Cucino Paradiso by Clifford Wright

[archestratus]

As for Scappi, I only have the recipe title "succussu all moresca", not the recipe itself. I haven't been able to find a transcript of this book todate .

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Adam, here is the recipe, from Scappi. This isn't a direct translation but the gist of it.

Per fare una vivanda di semolella con diverse altre materie alla moresha chiamata sucussu

How to make a semolina food with diverse things in the style of the Moors called “sucussu” (couscous) [book II, Cap, 153, p. 65]

The couscous is made by rubbing together semolina and white flour to form grains moistening with water. It is left to dry for an 1 1/2 hours and one uses almond oil or olive oil for rubbing. It’s made in a pignata di terra (an earthenware stew pot that looks like the bottom portion of a couscoussiere) with fatty beef, wether back meat, salted pork throat, capon, all cut up. It is cooked in water and when the meats are almost cooked one adds Milanese style yellow cervellate (a kind of sausage), and pepper, and cinnamon, and saffron, and finishs the cooking. The semola is placed in another stew pot and it is cook by steaming over the meat broth. This could take two hours. After cooking the couscous it is piled on a plate and it is sprinkled with grated cheese, sugar and cinnamon. The meat is served on top, along with some fresh butter and spoonfuls of broth. It is covered with another large plate and let to rest for 1 hour.

Chefzadi might recognize this dish from the sixteenth century Italy as it looks very similar to a contemporary Algerian couscous.

[chefzadi]

Yes I recognize the dishe minus the pork of course. I think of it as more of an Eastern Algerian dish.

I recgonize quite a few dishes in your book, as well some very obvious variations.

I will be posting which ones sometime this weekend. My teaching schedule is really packed this month so I have not been able to keep up with some of these threads.

[chefzadi]

I don't know how I managed to miss this thread up to now! Thanks for starting this interesting topic Farid.

Hi Alberto-

I was hoping you would join the discussion. I was planning on PMing or emailing you about it. It would be great to have you around further into the discussion.

[Adam Balic]

As for Scappi, I only have the recipe title "succussu all moresca", not the recipe itself. I haven't been able to find a transcript of this book todate .

←

Adam, here is the recipe, from Scappi. This isn't a direct translation but the gist of it.

Per fare una vivanda di semolella con diverse altre materie alla moresha chiamata sucussu

How to make a semolina food with diverse things in the style of the Moors called “sucussu” (couscous) [book II, Cap, 153, p. 65]

The couscous is made by rubbing together semolina and white flour to form grains moistening with water. It is left to dry for an 1 1/2 hours and one uses almond oil or olive oil for rubbing. It’s made in a pignata di terra (an earthenware stew pot that looks like the bottom portion of a couscoussiere) with fatty beef, wether back meat, salted pork throat, capon, all cut up. It is cooked in water and when the meats are almost cooked one adds Milanese style yellow cervellate (a kind of sausage), and pepper, and cinnamon, and saffron, and finishs the cooking. The semola is placed in another stew pot and it is cook by steaming over the meat broth. This could take two hours. After cooking the couscous it is piled on a plate and it is sprinkled with grated cheese, sugar and cinnamon. The meat is served on top, along with some fresh butter and spoonfuls of broth. It is covered with another large plate and let to rest for 1 hour.

Chefzadi might recognize this dish from the sixteenth century Italy as it looks very similar to a contemporary Algerian couscous.

←

Thank you very much, I have wanted to know what this recipe looked like for some time. English translations of Scappi seem impossible to come by. Actually, it looks very good and quite contempory to some extant dishes as you mentioned. Does the sausage contain brains?

The still use an earthenware pignata for stews around Nice, I think that it is called a poelon in Provence.

[archestratus]

As for Scappi, I only have the recipe title "succussu all moresca", not the recipe itself. I haven't been able to find a transcript of this book todate .

←

Adam, here is the recipe, from Scappi. This isn't a direct translation but the gist of it.

Per fare una vivanda di semolella con diverse altre materie alla moresha chiamata sucussu

How to make a semolina food with diverse things in the style of the Moors called “sucussu” (couscous) [book II, Cap, 153, p. 65]

The couscous is made by rubbing together semolina and white flour to form grains moistening with water. It is left to dry for an 1 1/2 hours and one uses almond oil or olive oil for rubbing. It’s made in a pignata di terra (an earthenware stew pot that looks like the bottom portion of a couscoussiere) with fatty beef, wether back meat, salted pork throat, capon, all cut up. It is cooked in water and when the meats are almost cooked one adds Milanese style yellow cervellate (a kind of sausage), and pepper, and cinnamon, and saffron, and finishs the cooking. The semola is placed in another stew pot and it is cook by steaming over the meat broth. This could take two hours. After cooking the couscous it is piled on a plate and it is sprinkled with grated cheese, sugar and cinnamon. The meat is served on top, along with some fresh butter and spoonfuls of broth. It is covered with another large plate and let to rest for 1 hour.

