The Cooking and Cuisine of Lombardia

[Pontormo]

At the end of the week I will be visiting the Library of Congress where I will have access to many Italian resources, including one Alberto has been recommending.

I would be grateful if anyone has suggestions for dishes to look for that might be more unusual. I am cooking to celebrate a friend's birthday. Small group of 4-6. Don't wish to do the usual ossobuco. Thinking of anolini, but my sources are unclear as to regional origins. It is supposed to be from Emilia-Romagna, yet associated with Mantova, too. Both?

Other advice for recipes to consult?

Thanks!

Edited February 9, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[Boris_A]

Other advice for recipes to consult?

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How about "Arrosto di vitello al latte" (veal roast in milk).

Simple, unusual and elegant.

Alternative: "Involtini alla milanese" (stuffed veal rolls), but somewhat more complicated.

[jmolinari]

Butting in a little bit here after i saw mention of cured meats. I make a lot of bresaola at home. I'll also be putting up some lardo in the colonnata style as well as the Arnaud style. Neither is in lombardia:)

I'll post pictures when i prepare them. Both of them require about a 6 month cure.

I grew up in Milan 'till i came here for college, so i'm enjoying reading this thread.

If anyone wants information on bresaola or lardo shoot me a PM.

jason

[azureus]

At the end of the week I will be visiting the Library of Congress where I will have access to many Italian resources, including one Alberto has been recommending.

I would be grateful if anyone has suggestions for dishes to look for that might be more unusual.

←

I just got a copy of "Northern Italian Cooking" by Francesco Ghedini. Among the recipes that caught my eye are "Loin Pork Chops with Prune Sauce" (Lombatine di Maiale con Salsa) and "Roast Capon with Walnut Stuffing" (Cappone Arroste con le Noci).

If you are in the mood for baking, "The Italian Baker" has several recipes, such as Ciabatta, Pan Giallo, Ciambelline Valtelline, and for sweet, you could try Mataloc or Panettone.

How do Italians celebrate birthdays?

April

[azureus]

Speaking of bread baking, does anyone here have much experience with authentic Ciabatta? I've played around with the recipe in "The Italian Baker" in the past, and enjoyed the results, even though it never looks like the bread pictured on the book cover.

What I'd like to know is how "sour" should the bread get, since it uses a biga, how much oven spring should I expect, and should the crust be soft or chewy? For the record, I usually get a fairly flat, sour loaf with a chewy crust. The interior isn't too dense, and it gets some nice air pockets in it. I just have nothing for comparison. I'll post photos as soon as I get another batch going. I tried to bake a batch today, but got interrupted by the veterinarian. The loaves turned into bricks!

April

[jmolinari]

Speaking of bread baking, does anyone here have much experience with authentic Ciabatta?  I've played around with the recipe in "The Italian Baker" in the past, and enjoyed the results, even though it never looks like the bread pictured on the book cover. 

What I'd like to know is how "sour" should the bread get, since it uses a biga, how much oven spring should I expect, and should the crust be soft or chewy?  For the record, I usually get a fairly flat, sour loaf with a chewy crust.  The interior isn't too dense, and it gets some nice air pockets in it.  I just have nothing for comparison.  I'll post photos as soon as I get another batch going.  I tried to bake a batch today, but got interrupted by the veterinarian.  The loaves turned into bricks!

April

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Here is the ciabatta i make at home.

Ciabatta pictures

It doesn't use a preferment. I'm still working on the formula. Next batch i'll try a preferment to see if it increases the flavor. This bread is awesome as is though. SUper high hydration, which gives the nice air holes.

HEre is the method, 2 variations.

variation 1:

500g bread blour

475g water

2 tsp. yeast

15g salt.

variation 2 has become my standard. Semolina flour adds a nice

yellowish color and a lot of flavor.

350g bread flour

150g semolina flour

475-485g water

2tsp. yeast

15g salt

1. Mix til roughly combined, with the paddle, and rest for 10 min or so. Still with the paddle, beat seven bells out of the glop on medium-high (4 on a Kitchenaid) until the dough is slapping around the bowl and clearing the bottom completely. This will take about 10-15 min.

2. Tip the dough (glop) into an oiled bowl or similar, I use a cylindrical, transparent, polyethylene food container with a tight sealing lid which makes it very easy to see the progress of the rise, and leave, tightly covered, to triple. It MUST triple or this recipe will not work!.

