Eating Italy: A Chef's Culinary Adventure (26 page)

BOMBOLONI
with
VIN SANTO CREMA

Vin santo is a Tuscan dessert wine that ranges in sweetness from bone dry to sherry-like to Madeira-like. It’s usually enjoyed with
cantucci
(almond cookies similar to biscotti) for dipping into the wine to soak it up. When I did a dinner in Philadelphia for a regular Tuscan customer named Paolo Paoletti, this was the dessert. I stuffed the doughnuts with vin santo
crema.
He loved it. But if you don’t want to go through the trouble of stuffing the doughnuts, you could serve them with the crema on the side.

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Starter:

1½ packed tablespoons fresh yeast (28 g), or 1 tablespoon plus ¾ teaspoon (15 g) active dry yeast

2½ teaspoons (10 g) granulated sugar

2½ tablespoons (21 g) bread flour

⅓ cup plus 2 tablespoons (110 g) warm whole milk

Dough:

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

3 large eggs

⅓ cup (90 ml) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

3⅔ cups (500 g) bread flour

1¼ teaspoons (7.5 g) salt

Vin Santo Crema:

7 tablespoons (54 g)
tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons (75 g) granulated sugar

6 large egg yolks

1½ cups (375 ml) whole milk

½ cup (120 ml) vin santo

½ vanilla bean, split and scraped

To Serve:

Oil, for frying

¾ cup (175 ml) granulated sugar, for dusting

For the starter:
Use a wooden spoon to stir together the fresh yeast, sugar, flour, and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer, breaking up the yeast. If using active dry yeast, sprinkle it over the warm milk in the bowl, let stand for 5 minutes or until foamy, then stir in the remaining starter ingredients. Cover loosely and let stand at room temperature for 30 to 35 minutes.

For the dough:
Add the sugar, eggs, and butter to the starter and fit the dough hook onto the mixer. Mix on medium speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes. With the mixer running, gradually add the flour and salt and mix until the dough is sticky and stretchy, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly buttered bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1½ hours.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and pat or roll the dough to an even ½-inch (1.25-cm) thickness. Use a 2-inch (5-cm) round cookie cutter to punch out eighteen to twenty disks. Set them on a parchment-lined sheet pan, cover loosely, and refrigerate until partially risen, about 1 hour.

For the vin santo crema:
Sift together the flour and sugar into a small bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks until smooth. Fill a bowl with ice water.

Combine the milk, vin santo, and vanilla in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Don’t worry if the mixture looks curdled; it will become smooth when you whisk in the eggs. Temper in the egg mixture by whisking about ¼ cup (60 ml) of the milk into the eggs until incorporated, then another ¼ cup (60 ml). Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and set over low heat, whisking to combine everything and cooking gently until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes, whisking constantly.

Cool the pan bottom by setting it into the ice water, whisking the crema to cool it down. When barely warm, press plastic wrap onto the top of the crema and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. When cold, spoon the crema into a pastry bag or resealable plastic bag.

To serve:
Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C) in a deep fryer or deep pot. Add the dough disks in batches to prevent overcrowding and fry until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes, flipping the doughnuts to fry all sides and adjusting the heat to maintain a constant 350°F (175°C) oil temperature. Use a spider strainer or slotted spoon to transfer the doughnuts to paper towels to drain.

When cool enough to handle, poke a ¼-inch (6-mm) hole into the side of each bombolone, snip a corner from the bag, and pipe the crema into the bomboloni until stuffed. Roll the stuffed bomboloni in sugar and serve.

CHERRY SHORTCAKE
with
CHERRY MERINGATA

Every pizza place in Italy serves meringata. It’s usually something they buy premade from a company called Bindi.
Meringata
is a crunchy cake of meringue stuffed with
fiordilatte
gelato (basic white gelato) and
frutti di bosco
(mixed berries). The first time I had it was in Villa d’Almè and it has since become a favorite dessert that my wife and I share. We usually order two of them! I don’t know what kind of preservatives they add to make the cake and ice cream last. My meringue cake kept melting in the freezer! So now I chop up most of the meringue and crumble it over the dessert. There are several components here but they can all be made ahead and the final result is absolutely fantastic.