Chefzadi might recognize this dish from the sixteenth century Italy as it looks very similar to a contemporary Algerian couscous.

←

Thank you very much, I have wanted to know what this recipe looked like for some time. English translations of Scappi seem impossible to come by. Actually, it looks very good and quite contempory to some extant dishes as you mentioned. Does the sausage contain brains?

The still use an earthenware pignata for stews around Nice, I think that it is called a poelon in Provence.

←

There are no English tranlslations of Scappi, excepting a recipe here and there that appear in some "historical" cookbooks.

Cervellata is today a sausage from Milan made or pork sirloin, pork and veal fat, pork brains, Parmesan cheese, saffron, nutmeg and maybe some other spices and I imagine it's pretty much close to how it was made 500 years ago.

[albiston]

Thank you very much, I have wanted to know what this recipe looked like for some time. English translations of Scappi seem impossible to come by. Actually, it looks very good and quite contempory to some extant dishes as you mentioned. Does the sausage contain brains?

←

Cervellata is today a sausage from Milan made or pork sirloin, pork and veal fat, pork brains, Parmesan cheese, saffron, nutmeg and maybe some other spices and I imagine it's pretty much close to how it was made 500 years ago.

←

Almost like 500 years ago, but not exactly. It is still made in Milan, though it is not that common anymore. As far as I know Peck in Milan still sells it. According to the sources I could find, today's recipe only contains meat, cheese and saffron (and maybe a little spices). Brain is not used anymore in this or other recipes, quite common in some parts of Southern Italy, that carry a similar name.

Going back to the Arabic influences in Sicily, I was wondering what people think of the explanation of cassata comming from q'sat, which I take means round earthenware bowl. This is the only explanation I've ever heard but it always made me wonder if there's any sweet in Nothern African lands that resambles cassata. The use of ricotta, closer to Central and Southern Italy's pastoral culture than to the Arabic one, would make think it is not the case, but you never know. If somebody knows about it, then the eGullet forums are the right place to find out .

[archestratus]

Thank you very much, I have wanted to know what this recipe looked like for some time. English translations of Scappi seem impossible to come by. Actually, it looks very good and quite contempory to some extant dishes as you mentioned. Does the sausage contain brains?

←

Cervellata is today a sausage from Milan made or pork sirloin, pork and veal fat, pork brains, Parmesan cheese, saffron, nutmeg and maybe some other spices and I imagine it's pretty much close to how it was made 500 years ago.

←

Almost like 500 years ago, but not exactly. It is still made in Milan, though it is not that common anymore. As far as I know Peck in Milan still sells it. According to the sources I could find, today's recipe only contains meat, cheese and saffron (and maybe a little spices). Brain is not used anymore in this or other recipes, quite common in some parts of Southern Italy, that carry a similar name.

Going back to the Arabic influences in Sicily, I was wondering what people think of the explanation of cassata comming from q'sat, which I take means round earthenware bowl. This is the only explanation I've ever heard but it always made me wonder if there's any sweet in Nothern African lands that resambles cassata. The use of ricotta, closer to Central and Southern Italy's pastoral culture than to the Arabic one, would make think it is not the case, but you never know. If somebody knows about it, then the eGullet forums are the right place to find out .

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I wrote about the history of cassata on p. 302-303 of Mediterranean Feast. That piece is the most thorough treatment of the issue that I know of.

[russ parsons]

I wrote about the history of cassata on p. 302-303 of Mediterranean Feast.  That piece is the most thorough treatment of the issue that I know of.

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oh, you big cassata-teaser.

[albiston]

I wrote about the history of cassata on p. 302-303 of Mediterranean Feast.  That piece is the most thorough treatment of the issue that I know of.

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oh, you big cassata-teaser.

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True, but at least now I found out who archestratus is. Probably I was the last one to do so, right ?

Seems like Mediterranean Feast will have to be in my next book order... but I need to buy a new bookshelf first !

[russ parsons]

Seems like Mediterranean Feast will have to be in my next book order... but I need to buy a new bookshelf first  !

←

it's a big book, but it's not THAT big.

[archestratus]

Seems like Mediterranean Feast will have to be in my next book order... but I need to buy a new bookshelf first  !

←

it's a big book, but it's not THAT big.

←

Makes a great door-stop too!