3. Pour onto a well floured surface, shake more flour over, divide into 3 or 4 rough squares and plump,them up by sliding an angled bench knife under the dough. Shake flour, generously over the loaves and their surroundings and leave until extremely puffy and wobbly. about 45 minutes - just about right for heating the oven to flat out max. Take no prisoners.

4. Using a floured bench knife free each loaf from the counter and, gently, flip it over, pick it up,using floured hands and, gently, stretch it to about 10" long and onto a peel, Superpeel (thank you Gary) or parchment. The dough very

nearly stretches under it's own weight. You must move quickly. It will look as if you've totally and permanently deflated the bread. Straight into the raging oven, down to 220 after 10 min, bake to internal temp at least 96C and you can go as high as 98C if the crust doesn't brown too quickly. You will not believe the oven spring. I baked the bread in 2 batches. The bread will pass the "thump the botttom" test long before the bread is cooked - You Have Been Warned!

jason

Edited February 9, 2006 by jmolinari (log)

[hathor]

Boris, great suggestion! I made the Arrosto di Vitello al Latte this evening, and it was a hit. Defintely a repeat, put into the repetoir recipe. (Portormo...think of me as running interference for you...)

I found the recipe on www.frasi.net and made variation #2 because I love cookikng with juniper and bay.

Served it with sauteed mushrooms and itsy-bitsy brussels sprouts (about the size of the agnolotti plin we were all trying to make...). I'm having trouble posting the pic, I'll try later, but here is the veal simmering away. never mind, seems I can't post anything. I'll try later.

The brussel sprouts came from Holland, so I thought of Chiufi! They were excellent.

...mmmm...ciabatta....

[azureus]

Here is the ciabatta i make at home.

Ciabatta pictures

It doesn't use a preferment. I'm still working on the formula. Next batch i'll try a preferment to see if it increases the flavor. This bread is awesome as is though. SUper high hydration, which gives the nice air holes.

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That bread looks great. My loaves pale by comparison. I suspect that I've been under-kneading it. I'll try one of your recipes tomorrow.

April

[albiston]

Speaking of bread baking, does anyone here have much experience with authentic Ciabatta?  I've played around with the recipe in "The Italian Baker" in the past, and enjoyed the results, even though it never looks like the bread pictured on the book cover.

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April,

there is one info on ciabatta that few people know even in Italy. There actually are two types of bread called so: one hailing from Como probably, originating from the local baking tradition, and one which is much more recent and is the product of modern baking technology. Here's what I wrote some time back on my blog:

-Ciabatta is a quite old Northern Italian bread. It might, according to Profumo di Pane by Erika Pignatti, have originated in Trentino. Other sources claim the bread is original of the area around Como (Lombardy). A traditional bread called ciabatta seems to exist in both places making the origin unclear.

-The modern, widespread version of ciabatta, called ciabatta Italiana, was developed only in 1982 when the Mulini Adriesi company registered the farina tipo 1 Italia, a gluten-rich flour, ideal for long rises and proofing and allowing a greater hydration. Not only the flour but also the method for making this bread is trademarked. To help the spreading of this bread and method the company even organises courses bakers can follow to learn the procedure.

-There are a few basic differences between the two breads. Most noticeable of all is the one regarding the crust: the ciabatta from Como has a very crispy crust, absent in the ciabatta Italiana.

I tried quite a few ciabatta recipes, Field's, an Italian one from the Simili sisters (who I believed Field use at times for an inspiration), Rehinardt's (from crust and crumb) and Silverton's (though she calls it simply rustic bread). As much as I like Rehinardt's recipes, his ciabatta is a nice bread but no ciabatta. Silverton's recipe is what comes closer to ciabatta Italiana, Field's is closer to ciabatta from Como... but I haven't tried Jason's recipe yet.

(BTW Jason if you have time it would be great if you could add the recipe to recipeGullet.)

Regarding your question:

How do Italians celebrate birthdays?

The simple short answer is that kids get a special cake and a party, adults usually celebrate with their family, either going out for a nice meal, or having their favourite food at home. On special occasions (for example 18th birthday, 40th and every 10th birthday thereafter) people might organize large parties with many guests and a huge banquet.

[jmolinari]

Albiston, i'll add that if i can figure out how today..