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

Cherry Meringata:

7 large egg whites

2¼ cups (450 g) granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

5 cups (1.25 L) Fiordilatte Gelato (
page 287
), ready to churn

Polenta Shortcake:

6 ounces (1½ sticks/170 g) unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons (175 g) granulated sugar

½ vanilla bean, split and scraped

3 large eggs, at room temperature

10 large egg yolks, at room temperature

¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon (100 g)
tipo
00 flour (see
page 277
) or all-purpose flour

⅔ cup (105 g) coarse yellow cornmeal (polenta)

1 teaspoon (4.5 g) baking powder

½ teaspoon (3 g) salt

Cherry Sauce:

1 pound (450 g) fresh cherries

¾ cup (175 ml) glucose syrup or light corn syrup

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar

For the cherry meringata:
Heat the oven to 190°F (88°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk together the egg whites, sugar, salt, and vanilla in the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Gently heat the ingredients to 140°F (60°C), beating with a whisk or electric mixer on medium-low speed, 4 to 5 minutes. Then whisk or whip the mixture in the bowl on high speed until medium-stiff peaks form when the beater or whisk is lifted, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, 2 minutes more. Spoon the mixture into a resealable plastic bag. Press out the air, then twist the bag around the mixture, snip off a corner, and pipe the mixture into 2-inch (5-cm)-diameter mounds on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 8 hours or overnight until the meringue is crisp and dry. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Store in a covered container in a cool, dry place for up to 2 days. (Avoid making the meringue in a humid environment, as it will become sticky during cooling.)

Make the Fiordilatte Gelato as directed. When the ice cream mixture is almost finished churning and nearly firm, chop up the oven-dried meringue. Add 2 cups (475 ml) of the chopped meringue to the ice cream mixture, letting it become incorporated into the mixture. Continue freezing according to the manufacturer’s directions, then store the gelato in the freezer until firm, at least 2 hours.

For the polenta shortcake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, letting each become incorporated before adding the next. Whisk together the flour, polenta, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Change to low speed and slowly beat the flour mixture into the egg mixture just until it is incorporated.

Spread the batter on a half sheet pan (17 x 12 inches/43 x 30 cm) and bake until set and golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan on a rack.

For the cherry sauce:
Pit the cherries and place them in a medium saucepan. Add the glucose syrup, sugar, and ½ cup (120 ml) of water. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil until the mixture thickens slightly and reaches 220°F (104°C) on a candy thermometer, 10 to 12 minutes.

To assemble, cut the shortcake into 3-inch (7.5-cm) circles or squares with a biscuit cutter or knife. You should have twelve to sixteen pieces. Set one piece on each plate. Add a generous layer of the gelato, a spoonful of the cherry sauce, and some of the remaining chopped meringue. Top with another piece of shortcake, compressing gently, and a generous spoonful of cherry sauce. Scatter some of the remaining chopped meringue over the top and around the plate.

EARTHY, RICH HAZELNUTS FROM PIEMONTE. COARSE GROUND POLENTA FROM LOMBARDY. DARK ROASTED COFFEE FROM SICILY. BRACING BLACK LICORICE FROM PUGLIA. AT THE SALONE DEL GUSTO, A BIANNUAL SLOW FOOD FESTIVAL IN TURIN, EVERY REGION OF ITALY HAS ITS OWN SECTION. IT’S LIKE AN ITALIAN VERSION OF DISNEY’S EPCOT THEME PARK BUT LIGHT-YEARS BETTER WITH FOOD PRODUCERS WHO ACTUALLY LIVE AND WORK IN THAT REGION.

Claudia schooled me in each region. “Taste this,” she said, holding out a slab of glistening, fatty porchetta from Lazio. And later, a shard of savory pecorino from Sardinia. And then a sip of Jermann Vintage Tunina, a golden, honey-scented wine from Fruili. She wanted me to taste how Sardinian pecorino is less salty than Pecorino Romano. How olive oils from different parts of the country have completely different aromas. Every two years in October, thousands of people from all over the globe come to the Salone del Gusto, a worldwide celebration of traditional, local foods that’s open to the public. The first year I went was also the first year of Terra Madre (literally, “Mother Earth”), an offshoot of Slow Food International that promotes sustainable food communities around the world.

Tasting, sharing, and talking about amazing food for half a day was a mind-blowing, palate-bending experience. But we hadn’t even had lunch yet. Claudia and I met up with Jeff Benjamin, a partner at Vetri Ristorante in Philadelphia, who was attending some wine classes at Slow Food that year. We’d planned to have lunch together in Alba sometime in the afternoon. Why Alba? Because it was truffle season, and white truffles are the epitome of slow food: a rare find, difficult to capture as convenience food, and prized from only a few places around the world, most of all, Alba.

I drove Claudia’s red Mini Cooper south from the bustling city of Turin through the vineyard-laden hills of Piemont to the tiny medieval town of Alba. During the fall, you can tell you’re close just by opening the windows. The unmistakable musk of truffles seeps into the car and captivates your senses. Alba holds truffle fairs every weekend from late September to mid-November. When you step outside your car and into Piazza Garibaldi, the truffle aroma completely engulfs you. The “white diamonds of the kitchen” are everywhere, displayed on cloth-covered tables, and ranging in size from marbles to golf balls to grapefruits. All the vendors have scales. The goods are handled with care. And even a tiny amount is very expensive—about $115 (85 euros) per ounce (28 g). There’s almost something illicit about it, as if they’re selling some kind of drug.