The Cooking and Cuisine of Le Marche

[Pontormo]

Thanks for the information, Franci.

Judith, brava!!!! You continue to inspire. Franci's the expert, but it would seem your nationality is transmogrifying...

P.S. I neglected to compliment you, too, on the individually molded gelati. Sort of in keeping with the region in that the flattened peak evokes the city of Urbino perched on high, with the plate the surrounding conquered territories of the duke and saba, rivers linking the court to distant seats of power.

Edited March 12, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[hathor]

Thanks guys!

I had some fun!

P.S. to Pontormo: and here I thought it was just gelato!! Not a metaphor for all the Marche!

[FoodMan]

Judith the Stocafisso looks fantastic! I am still hesitant to make it at home because my wife is a bit averse to strong fish flavors. But you say that was very mild. correct?

[Kevin72]

Baccala, or at least the kind usually available stateside, isn't as pungent as it apparently was back in the day. In fact, if you get the kind sold in the wooden box at Central, it's partially reconstituted already.

Sorry I haven't been contributing so far this month. My wife has recently been diagnosed with gestational diabetes so we're both adapting to a new, pasta and bread-free diet.

But Judith, great meal and pics!

[legourmet]

STOCCAFISSO ALL’ANCONETANA

Stockfish Ancona-style

Well, I made the Stoccafisso...only with baccala. I've never seen stoccafisso in the States.

It's a fairly elaborate dish, but well worth it. It's incredibly flavorful, but even better, each component has been seasoned a bit differently, so each bite tastes a little different. Well worth it.

Here is a blow by blow.

The soaked fish is covered with a tuna-anchovy-caper-carrot-celery-onion paste. This alone would make a great sandwich...could have been the excellent Genova tuna fish that made it so tasty.

This is the full on mise en place.

Tuna-anchovy paste.  Fish.  Potato wedges.  Tomatoes before being stuffed.  As the tomatoes were small, I put them in the oven about 1/2 hour later.

Here is the finished dish, served with herb toasts and a delicious, elegant verdicchio.

And now for the full effect. I wish I had a little time elapse video...this dish disappeared!

Desert wasn't very Marchegiani... I made a honey/almond ice cream, with a bit of Saba (that's Central Italian) and bits of candied, spiced orange peel.

hmmmm....seems I got a little carried away with the photos.   

We had fun....wish you had been with us!

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Great dishes. Very well done. Tell me, what's the difference between stoccafisso and baccala. Isn't both merlussa salted and dried? Or is stoccafisso just dried? I just know the Portugese variaty.

[Franci]

Great dishes. Very well done. Tell me, what's the difference between stoccafisso and baccala. Isn't both merlussa salted  and dried? Or is stoccafisso just dried? I just know the Portugese variaty.

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Stoccafisso it's dried merluzzo, but, just to make things more confusing, when it comes to Veneto they call baccala' stoccafisso and viceversa Stoccafisso is usually soaked and "beaten", in Italy often you can buy the product ready to cook.

[Franci]

Sorry I haven't been contributing so far this month.  My wife has recently been diagnosed with gestational diabetes so we're both adapting to a new, pasta and bread-free diet. 

Kevin, sorry to hear that but with a controlled diet should be fine!

Good luck, to you!

I am going to check my glucose curve pretty soon

[hathor]

Elie, I find baccala to be pretty mild. After is soaked for a few days, it's pretty harmless. I give the uncooked fish a little taste, if its still very salty, you can boil it for a few minutes, and that tames it right down.

I was taught that stoccafissa is air dried, and baccala the salted. But, as Franci says...it's more confusing than that!

This dish is from the other night, and it's not strictly from Le Marche, but its common to all of central Italy...and probably most of northern Italy. Just a simple ravioli with a porcini sauce. I know in LeMarche and Umbria, they make it using that 'panna' stuff that you get in the little cartons. I don't really know what panna is, I know it's not just heavy cream, and its probably full of all kinds of nasty stuff that I don't want to know about; but it makes an excellent base for sauces. I refuse to read the ingredient list. I made my version with a small amount of heavy cream added at the end. God, porcinis are a wonderful thing!

[Pontormo]

Sigh, how luxurious!

I know in LeMarche and Umbria, they make it using that 'panna' stuff that you get in the little cartons.  I don't really know what panna is, I know it's not just heavy cream, and its probably full of all kinds of nasty stuff that I don't want to know about; but it makes an excellent base for sauces. I refuse to read the ingredient list.    I made my version with a small amount of heavy cream added at the end. God, porcinis are a wonderful thing!

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For quite some time I thought the only cream you could get was UHT panna (lunga conservazione) that you have to squeeze out of the little boxes. Then I discovered the refrigerated cases with fresh heavy cream.