[Pontormo]

First, thanks for all the suggestions regarding Lombardian birthday celebration. I will also need to spend more time reading the thread and seeing what you've been preparing. Hathor, I LOVE juniper berries, too, but I'll have to ask the honored guest more about her personal tastes. She is mostly a salads and vegetable-person, although as a wife with two sons, she's become more carniverous in response to her family's preferences.

Regarding the long discussion of saffron up-thread:

Is there any saffron that is locally grown in Lomardia?

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Today? I don't know, but around 14th century, saffron production was quite widespread even in northern Switzerland. Later it was produced in the Valais, Ticino and Grigioni and until today, there's still a village in the Valais (Mund) where saffron is produced. Hence, we can fairly assume that Saffron once was widely produced on south slopes of the alps (like in the Valtellino)

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Thanks Boris. That puts the picture in better focus for me. Next saffron question: saffron was commonly used as a dye. Was it always used as a spice as well? Or did that come later?

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I have something more to contribute.

Local legend dates risotto alla milanese to 1574 when the daughter of the master of stained-glass at the cathedral was to wed.

One of the apprentices was inspired by the saffron HE used to color stained-glass gold. He decided to add some to rice that was served at the wedding banquet. In Milan, gold-colored dishes were thought to contribute to good health at least a century earlier. [FYI: Some of the major commodities in trade with the East were sold to pharmacists, and then to artisans who ground them for pigments. The semi-precious stone used to make ultramarine, or the most valued blue, comes only from Afghanistan. There might be some intersections between the seasonings used by cooks and items that made their way into the hands of artists that are worth exploring.]

However, other food historians claim that there is a dish similar to risotto alla milanese in the cookbook written by the French royal cook Taillevent (Viander, ca. 1370 for the Valois court): riz engoute.

Alberini in Il pranzo all'italiana seconds what everyone else has said up-thread about Eastern origins and Sicily. I have to wonder about Naples, too, though if Spain is involved, given the rule of Alfonso I in Naples and his attempts to take over all of Italy by forging alliances with Northern Italian courts during the Renaissance. However, Alberini points to a recipe published by Messibugo in an extremely important book he presented to the cardinal of Ferrara in 1510. There, the dish is called "alla siciliana."

Regarding local sources for saffron, crocuses from nearby Abruzzo are harvested for a powdered spice "nowadays" according to Anna del Conte who wrote in the 1980s, I believe. She is my source on much of the information above. I cannot recommend her Gastronomy of Italy enough.

[Pontormo]

P.S. Regarding books and resources.

My recommendation above is based on a first edition of 1987. Last night I had a chance to examine the new revised text. There are pros and cons to each.

The new edition is definitely more attractive. The photographs are beautiful. The new organization of the material includes distinct chapters, including an introduction to the history of Italian cooking and one on regions, the latter including an expansion on the text of the first edition which strikes me as a great improvement. Since the author is from Lombardy, the discussion of this month's region is excellent.

Someone decided to turn the book into an illustrated cookbook, though, and in the process some of the virtues of the earlier reference book have been diminished. Since there are more than 500 Italian cookbooks in English in the US, at least in my superficial skimming of the book, I did not think the long section of "characteristic" recipes adds much.

The expanded section devoted to recipes comes at the expense of the historical entries that I appreciate in the 1st edition. The short, general introductory chapter provides the only historical information. So, for example, Maestro Martino of Como ["Martini" was written in error in one of my posts above], the author of an early cookbook that influenced Platina, receives a pithy entry of its own in the first volume, albeit only a [few?] paragraph. In the new edition, his name appears in the discussion of cookbooks written during the Renaissance. The information about other individual authors tends to be brief.

The reference section of the book is now devoted exclusively to ingredients & culinary terms from A through Z. Here, Del Conte has updated a number of entries to reflect the greater availability of Italian things abroad, including Great Britain, her home.

Her revised PB on Northern Italian cooking looks really good. I also came across a more comprehensive regional cookbook Rustico by Micol Negrin that looks promising.

Edited February 10, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[hathor]

Nice research work, Pontormo! Thanks for all the beta.

Azureus: I was thinking about your ciabatta today, and something you said. Ciabatta should have lots and lots of big holes, but you mentioned kneading it. When I've made ciabatta or have been shown how to make it, you can't 'knead' it per se, its too ' soupy'. When we were being taught how to make it, it was done in a mix machine with a dough hook with an astonishing amount of water. The chef told us to listen for a particularly 'slapping' sound to know when enough water had been used. I'll try and look up my notes on a formula that I have. But, if you can knead it by hand, its not wet enough.

