Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (49 page)

This dish is almost better cold than hot. These quantities serve six people.

The cooks of Romagna are generally very capable when it comes to making this dish, which is very complicated and costly but excellent when properly prepared—not an easy task. In that region, this dish is featured during Carnival, during which period one might say that no meal begins without it. It is mostly served as a first course.

I once met a man from Romagna famed for his eating abilities. One evening he unexpectedly turned up among a group of friends who were about to dig eagerly into a pasticcio that had been prepared for twelve people. Seeing the pasticcio, which was sitting in all its glory on the table, the man exclaimed: “What! For so many people, a pasticcio that would barely be enough for me?” “Very well,” they replied, “if you eat the whole thing, we will pay for your supper.” The good man took up the challenge, and immediately set to work, devouring the entire thing. Amazed at such a spectacle, all his friends said: “Tonight he will split his gut for sure!” Fortunately, nothing serious happened, but his body swelled so much that the skin was stretched tight as a drum. He ranted and raved, tossed and turned, and his belly contracted as if he were about to give birth. But a man armed with a rolling pin came to his aid and, working on the patient like someone making chocolate, managed to deflate his belly, into
which who knows how many other pasticci went on later occasions.

Big eaters and parasites are no longer as common today as they were in antiquity, I believe, for two reasons: one, the constitution of the human body has weakened, and two, certain pleasures of the spirit, which are an appurtenance of civilization, have taken the place of sensual pleasures.

In my opinion, the best macaroni for this dish is the long Neapolitan kind, made from extra-fine dough, with thick walls and a narrow hole in the middle. This type of pasta holds up well when cooked and absorbs more of the seasoning.

Here are the portions for a Romagna-style pasticcio for twelve people. You can modify the recipe as you please, because a pasticcio always comes out well no matter how it is prepared.

350 grams (about 12-1/3 ounces) of macaroni

170 grams (about 6 ounces) of Parmesan cheese

150 grams (about 5-114 ounces) of sweetbreads

60 grams (about 2 ounces) of butter

70 grams (about 2-1/3 ounces) of truffles

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of untrimmed prosciutto

a handful of dried mushrooms

the giblets from 3 or 4 chickens, and their gizzards, provided you remove the gristle

cockscombs, testicles, and unlaid eggs, if you have any

a dash of nutmeg

Do not be alarmed by all this quantity of dressing; it will disappear beneath the shortcrust dough.

Blanch the macaroni—that is, cook until halfway done in salted water. Remove from the water and then cook over a very low flame in brown stock (recipe 4) until the macaroni has absorbed the stock and is cooked through.

In the meantime, make a half portion of the bechamel sauce in recipe 137, and cook the giblets in butter, salt, and a pinch of pepper, moistening them with brown stock. Cut the giblets and sweetbreads into pieces the size of a small nut, and after they have cooked,
add the prosciutto cut into strips, the truffles thinly sliced, the dried mushrooms softened in warm water, and a few dashes of nutmeg. Blend everything together well.

I am assuming that you have already prepared your shortcrust dough, since it needs to rest for a few hours. To make the dough, use the same portions as in 589, recipe A, and add some lemon rind for extra flavor. Now that everything is ready, you can begin to fill your pasticcio, which you can do in various ways. But I always stick to the way they do it in Romagna, where they use specially made copper pans, well lined with tin. So take an appropriately sized pan and grease it well with butter. Drain the macaroni of excess sauce and make a first layer on the bottom of the pan; season with grated Parmesan cheese, bits of butter scattered here and there, a few tablespoons of béchamel sauce, and some giblets. Repeat the same operation until you run out of ingredients and the pan is full.

Now roll out a sheet of shortcrust dough, first with a smooth rolling pin and then with a ridged one, until it is the thickness of a coin. Use this to cover the macaroni completely. Then roll two strips of dough two fingers wide and place them crosswise on top to strengthen the dough covering. Bind the crust all around the pan with a wide strip of dough, and if you have a flair for decoration, use the leftover dough to make as many decorations as will fit; do not forget to garnish the top with a nice bow. Brush the entire surface with egg yolk, and send the pasticcio to the baker or bake it at home in a Dutch oven. Then, serve it up hot to anyone wishing to eat his fill.

Make a béchamel sauce with:

150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of flour

70 grams (about 2-1/3 ounces) of butter

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of grated Parmesan cheese

6 deciliters (about 2-1/2 cups) of milk

Then take:

3 eggs

a bunch of spinach

salt, to taste

Boil the spinach, squeeze dry, and pass though a sieve.

When you remove the bechamel sauce from the fire, break in the eggs, and use the spinach puree to make half of the sauce green.

Take a ring-shaped copper mold with a hole in the middle and ridges all around. Grease it well with cold butter, and fill it first with the green béchamel sauce and then with the yellow sauce. Bake in
bain-marie
until firm. Remove from the mold while still hot, and fill the middle with a nice mixture of chicken giblets and sweetbreads, or milk-fed veal cutlets seasoned with a few mushrooms or truffles. Finish off this tasty treat with butter and brown stock, taking care that it turns out delicate to the taste. You will see what a fine impression this dish will make, and how it will be praised.