Isn't the UHT process rather benign? Heat vs. additives? I confess ignorance.

* * *

Separate note: Kevin & wife: sforza! Pretend it's a Lent thing, only extended, and you'll feel somewhat more Italian.

[Franci]

Isn't the UHT process rather benign?  Heat vs. additives?  I confess ignorance.

Believe it or not, if you spend some time in Italian cooking forums it seems that cream in general is a forbidden item, not to you mention the UHT cream! I found that in Emilia Romagna it more freely used. Where I am from, finding daily fresh cream could be a challange.

For what I know Pontormo you are right, it's just a matter of high heat Here. I basically grew up with UHT milk.

Hathor, I love mushroom ravioli!

I finally managed to finish the last piece of Fugazza from Veneto (which I froze) and could try this Pizza dolce di Pasqua from Pesaro.

Pretty easy to make, not bad, more a cake than a bread, strong hint of Marsala with walnuts and raising. I posted the recipe on my blog.

I let it rest one day and opened this morning for breakfast

Edited March 15, 2007 by Franci (log)

[hathor]

Franci, that Fugazza is just beautiful!! You are amazing!

[Pontormo]

....we're both adapting to a new, pasta and bread-free diet. 

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I took one for the Gipper for part of last night's meal, trying what Trabocchi calls "braised" pasta, or others, "absorption pasta" in which small dried shapes are cooked like risotto, beginning with sautéing shallots and then penne, for example, in olive oil before the gradual addition of stock. I did not follow his suggestions for saucing since ramps will not be in season for some time. I imagine the finished dish would have been much different were my supply of white wine not completely diminished, though stealing oven-braised mushrooms and vegetables to finish the pasta worked out well.

The results were fine, complementing the main course which I went North, over the alps, to prepare. It tasted basically as one might expect rather than novel or revelatory as some would hav it. I'm glad to have done it once, and the principle's a bit like that of finishing off the cooking in a large pan of the saucing contents with a little of the starchy cooking water added. However, it seemed a bit of a waste of precious stock given how good dried pasta is cooked in higly salted water. I certainly don't think that way about risotto, and trust I'm not just being a reactionary traditionalist.

* * *

Franci, only two more weeks till Easter! It looks like you managed to find the pan or paper form that proved elusive before. Just how much stamina and appetite do you think you have for more beautifully swollen holiday breads?

Edited March 16, 2007 by Pontormo (log)

[FoodMan]

Pontormo,

I'm glad I read this now since I was planning on making this pasta tonight. Now...I'll have to find something else to cook .

Kevin- best of luck in the next few months. They will be over soon.

I've not been doing much cooking lately since We were away on vacation last week and this week the baby had a double ear infection . All is better now and hopefully I'll do some cathcing up soon.

[FoodMan]

I tried to catch up a bit this weekend and started off with the Sweet raisin and Honey rolls from the FT book. It seems to me like Chef Trabocchi is really in love with the very 'generous' amount of eggs he puts in all kinds of stuff. The resulting dough here is so wet WITHOUT adding any extra liquid to it that I needed maybe like a cup and half extra flour to make it semi-workable. The end result tasted good especially served for breakfast with a smear of homemade ricotta and honey, but the texture was not as good. Due to the extreme wetness of the dough the gluten did not seem to quiet develop and the rolls has a very soft and crumbly texture to them.

[Pontormo]

Eli: I didn't mean to turn you off the absorption pasta completely, though I'm glad comments were helpful.

Hmmm. The bread looks really good. I'm regretting the fact that I only had grapefruit and coffee this morning...thus far.

However, it sounds as if your first impressions/prejudices about the book are being substantiated. The most interesting dishes, to me, seem to involve seafood. Of these, the ones made restaurant-elegant, seem to be riffs on regional dishes.

[FoodMan]

Ponrtormo-

If you say the pasta was not worth wasting good homemade stock into, then it is not

The book so far as I could tell, is fun to read, informative and with several recipes worth trying. I would just say it is not for a beginner or for a person who blindly follows a recipe. You need to use your common -or cook's- sense when required.

[FoodMan]

More catching up was Saturday's dinner.

Being Lebanese, when I see a recipe for any stuffed vegetable, immediatly my interest is piqued . So, the FT recipe for "baked stuffed zucchini" was a must try.

It worked out great BTW and is highly recommended for those on no-pasta no-carb diets temporarily (hint...Kevin). I used turkey breast instead of veal here, something I do quiet often. Other than chopped turkey, the filling included sauteed mushrooms and pancetta. I also never use fresh tomatoes to cook with, so here contrary to the recipe I used canned San Marzano tomatoes. The end result was excellent served with good crusty bread.

