husband and self) food blog will be sufficient to promote and that will certainly include video shot with an iPhone or similar.  Sadly at the minute it only has about 4 entries!  Kudos to all who find the time to blog well while holding down a proper job alongside!

 

France, don't hesitate to have a go even with modest equipment.  You don't have to share anything you are uncomfortable with and you have I'm sure, a ready prepared and appreciative audience here at eGullet for when you are ready to put a toe in the water.

 

It would be great if you included some very basic Italian recipes in your collection.  I'm guessing there will be thousands of homes with a pasta machine pristine in its box as purchased 1 or 2 or 5 or 10 or 40 years ago with good intentions.  I bought mine because I had seen one used frequently in a TV cookery show.  We managed tagliatelle but it was a two person task and while the results were nice enough they didn't justify the stress.  In England at least Italian food is really an Anglified set of pasta/pizza recipes. Tiramisu is perhaps the only 'Italian' dessert but I don't know if an Italian would recognise it as such.  Of course all of the above applies to rural northern England, I'm sure that in London there will be an abundance of good and diverse Italian cuisine. 

 

I wish I could speak Italian but I can't so I'll simply wish you luck and enjoyment with your project in English!

[Franci]

@DianaB thanks for taking the time to write this message. Beautiful Chestnuts and truffles! I will have to take the time to read more deeply but for what I've read briefly it's great.

 

No worries, I am working on it. Right today I am meeting with my video producer to put down on paper the videos content. Videos are going to be 2-3 minutes long and very simple to start. Giving some basics. Fundamentals from where to develop many more recipes. I am going to start with Italian short pastry, we have many recipes and depending from the final use the recipe might vary. 

I'll keep you posted!  

Edited April 22, 2017 by Franci (log)

[Franci]

Little update guys. We did 4 videos. After my first experience I need to agree with @dcarch, it was much more complicated than I thought. It was our first round so I am positive in the future we'll go down to a system and work faster. But it took us from 10 am to 6 pm to shoot 4 videos of about 2.5 minutes each! Wow, it was an experience. I've not yet seen them because they have been edited at the moment. I'll see them next week. Then I have to wait for some upgrades on my website to make them available. I'll probably release  1 at the time over a month period.

So far I've covered: pasta frolla (short pastry), crema pasticcera (pastry cream), crostata alla confettura di albicocche (apricot jam tart) and crostata alla frutta fresca (fresh fruit tart).

I'll keep you posted on when I start uploading the videos.

In the meantime, I'm already thinking about the next round!

[Franci]

Hi! How long did it take me to put my first video on??? Too long. 

But finally I did! 

 

Sometimes I make funny faces...sorry, it was more difficult than I expected. On the other videos I definitely look more relaxed. 

And here the link to the first recipe. It is missing an introductory part to the recipes and most likely I'll change the background color for the advanced baker section. Please, dear Egulleter, note that I am only going to use grams 

 

Last week we shot other 8 videos, in 2 days...gulp. I'll make a list of the recipe. 

 

Hopefully now that is set up is going to be easier to publish the other videos. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Franci
Updated link to video (log)

[rotuts]

@Franci 

 

congratulations !

 

I think they are fantastic !

[Franci]

Thanks @Rotuts! I've not seen the new videos yet! But I'll let you know how they came out  Thanks for all the ideas and support. 

[IowaDee]

Wonderful, you look as if you have been making videos for years.  So calm and organized, great job!

[Kerry Beal]

I have enjoyed them greatly!

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Looks like your mixer is the same as mine!

 

[Franci]

Yes, @JoNorvelleWalker, didn't know you had white. 

One more question for you guys,  How do you feel about me just linking to website for the recipe instead of listing the ingredients under? 

All my Italian friends where amazed that I didn't do it, saying that a lot of people will not even subscribe or follow because of this...I don't know if it violates some sort of internet etiquette that I am not aware but I don't want to transform myself into a cooking blog. I just want to make available recipes that are hard to find and give a modern perspective on Italian baking. 

Edited July 19, 2017 by Franci (log)

[rotuts]

i not sure what your question is :

 

do you not want to show the ingredients  , as you have in the video liked above ,  in the video ?

 

watching the video on YouTube , from the link above , you suggest to click the link below to see the Rx.

 

that version does not have a link below.

 

do you plan on having the videos imbedded in this site ?

 

https://www.dolcidifranci.com/recipes/2017/7/18/pasta-frolla-italian-short-pastry

 

so Im not sure what version A is vs version B is.

 

B would be ' just linking to the website '

 

cheers !

 

 

 

[Franci]

Yes, the video on YouTube has a link below. If you click on Pasta Frolla- Italian Short pastry, right below the video, the link appears. It links to my website only, not to the recipe. It's very easy to find them anyway. 

 

To clarify my question: what is the general feeling about not listing the ingredients directly on YouTube in the underneath section? It is considered ok? Generally accepted? 

Edited July 19, 2017 by Franci (log)

[rotuts]

thanks

 

I see your website directly under the YouTube

 

Id think you want people to go to your web site.

 

traffic is what you want

 

why not change the wording below the Youtube to include 

 

the web site

 

then say  the recipe may be found here and  """   much more """

 

I think you get the idea

 

I think you want people to not just get the Rx but to explore your website if they want.

 

\however

 

From time to time ive accused of being a Philistine 

 

 

go with what generates the most traffic for your web site.

 

other might know more about  this.

 

aster all , I don't even have a SmartPhone !

[Kerry Beal]

Linking to the website for recipes drives traffic to your website - so I think it's a great idea.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

On ‎7‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 9:38 AM, Franci said:

Yes, @JoNorvelleWalker, didn't know you had white.

 

 

 

I've made pasta frolla but not for a real long time.  I really enjoyed the video.  My reason for making pasta frolla was a cheese pie recipe, crostata di ricotta, that I used to make from Time Life The Cooking of Italy.  These days I would have to scale it down.

 

I am not much one for making cakes myself, but I would enjoy watching how to make pastries such as crostata di ricotta.

 

Thanks again!

 

[Franci]

@JoNorvelleWalker nice, the hazelnut cake! Let me get organized and I'll send you a whole cake  not a cake in pieces 

 

Crostata di ricotta is coming, soon or later. Most likely more than one version. For now following the pasta frolla: pastry cream, apricot jam tart, fruit tart, sbrisolona, taralli al vino, pan di Spagna, zuppa inglese, torta mantovana, amorpolenta, pinza bolognese and panna cotta with egg white

Edited July 21, 2017 by Franci (log)

[Franci]

Second video, crema pasticcera is up. 

 

I've decided new video every Tuesday. 

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Franci
Updated link to the video (log)