[chefzadi]

Seems like Mediterranean Feast will have to be in my next book order... but I need to buy a new bookshelf first  !

←

it's a big book, but it's not THAT big.

←

Makes a great door-stop too!

←

I've requested that your books be ordered for the School library. They are of historical interest. As I'm waiting I cannot find a copy of Mediterranean Feast on my own. What is the recipe for Cassata in your book? I've seen a few here and there.

[chefzadi]

Thank you very much, I have wanted to know what this recipe looked like for some time. English translations of Scappi seem impossible to come by. Actually, it looks very good and quite contempory to some extant dishes as you mentioned. Does the sausage contain brains?

←

Cervellata is today a sausage from Milan made or pork sirloin, pork and veal fat, pork brains, Parmesan cheese, saffron, nutmeg and maybe some other spices and I imagine it's pretty much close to how it was made 500 years ago.

←

Almost like 500 years ago, but not exactly. It is still made in Milan, though it is not that common anymore. As far as I know Peck in Milan still sells it. According to the sources I could find, today's recipe only contains meat, cheese and saffron (and maybe a little spices). Brain is not used anymore in this or other recipes, quite common in some parts of Southern Italy, that carry a similar name.

Going back to the Arabic influences in Sicily, I was wondering what people think of the explanation of cassata comming from q'sat, which I take means round earthenware bowl. This is the only explanation I've ever heard but it always made me wonder if there's any sweet in Nothern African lands that resambles cassata. The use of ricotta, closer to Central and Southern Italy's pastoral culture than to the Arabic one, would make think it is not the case, but you never know. If somebody knows about it, then the eGullet forums are the right place to find out .

←

There are dishes in Algeria that resemble cassata according to the recipes I have seen of cassata. As for the cassadetti recipes I've seen they are almost identical to Algerian recipes.

The question that comes to my mind is the oldest recipes for cassata and cassadetti that Alberto, Clifford, Paula and Adam have read about.

[albiston]

Seems like Mediterranean Feast will have to be in my next book order... but I need to buy a new bookshelf first  !

←

it's a big book, but it's not THAT big.

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Even if it were in microfilm format I'd have no place left for it; reading eGullet has had the same effect on my book collection as a blackout on NYC birth's rate.

Clifford, thanks for the door-stop tip, but Larousse Gastronomique is heavily reliable in that role.

[archestratus]

Seems like Mediterranean Feast will have to be in my next book order... but I need to buy a new bookshelf first  !

←

it's a big book, but it's not THAT big.

←

Makes a great door-stop too!

←

I've requested that your books be ordered for the School library. They are of historical interest. As I'm waiting I cannot find a copy of Mediterranean Feast on my own. What is the recipe for Cassata in your book? I've seen a few here and there.

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Borders or Barnes and Noble may have a copy (they do in Santa Monica I know). I don't have a recipe in "Feast" for cassata, just a section describing its history. I've looked at many, mnay recipes for cassata and the two English language ones that look right (good and authentic) are in Anna Tasca Lanza's book on Sicily and Jo Bettoja's "Southern Italian Cooking."

[Wolfert]

If ricotta is a main ingredient in cassata, I don't think you can point to North Africa for the main connection. There is an FAO report on the traditional foods of the near east. No 50, 1991. In it, you can read about the lack of fresh cheese in North Africa.

.

[andiesenji]

I thought I had this book and did a somewhat cursory search but couldn't find it so have ordered a copy.

The discussion about the evolution of pasta/couscous and how it migrated from country to country is fascinating.

One of my friends visited last night (on her way down from June Lake to San Diego). She is from Sardinia and we were discussing some of the traditional foods she grew up with.

She says her grandmother still makes a semolina pasta by moistening flour with water and a little oil and mixing and rolling it in a flat basket (similar to my winnowing baskets) until it forms little balls which are then dried or baked.

I showed her some packages of maftol and moughrabiya, labeled "Middle Eastern" and "Toasted" couscous and she said it looks exactly like the "fragula" (not sure of spelling), made my her grandmother. The family farm is in the southern part of Sardinia near Tolada (?Sp) and is visited by tourists because of the archeological sites located on the farm.

Because of its location, Sardinia, like Sicily, was constantly being conquered and the society/culture changed with the times, a true crossroads of the Mediterranean .

I don't think I have ever seen a cookbook devoted exclusively to cuisine of Sardinia. I have a few Italian cookbooks that may include a recipe or two but that is all.

[Wolfert]

I have quite a few in Italian. Our Marlena Spieler wrote Islands in the Sun which has a large collection of recipes fromSardinia.

And Clifford Wright's book has lots of recipes as well.