150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of rice

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of Parmesan cheese

20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of butter

7 deciliters (about 3 cups) of milk

3 eggs

salt, to taste

Cook the rice in the milk, add the butter and salt, and then, when it is cold, add the other ingredients. Pour into a smooth mold with a hole in the middle and lined with buttered paper on the bottom. Bake in
bain-marie
for a short time, so that it does not get too hard. Remove from the mold while still hot, and serve with giblets in the middle. These amounts serve five people.

When you add necks, heads, and feet to chicken giblets, they become the homely dish that everyone is familiar with. But when you want to make it more refined, using only the livers, combs, unlaid eggs, testicles, and gizzards scalded in broth and without the gristle, you can make it more flavorful and delicate by preparing it in the following way.

First cut some celery into pieces about half a finger long, and cook till one-third done in salted water. Then chop some untrimmed prosciutto and a little onion, put on the fire in butter, and when it is nicely browned, pour in first the gizzards, cut into three pieces, then a pinch of potato flour, and finally the livers cut into two pieces, and all the rest. Season with salt, pepper, and a dash of spices, and when it has absorbed the flavors add some broth or a little tomato sauce (recipe 6) or tomato paste. Sauté the celery separately in butter. When it is cooked, pour in the giblets and cook for a while longer, adding broth if necessary, and serve.

This is a simple, healthy dish that can be served for lunch or as a second course in a family meal.

300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of lean boned milk-fed veal

300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of potatoes

80 grams (about 2-2/3 ounces) of thinly sliced untrimmed prosciutto

70 grams (about 2-1/3 ounces) of butter

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of grated Parmesan cheese

a dash of nutmeg

Boil the potatoes, making sure not to overcook them, or steam them, which would be better, then slice as thin as possible. Cut the prosciutto crosswise into strips barely a finger wide.

Chop the meat very fine with a meat cleaver and season with salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg, because, as you know, it is good to use nutmeg and spices in general in foods that cause flatulence. Divide the meat into twelve portions and form into the same number of cutlets, flattening each with a knife. Then cook in half the butter, but do not let them brown.

Take a metal dish or platter, pour in the fat left in the pan from cooking the meat, and arrange four cutlets on it. Cover the cutlets with a third of the prosciutto, and over this arrange a third of the potatoes, seasoning them with the Parmesan cheese and bits of the remaining butter. Repeat this operation three times, and cook on the metal platter in moderate heat with fire above and below. Then serve. These amounts are enough for four to five people.

They say that the best way for a squab to end its life is in a stew with peas. So place the squabs in a pan on top of a mixture of finely chopped onion, prosciutto, oil, and butter. After they have browned all over, finish cooking with water or broth. Strain the sauce, skim off the fat, and cook the peas in it. Send the squabs to the table surrounded by the peas.

Sometimes to make boiled meat more appetizing, it is cooked again in a stew. But you should wait until you have a thick cut of meat weighing no less than 1/2 a kilogram (about 1 pound). Remove the meat from the broth before it is completely cooked, and place it in a saucepan on top of a mixture of chopped bacon, onion; celery, carrot, and a bit of butter, seasoning it with salt, pepper, and spices. When this battuto has mostly dissolved, finish cooking the meat with tomato sauce (recipe 6) or tomato paste diluted with broth. Strain the sauce, skim off the fat, and put it back on the fire with the meat and a handful of dried mushrooms softened in water.

The art of cooking could be called the art of whimsical, strange names.
Toad in the Hole
is the name of this twice-cooked meat. As you will see from the recipe, and as you will find out when you eat it, if it is a delicious dish it would be an insult to call it a toad.

In Florence, 1/2 a kilogram (about 1 pound) of meat for boiling, which can usually serve three people, weighs about 350 grams (about 12-1/3 ounces) when the bones have been removed. Starting with this amount of meat, beat an egg in a saucepan along with 20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of flour, and 2 deciliters (about 4/5 of a cup) of milk. Cut the meat into thin slices. Take an ovenproof platter, melt in it 50 grams (about 1-2/3 ounces) of butter, and then arrange the sliced boiled meat over the butter. Season with salt, pepper, and spices. When the meat has browned on both sides, sprinkle a heaping tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese over it, and then pour in the contents of the saucepan. Let the mixture firm up, and then send to the table.

If onions don’t bother you, this dish will prove better than the last one. For the same amount of boiled meat, chop 150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of pearl onions, put them in a pan with 50 grams (about 1-2/3 ounces) of butter, and when they begin to brown toss in the boiled meat, thinly sliced, and a whole unpeeled but lightly crushed clove of garlic, which you will later discard. Season with salt and pepper. As the meat begins to dry up, moisten with broth. After seven or eight minutes, add a pinch of chopped parsley and the juice of half a lemon. Then serve.