Well not one for sitting around by the pool all day I have been practiing my bread baking skills for when we are entertaining guests. Stone ground flour, wheat germ, natural yeast and a Biga.
The Biga the better! The better your bread is, that is. It gives Forza to your bread so no knead for Berlusconi.
The Biga is starter dough which is left to rise naturally and develope slowly to give it a good strong flavour and a bit of bounce. I am now hooked.
I blame Angie and James for buying me the book. Thanks guys.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Lazy Days enforced idleness.
I have been absent from blogging for a while not because I havent had time but probably because I was a little despondent that it was taking us so long to officially open after all the work we have done.
The house has been finished for six months, we survived the winter with some minor damage although the builders are back to rectify a few things.The declaration of agibilita (a declaration that the house is habitable)we will collect at the beggining of june,finally. Strange how you can live in the house with out it but if you want to operate as a B&B you need it.
Our major bureacratic problem has been that we run off a well and to make sure we can drink the water without problem and having to transport large numbers of bottles from supermarkets etc we have a treatment plant in the garage similar to the local water company although a lot smaller. This is maintained by Culligan who come quarterly to ensure everything is ok. Unfortuntely as we are not on the communal water supply Asl had to confirm our water is drinkable. As we all know being on the communal water supply in Italy doesnt necessarily mean the water is drinkable. Anyway for Asl to certify it they needed to take samples from the well during the year( a whole year!) to tell me that I need to treat the water which I am already treating it but that is not good enough and they wouldnt even allow me to use bottled water to drink for guests. It took me 6 months to get them started on the analysis at great cost in professionl fees and then they charge euro 2700 fee up front. They started at the end of February(winter analysis) They needed to do one in spring which I had to chase them to do but they never answer the phone.They then do 5 over summer when there is less water around and one in winter. They then tell me I need to treat he water which I aready do as I installed a comprehensive system to be on the safe side. But it wasnt/isnt that easy. They still need to decide how much clean water I can keep in the tanks so it doesnt go off......and so it goes on .another bit of paper and another department and at the end of the next century i will have collected all the ofifical stamps.......and then I can frame them.
.
This is when Italian bureacracy can start wearing you down and no wonder the economy hasnt grown for years and you wonder if was all worthwhile in the end.
Hmmmm who knows. Its very grey today and maybe thats influencing my mood.If the sun comes out if could all seem much better....
The house has been finished for six months, we survived the winter with some minor damage although the builders are back to rectify a few things.The declaration of agibilita (a declaration that the house is habitable)we will collect at the beggining of june,finally. Strange how you can live in the house with out it but if you want to operate as a B&B you need it.
Our major bureacratic problem has been that we run off a well and to make sure we can drink the water without problem and having to transport large numbers of bottles from supermarkets etc we have a treatment plant in the garage similar to the local water company although a lot smaller. This is maintained by Culligan who come quarterly to ensure everything is ok. Unfortuntely as we are not on the communal water supply Asl had to confirm our water is drinkable. As we all know being on the communal water supply in Italy doesnt necessarily mean the water is drinkable. Anyway for Asl to certify it they needed to take samples from the well during the year( a whole year!) to tell me that I need to treat the water which I am already treating it but that is not good enough and they wouldnt even allow me to use bottled water to drink for guests. It took me 6 months to get them started on the analysis at great cost in professionl fees and then they charge euro 2700 fee up front. They started at the end of February(winter analysis) They needed to do one in spring which I had to chase them to do but they never answer the phone.They then do 5 over summer when there is less water around and one in winter. They then tell me I need to treat he water which I aready do as I installed a comprehensive system to be on the safe side. But it wasnt/isnt that easy. They still need to decide how much clean water I can keep in the tanks so it doesnt go off......and so it goes on .another bit of paper and another department and at the end of the next century i will have collected all the ofifical stamps.......and then I can frame them.
.
This is when Italian bureacracy can start wearing you down and no wonder the economy hasnt grown for years and you wonder if was all worthwhile in the end.
Hmmmm who knows. Its very grey today and maybe thats influencing my mood.If the sun comes out if could all seem much better....
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Cucina Povera Sarzanese
Every region in Italy seems to have their own versions of the traditional 'contadino' recipes; in the Lunigiana there seems to be several typical recipes - Farinata, Panigazzi and Testaroli. To me as a 'stranieri' they seem to be almost interchangeable as the ingredients are all very similar and simple and they all seem to have been adapted in various manners to eat with sauces, salumi and cheeses.
Farinata - made with water, farina di ceci extra vergin olive oil and salt seems to need a long time to sit before cooking something about the flour needing to expand or gluten ? It seems with some batters you do and some you dont and I am sure some experienced cooks out there can tell me why? Cooked in a wood oven in a flat terracotta dish or dish of copper with a little oil I had this for the first time at a pizzeria a taglio near Ameglia(Bocca di Magra) and it was delicious as were the various pizzas they produced there too.
Testaroli on the other hand made from flour water and salt are a little like crepes and can be eaten with pesto, ragu or with oil and cheese.I have made these with farina integrale and though nice were a little heavy better with ordinary flour.I think they would be delicious also with Nutella
Pannigazzi are a bit like a piadina ( from Emilia-Romagna) and the batter here is white flour, water a little salt and a little oil with a little batter being put in a hot frying pan and moved around to create a thin 'pancake'. These are generally eaten warm with cheeses or salumi.
Simple ingredients for simple pleasures.
Detailed recipes(in italian) can be found on the website of the Comune di Sarzana.
Farinata - made with water, farina di ceci extra vergin olive oil and salt seems to need a long time to sit before cooking something about the flour needing to expand or gluten ? It seems with some batters you do and some you dont and I am sure some experienced cooks out there can tell me why? Cooked in a wood oven in a flat terracotta dish or dish of copper with a little oil I had this for the first time at a pizzeria a taglio near Ameglia(Bocca di Magra) and it was delicious as were the various pizzas they produced there too.
Testaroli on the other hand made from flour water and salt are a little like crepes and can be eaten with pesto, ragu or with oil and cheese.I have made these with farina integrale and though nice were a little heavy better with ordinary flour.I think they would be delicious also with Nutella
Pannigazzi are a bit like a piadina ( from Emilia-Romagna) and the batter here is white flour, water a little salt and a little oil with a little batter being put in a hot frying pan and moved around to create a thin 'pancake'. These are generally eaten warm with cheeses or salumi.
 |
| Testaroli al pesto Genovese |
Detailed recipes(in italian) can be found on the website of the Comune di Sarzana.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)