[archestratus]

If ricotta is a main ingredient in cassata, I don't think you can point to North Africa for the main connection. There is an FAO report on the traditional foods of the near east. No 50, 1991. In it, you can read about the lack of fresh cheese in North Africa.

.

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I've got the book, but can't find the discussion on the lack of fresh cheeses in North Africa.

anyway, cassata is a strictly Sicilian affair and the main ingredient is not the ricotta but the egg cake as well as ricotta, the ricotta playing a big role in the filling. And it's an old cake (not it's present form, but it's evolution) as we can read about it going back to the fifteenth century. First, anyone reading this should know that "cassata" also refers to a kind of ice cream in Sicily, but that's not what we are talking about. The Vocabolarium latinum from even earlier, the fourteenth century, defines "cassata" as panis cum caseo commixtus which definitely indicates that cassata was made with flour and cheese mixed together. We have to assume the cheese is a fresh cheese as that mixes most easily with flour. The Sicilian philologist De Gregorio proposed that the Sicilian word derived from the Arabic qas'a, pronounced qasat in the vernacular. There is a huge debate on the etymology of cassata that appears in the journals of Italian philology and for anyone interested I can provide the bibliography for further research.

[archestratus]

I thought I had this book and did a somewhat cursory search but couldn't find it so have ordered a copy. 

The discussion about the evolution of pasta/couscous and how it migrated from country to country is fascinating. 

One of my friends visited last night (on her way down from June Lake to San Diego).  She is from Sardinia and we were discussing some of the traditional foods she grew up with.

She says her grandmother still makes a semolina pasta by moistening flour with water and a little oil and mixing and rolling it in a flat basket (similar to my winnowing baskets) until it forms little balls which are then dried or baked. 

I showed her some packages of maftol and moughrabiya, labeled "Middle Eastern" and "Toasted" couscous and she said it looks exactly like the "fragula" (not sure of spelling), made my her grandmother.  The family farm is in the southern part of Sardinia near Tolada (?Sp) and is visited by tourists because of the archeological sites located on the farm. 

Because of its location, Sardinia, like Sicily, was constantly being conquered and the society/culture changed with the times, a true crossroads of the Mediterranean .

I don't think I have ever seen a cookbook devoted exclusively to cuisine of Sardinia.  I have a few Italian cookbooks that may include a recipe or two but that is all.

←

There are Sardinian cookbooks in Italian but none in English, although I believe Bugialli wrote a book a few years ago called the "Food of Sicily and Sardinia." Incidentally, I disagree that Sardinia was a crossroads of the Mediterranean. But Sicily certainly was. Sardinia, although suffering many invaders, never became an entrepot for anything and this accounts for the island's insularity even today.

[andiesenji]

I stand corrected. Gina had mentioned that in the 80s and 90s there had been a couple of archeological digs on her family's farm that found construction and artifacts that were Greek, Cretan and Phoenician built on more ancient Nuragic sites.

She jokes that "everybody came for the fish"......

[chefzadi]

I'll give the Algerian names of these dishes that I recognize as having Algerian versions later.

Chick pea flour fritters- Panelle

Eggplant "Buttocks" Sandwiches- Sciatre e Matre

I think of this as more from Algiers where my sister in law is from.

Green Vegetable Medley-Frittedda

Preserved Tuna- Surra

Mixed Fried Little Fish-Sciabbacheddu

(this is so basic, the link to Arabs is in the name)

Pane rimacinato

Sounds like Kesra to me

Pizza- I already discussed the Algerian coca

Carbuciu- Clifford writes that "is very similar to the griddle pizzas of the Kabylie of North Africa." Yes in the Kabylie we will use onions and herbs. Peppers too.

There are other pizzas and stuffed breads I recognize, but I won't list them all.

Is Salata a word with Arab origins? In Algeria we call salads Salata or Chladya.

Almond Sauce- Saradusu

Meatball Soup Souffle-Sciuschieddu

The use of cinnamon is very Arab

Vegetable and Bean Soup-Minestra Di Verdura E Fagioli

Besides the cheese it looks like something my mom would make. She'd add vermicelli instead of rice.

There's more. But the next chapter is Pasta, Rice and Couscous. I want to look over it a bit more.

[archestratus]

I'll give the Algerian names of these dishes that I recognize as having Algerian versions later.

Chick pea flour fritters- Panelle

Eggplant "Buttocks" Sandwiches- Sciatre e Matre

I think of this as more from Algiers where  my sister in law is from.