I used a zucchini corer that I bought from a middle eastern store to perfectly core the squash.

I hate how the camera flash messes up the color of the dish...but you get the idea.

[Kevin72]

Say, that does sound good. Thanks for the shout out! Any reason to stuff them vertically instead of splitting them lengthwise and making boats?

I still haven't been able to bring myself to buy the Le Marche book; I've thumbed through it a couple times at the bookstore but no recipes really jump out and grab me.

[FoodMan]

Say, that does sound good. Thanks for the shout out!  Any reason to stuff them vertically instead of splitting them lengthwise and making boats? 

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not really, but since the meat is not ground but rather diced, having the squash in tubes is probably a better way for the filling not to come out. If you use ground meat there really is no reason why you wouldn't just make them into 'boats'.

[Kevin72]

The dish I most strongly associate with the cooking of Le Marche is their brodetto or fish soup. Of course, not only does every region in Italy have their own fish soup, but it's even more micro-regional than that with each town (or hell, even each family) having a particular twist or technique that makes it their own. Waverly Root's long discourse on brodetto in the Le Marche chapter of The Foods of Italy left an impression: see here for some details.

As I mentioned in that post, though, despite getting a bug to make fish soup at least once a year, I almost always wind up a little underwhelmed. So this time I decided not to be so ritualistic about it. I only knew that I was going to make it "Le Marche style", in as much as that term can be used, by having saffron in it and using vinegar. Once at the market, I decided that there in fact wouldn't be any fish in my fish soup (shellfish soup?) and decided to make it from shrimp, calamari, mussels, and scallops. Also, rather than make it really soupy, I'd use less liquid and almost make it more of a stew, I guess.

So, I cooked onion, chilies, and anchovies in some olive oil until they were softened. Then I added and cooked off some vinegar. Then tomato paste and got it toasty. Then a large pinch of saffron. I added some frozen fish stock that our Central Market sells from their seafood department along with some white wine and bay leaves. In went the calamari, and this all cooked for about twenty minutes. Next came the shrimp and mussels, and when the mussels had opened, I added the scallops and another jot of vinegar last, cooking them for maybe two minutes. Off the heat, I swirled in a mixture of chopped parsley and garlic.

And I gotta say, this one hit the spot. The ingredients in such concentrated form really did come out: you could taste the saffron in there, the sweetness of the tomato paste, and the nice zip of the chilies and vinegar cut right through the soup. My most enjoyable brodetto in a while.

Oh, and I made whole wheat flatbread for my wife to eat alongside, since you can't have fish soup and not have some kind of bread on the side for all the juices.

[FoodMan]

Looks wonderful Kevin, and that is what cooking is all about. Do what you like and make it your own.

Why did you decide against fish though? Too flaky?

[Kevin72]

I was trying to keep it smaller in scale (heh?). If you look at the last time I made fish soup on that link I posted, it literally filled a Le Creuset pot to the very brim. My wife is averse as it is to seafood leftovers and is even more so now that she's pregnant, so I wanted to make only enough for dinner that night with maybe one helping for leftovers. After I had bought all the non-fish items, I just decided that they were more than enough on their own.

Truth be told, to me it always seems like the shellfish and whatnot are the real flavor punch to a seafood soup. If you use fillets, they just sort of fall apart and are kinda bland, and if you use whole fish, then you have bones, the errant scale or two, and flabby skin to contend with. Plus the expense!

[Pontormo]

Eli: I love the aesthetics of your tubular dish. Cross between Stonehenge and Eva Hesse, only edible.

Kevin: Well, I am going to persevere in doing something brothy with cod anyway, but mussels are a definite favorite and your bowl is very tempting. I should be making spaghettini con i moscioli before the month is over since the idea of polenta with mussels just doesn't do much for me.

[Franci]

Elie, really love your zucchini!

Since I tried a cold rice stuffed zucchini recipe one time (could that have been lebanese? maybe) I converted to vertical zucchini.

Kevin, your soup looks really good, and I agree, fish soup is the only one I don't like reheated. I am getting so lazy that I don't feel like getting up at 6 to go to the fish market

Edited March 20, 2007 by Franci (log)

[hathor]

Kevin: I just had an "ah-ha" moment. You can't/shouldn't make fish soup with fillets. You need little fishies with lots of little fishy bones. That's where the flavor comes from. It's the reason why I haven't made a LeMarche brodetteo yet, I can't find any bony little fishes.

It's just a thought..... your shellfish stew looks delicious and I would love some right about now! Or some absorption pasta....or a vegetable....

I've been stuck in various airports since last Friday so I'm a bit delirious and more than a bit cranky....!