First prepare the escarole: washed and blanched the escarole briefly in boiling salted water, then drain. Prepare a sauté of garlic, a little oil and chopped anchovies. When the anchovies have melted, add the escarole, desalted capers and pitted olives. Season and evaporate any water from the vegetables, then remove the garlic.
Now prepare the batter: divide the egg yolks and whites, whisk the latter to snow and beat the egg yolks with milk. Add the flour and salt, continuing to work with the whisk, then add the egg whites and mix gently from bottom to top.
The original recipe of the gingerbread ancestor, or the French spice pan called pain d'epices, did not really include ginger
Among the many varieties of spicy bread, the gingerbread it is certainly one of the most famous in the world. Few know, however, that what can be considered his ancestor, or the famous French spice pan said Bread with Spices, originally he did not understand ginger among its ingredients. Let's go then to discover the origin and the history of this ancient recipe, steeped in history and flavors.
The delicious French spice pan pain d'épices
The pain d'épices is a fragrant and soft spiced bread, born in France and disseminated in various northern European countries. Although suitable for every season, it is generally considered a winter and Christmas sweet. His recipe, which varies according to the area, is very simple to prepare and generally involves the use of rye and wheat flour and honey, milk, eggs, yeast and sugar, to which are added various spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, coriander, pepper and ginger; some variants also include cloves, fennel seeds, cardamom or orange peel.
Before the gingerbread … there was a bread without ginger
A distant ancestor of gingerbread and gingerbread, it is precisely the French pain d'épices, among the most famous and beloved European spiced breads in Europe. Although in France, as we have seen, there are many regional variations, the most famous is that Dijon, in Burgundy. The exact name of this traditional dessert is pain d'épice, without the final "s" of the plural, and although in English it is translated with the term gingerbreadin fact not only does not contain ginger, but his recipe involves the use of a single spice, aniseed. This is confirmed by Christine Snoeckx, head of the museum space at the Gingerbread Factory Mulot & Petitjean, who in an interview said that the authentic pain d'épices does not contain ginger, they are not in Dijon, but also in many other parts of France.
The Burgundy spice pan recipe probably dates back to the 1300s when the Countess Margaret III of Flanders (present-day Belgium) after having married the Duke of Burgundy Philip of Rouvres, invented the dough using ingredients from Belgium, namely wheat flour and white honey. The first written mention of local spicebread preparation in Dijon by the local pastry chefs dates back to 1595, at the time of Henry IV, while that of production to 1711.
In short, a truly ancient tradition for a bread that is reminiscent of gingerbread … but that gingerbread is not.
Photos: Le pain d'épices de Dijon burgundy gingerbread france_Flickr_Nate Gray (cphotoj) .jpg Photo: Gingerbread ginger bread_SKopp_Commons Wikipedia.jpg
In Puglia, old vineyards in alberello, the sea and the sirocco wind give a sweet red wine of great charm
A glass of wine tells many stories. It speaks of a territory, of a vine, of a specific productive culture. And then he speaks, so much, also of those who produce it. Chicca, for example, tells of Francesca, a young woman who is completing her studies in enology in Udine, the youngest of the Varvaglione boys and the last one who still has to graduate. The other two, Marzia is Angel, already working in the company, alongside his father Cosimo and mother's Maria Teresa, and represent the fourth generation of a family that produces wine for almost a century.
«My husband wanted to dedicate a wine to each member of our family, says Maria Teresa (her is Primadonna, a chardonnay aged in wood with ample and generous aromas). «Il Chicca, the only Varvaglione company label to be protected by Docg, is a Primitivo di Manduria … Sweet and natural like you.
We are at Leporano, a handful of kilometers from Taranto, in the heart of the production area of this dark berry vine, which is the most famous of Puglia and which also appeals to Americans and Chinese. Here the vineyards grow again to sapling, an ancient system of breeding that resists in some areas of Southern Italy. The plants are low, twisted and very, very old. The sea is very close and the sirocco wind, which blows to the ground, brings so much salinity to the land. Just this salt, this scent of sea, is found in the wines produced by Varvaglione and gives the Chicca a burst of flavor. The sweet part is instead entrusted to the long maturation of the grapes, which are left on the plant until they begin to dry, so the water evaporates and the sugars are concentrated. The result is an almost chewing red, which smells of cherry, ripe plum and black currant; the short aging in wood enriches it with a light spicy note, which adds a little complexity to a glass that you drink with ease and pleasure, at the end of dinner or in combination with a blue cheese platter.
Why now: It's perfect for after dinner in front of the fireplace.
As did: after the harvest, which takes place between the beginning and mid-October, the vinification takes place with a long maceration of the grapes at a controlled temperature, which stops spontaneously at 15 degrees alcohol. The wine then ages in 10 hectolitre barrels for about 8 months.
To combine with: sweets made with almonds, chocolate, blue cheeses.
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