Green Vegetable Medley-Frittedda

Preserved Tuna- Surra

Mixed Fried Little Fish-Sciabbacheddu

(this is so basic, the link to Arabs is in the name)

Pane rimacinato

Sounds like Kesra to me

Pizza- I already discussed the Algerian coca

Carbuciu- Clifford writes that "is very similar to the griddle pizzas of the Kabylie of North Africa." Yes in the Kabylie we will use onions and herbs. Peppers too.

There are other pizzas and stuffed breads I recognize, but I won't list them all.

Is Salata a word with Arab origins? In Algeria we call salads Salata or Chladya.

Almond Sauce- Saradusu

Meatball Soup Souffle-Sciuschieddu

The use of cinnamon is very Arab

Vegetable and Bean Soup-Minestra Di Verdura E Fagioli

Besides the cheese it looks like something my mom would make. She'd add vermicelli instead of rice.

There's more. But the next chapter is Pasta, Rice and Couscous. I want to look over it a bit more.

←

Some of the connections are linguistic only. And not every dish has a contemporary equivalent in North Africa. Anyway, the word salad and all its derivations in other languages including Arabic comes from the Latin word for salt, sal.

If I haven't said it already chefzadi, your book-in-progress sounds amazing and there is nothing like it on the market, not even in French. My advice is to pull out all the stops and write the definitive book. I think we all look very much forward to it.

[chefzadi]

I'm looking at the book to study history on both sides.

What do the Sicilian themselves consider to be Arab influenced?

What did the Sicilians document of the Arab kitchen?

What did the Sicilians Pied Noirs contribute to Algerian cooking?

(I don't know the number of Sicilians who returned to Sicily after the end of French Colonial rule. I will find out).

I'm on the pasta, rice and couscous dishes. I've already discussed couscous in the couscous thread and will get more into in the Beautiful Algeria thread. I've touched on rice and pasta dishes as well a bit as well.

I'll point out just a few dishes that stand out to me.

Yellow Vermicelli- Vermicelli Gialli

It is is true that overall dairy products are scarce and expensive in the Maghreb. But my family in Setif keeps cows and sheep. So dairy was a part of pretty much everyday eating in my family.

Spaghetti with Almonds- Spaghetti All Mandorle

Yes Arabs mix pasta with nuts. Sometimes with sultanas and sweeter spices.

Pasta with Tuna- Pasta Col Tonno

Adding pine nuts and raisins to a savory sauce is very Arab.

Pasta with Eggplant- Pasta Co Le Melanzane

The identical sauce would more like be served with thicker cut pasta in Algeria. But I just have to mention this dish because the combination of Olive and Eggplant is glorious culinary marriage, two simple things when combined heighten the flavors of the other.

Bottarga. Yes it is an Arab invention. Batarekh.

Pasta with Chick Peas- Ciciri Con Pasta

I've had a lot of this in my lifetime. It's sort of like our dietary equivilant of a bean burrito. In Algeria tomato sauces, meat ragus and vegetable sauces for pasta will contain chickpeas.

I have to finish this post a little later. Kids are calling....

[albiston]

Chick pea flour fritters- Panelle.

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Pasta with Chick Peas- Ciciri Con Pasta

I've had a lot of this in my lifetime. It's sort of like our dietary equivilant of a bean burrito. In Algeria tomato sauces, meat ragus and vegetable sauces for pasta will contain chickpeas.

←

Given that the use of chickpeas and their flour is quite widespread in Mediterranean countries I wonder if there really has been an influence from one side of the Mediterranean coast to the other or if it's just an example of natural culinary evolution running on the same tracks due to the common ingredients available. You have pasta e ceci almost everywhere in Italy, though more common in the South.

I don't know of many other chickpea flour products (apart in Indian cuisine); Farinata and Panissa in Liguria and Soccà and Panisse in Provence are the only ones that come to mind. Are these more common in the Southern Mediterranean?

Spaghetti with Almonds- Spaghetti All Mandorle

Yes Arabs mix pasta with nuts. Sometimes with sultanas and sweeter spices.

Except for the spices and sultanas, pasta with nuts (hazelnuts and walnuts especially) is not uncommon in the Apennine areas of Campania and Calabria, though there it was often seen as an "emergency" dish for times of food shortage.

Pasta with Tuna- Pasta Col Tonno

Adding pine nuts and raisins to a savory sauce is very Arab.

The addition of raisins and pine nuts (plus capers, olives and anchovies) is very common in Naples too where it is the main feature of all the dishes "di scammaro" (consumed during the christian fasting times, Christmas Eve and Lent being traditional). Today raisins and to a lesser extent pinenuts are often kept out of the recipe, but the older versions always add them. Intriguing to think this is an Arab influence.