[jmolinari]

Hathor, take a look at the formula i posted above. In a mixer is slaps around, it is about a 95% hydration dough...way to wet to knead. It turns out an awesome ciabatta.

jason

[Nathan P.]

  I also came across a more comprehensive regional cookbook Rustico by Micol Negrin that looks promising.

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I have Rustico out from my local library right now. It is a fairly nice book with good info and only limited by fact that it only has 10 recipes from each region. There is a particularly beautiful pic of a tomato and cheese topped potato pie from Apulia tha I have my eye on. I posted a link in the Piemonte thread to a publishers excerpt which I will repeat here in case anyone is curious.

[FoodMan]

Quick question: I am planning to serve the Malfatti (Ricotta dumplings) as a primo. I've never had those before, would they work like that? Or are they more of a stand alone snack? The main reason I ask is that the recipe I intend to use from Claudia Roden's book uses no flour at all in the dough, so I was not sure if they should be served as a primo.

[Boris_A]

Quick question: I am planning to serve the Malfatti (Ricotta dumplings) as a primo. ..... Claudia Roden's book uses no flour at all in the dough, so I was not sure if they should be served as a primo.

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I made them several times, and I placed them between antipasto and secondo. For me, thy are not really a starter and they are too much stand-alone (taste wise) for being a contorno. I'd call them a light primo.

No flour at all? Seems a bit risky business for me. I always added a tiny bit (1-2-3 spoon) for "glueing" the dough together. Anyway, try boiling one ot two samples before you start with the whole batch. If they fall apart add some flour.

BTW, kudos for your home-curing of bresaola! I wish we had the opportunity once travelling together up the Valtellino from Chiavenna to Bormio and tasting here and there the bresaola from different village butchers. Great bresaola, great cheese, great wine and terrific landsacpe there.

[hathor]

Hathor, take a look at the formula i posted above. In a mixer is slaps around, it is about a 95% hydration dough...way to wet to knead. It turns out an awesome ciabatta.

jason

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,,,,grrr...I can't find my ciabatta formula. Totally agree that this is not a bread that can be kneaded.

[azureus]

Hathor, take a look at the formula i posted above. In a mixer is slaps around, it is about a 95% hydration dough...way to wet to knead. It turns out an awesome ciabatta.

jason

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,,,,grrr...I can't find my ciabatta formula. Totally agree that this is not a bread that can be kneaded.

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My apologies for not replying sooner--I had to be out of town all day yesterday. Carol Fields' recipe is definitely different than the recipes that Jason posted. The dough is still stickier than other breads that I've made, so I start out by mixing it (gently) in my KA until it holds together. With well-oiled hands, I could knead it in mid-air by stretching it and folding it back on itself. Obviously this is a less hydrated dough and a very different method.

My first batch of Jason's #1 recipe is rising in my kitchen now. I happily beat the dough up in my KA mixer, and I did hear what I hope was the proper slapping sounds. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. I started a new biga as well, so tomorrow I will play around with the Carol Fields recipe. At the very least, the bread should turn out differently if I beat it longer in the mixer.

April

[hathor]

Bread is so much fun to play with, isn't it??

think I'm going to play around with the malfatti tonight...I'll report later.

I'm hoping I can set up the gnocchi about an hour before I use them, but I'm nervous about that. Gnocchi can be so tempermental!

[FoodMan]

This Saturday was our Lombardy-inspired Valentines's dinner. A couple of days early, but Teusday is not a good time for a three course meal.

We started with the scallops. I decide to go with a light breading of Wondra flour and pan frying them like a scallopini till nice an crisp. I then made a simple pan sauce with lemon juice and butter. I served them on top of a loose and creamy polenta. The dish woked out great and tasted excellent.

Scallops Scallopini

Second course was the Malfatti, following the recipe from Claudia Roden. She does roll them in flour before boiling, but I would prefer to add some flour to the dough next time becuase they were very delicate. I served them with some lemon zest and oregano melted butter.

Malfatti

Main course was pork. More specifically pork chops braised in two wines from Marcella Hazan's book. I served two contorni with it, braised fennel and sauteed mushrooms with porcini, rosemary and tomatoes.

Pork and sides

Since Mascarpone is one of Lombardy's prized dairy products we had Tiramisu for dessert with homemade lady fingers and, due to the lack of the Lombardy stuff, Vermont Mascarpone.

Too bad the picture does not do this dish justice, it was very good.

[Kevin72]

Scallop Scallopini . . . heh. I actually didn't think about that until you wrote it.

What were the two wines the pork was braised in? I'm drawing a blank on which Marcella book it's from.

Any malfatti casualties when you cooked them?

[FoodMan]

Funny story about the wines...a little embarassing actually. Well, the recipe is from Marcella's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, the recipe is labeled as "Pork Chops Braised in Two wines" I believe. For the wines she says to use 1/2 cup Marsala and 1/2 dry good red like a Valpolicella. So, being in Lombardy and all I wanted to use a Lambrusco for the red. For some reason, instead of Lambrusco, the Valpolicella is the one that stuck in my head and that is what I bought. I did not notice it till I was ready to use it . So the two wines ended up being a Marsala and the Valpolicella, which BTW was very good for cooking and drinking (Allegrini Classico 2002 I think, the bottle is at home and I can check for sure if anyone is interested).

Actually I had no casualties for the Malfatti, I just had to handle them with extreme care and all was well. They were very tasty, but did not make for an ideal "pasta" course. I actually think they might work better if a little sausage ragu is tossed in with them for a meal.

[Eden]

Local legend dates risotto alla milanese to 1574 when the daughter of the master of stained-glass at the cathedral was to wed.

<snipped>

However, other food historians claim that there is a dish similar to risotto alla milanese in the cookbook written by the French royal cook Taillevent (Viander, ca. 1370 for the Valois court): riz engoute.

Alberini in Il pranzo all'italiana seconds what everyone else has said up-thread about Eastern origins and Sicily.  I have to wonder about Naples, too, though if Spain is involved, given the rule of Alfonso I in Naples and his attempts to take over all of Italy by forging alliances with Northern Italian courts during the Renaissance.  However, Alberini points to a recipe published by Messibugo in an extremely important book he presented to the cardinal of Ferrara in 1510.  There, the dish is called "alla siciliana."

I've been out of town & am just catching up with this thread. I'm really enjoying learning more about each region this way and looking forward to trying a few dishes alla Lombardia. the Malfatti look VERY tempting...

Re the conjectural history of Risotto alla Milanese (RaM):

The Viander recipe is simply rice boiled in milk and stock with saffron added for color. Nearly identical recipes for rice coloured with saffron can be found throughout early medieval Europe, which I think gives the lie to most of those RaM legends. Additionally, the process for cooking risotto as we know it does not appear in any pre 1600 cookbooks I'm familiar with.

Slight error on Alberini's part by the way, the 1549 Messisbugo recipe for Sicilian rice recipe has no saffron (at a quick glance, it looks like a simple baked rice with whole eggs in it). However the preceding recipe in Messisbugo, A fare Riso o farro con torli d’uova e formaggio 'To make rice or spelt with egg yolks and cheese', is somewhat closer to RaM. Roughly it says to take rice & boil it in broth, and when it is almost done add a mixture of grated hard cheese & eggs with a little pepper & saffron, and then mix constantly till it's done cooking.

No butter, no frying the rice, no soffrito, but the egg & cheese mixture does add a risotto like creaminess not found in simple boiled rice.

I beleive that Artusi was the first to publish a recipe for "Risotto alla Milanese" as such, but I'm not as familiar with post 17th c. sources, so I could be mistaken.

[Nathan P.]

So I am at the grocery store today looking for a simple menu for 1 when I think, "why not throw together a quick meal inspired by the Lombardia thread?" So this will not inspire you with obscure micro-regional recipes but it all turned out fine.

I started with a simple mushroom risotto using Alba Pioppini mushrooms. I was a bit disapointed that the amazing porcinis that were at the store on Friday were gone but these were a lot cheaper than those $35/# mushrooms.

I then made what is perhaps the most famous dish from the region; Costolette Milanese. Breaded and fried seems like the kind of obvious thing everyone with bread would invent on their own but that makes it no less tasty. This is a veal cutlet. Without this thread, I would probably use pork which is cheaper and has more flavor. I also like to garnish this with a salad of parsley, lemon zest, chile flakes, olive oil, and lemon juice but tonight I decided to just pair it with a glass of red wine. It is amazing how well the term milanese has stuck. Even the Mexican taquerias in my area offer milanese for their tortas.