Tag: origin

33-layer Ligurian cake: the origin of the name – Italian Cuisine

A very famous cake whose original recipe is reported in the oldest recipe books of Ligurian cuisine. Pasqualina cake or Ligurian cake 33 layers? Let's find out together

We are faced with what is probably one of the oldest recipes from the Ligurian cuisine. It is a tasty one savoury cake, also known as Pasqualina cake, which is cooked and served as starter on the occasion of Easter holidays.

33-layer Ligurian cake: origin of the name

There 33-layer Ligurian cake it is immediately recognized by the presence of egg in the filling and the scent of marjoram. In the original version from the recipe (which you find below), is composed of a pasta made with 33 very thin sheets superimposed representing the years of Christ and it is precisely for this reason that it is also known as 33-layer Ligurian cake.
In addition to the name, linked to this cake, there are traditions and uses that are being lost. For example, it seems that in ancient times the initials, made with a string of dough, of the head of the family to whom the Ligurian 33-layer cake was intended were affixed to the most superficial layer.

33-layer Ligurian cake or pasqualina cake: traditional recipe

In the recipe that we report the layers are 33, as required by the tradition.
The execution of the dough is not simple and for this reason over the years, as is the case with almost all traditional recipes, the original recipe of the Ligurian 33-layer cake has been modified and simplified. But if you want to try that one authentic follow ours recipe!

Ingredients for a cake pan ø 24 cm

For the dough
1 kg of flour 00
450 g (approximately) of warm water
4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of fine salt

For the stuffing
800 g of chard
600 g of fresh ricotta (or 600 g of curd)
100 g of grated Parmesan cheese
50 g of butter
8 fresh eggs
fresh marjoram leaves to taste
extra virgin olive oil to taste
Salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Method

Sift the flour on a wooden pastry board, make a hole in the center and pour in the water, salt and two tablespoons of oil. Knead vigorously for about ten minutes or until you get a soft and elastic dough. Divide the dough into 33 pieces of the same weight, about the size of a mandarin and place them spaced apart on the surface previously dusted with flour. Cover them with a damp cotton cloth or with cling film and leave to rest for an hour.

In the meantime, clean the beets depriving them of the central coast and wash them thoroughly. Cut them into thin strips and leave them in boiling salted water for a few minutes. Drain and squeeze them very well, then arrange them on a plate, spreading them out and salt them again. Add 50 g of grated Parmesan cheese, the chopped marjoram leaves and mix.

Put the ricotta cheese inside a colander placed on a bowl and compress it well so that all the serum comes out. Transfer the ricotta to a clean bowl and add 2 eggs, 50 g of grated Parmesan, salt and pepper. Mix well in order to obtain a homogeneous mixture.

Pick up the first of the 33 pieces of dough And roll it out very thinly with a rolling pin. You will have to get a thin sheet like a veil and for a satisfactory result you can help yourself by lifting the dough and spreading it even with the back of your fists as pizza chefs do with pizza dough.

Grease the bottom of the cake pan and settle inwardly the first veil of dough so that it overflows. Brush the surface of the dough with a little oil then continue to roll out another ten sheets and place them one on top of the other inside the pan, always greasing them except the last one. On this place the mixture based on beets spreading it well with the back of the spoon and season with a drizzle of oil. Continue by placing the mixture based on over the layer of chard ricotta cheese and butter flakes.
Using a spoon, make the filling 6 dimples regularly spaced and positioned inside each one raw whole egg, without the shell, taking care not to break the yolk. Season each egg with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Roll out the additional 22 sheets and place them on top of each other on the filling anointing them with oil on the surface and placing small pieces of butter on the edges of each sheet. Turn the dough that comes out of the pan inwards, pressing it as if to form a cord along the edge. Brush the surface of the cake with a little oil. Take a straw and cut it obliquely in one of the two ends, thus creating a tip.

Slightly engrave the surface of the cake with a pointed knife, insert the straw inside the hole e blow to make the cake swell. Place in the oven and cook for about an hour in a preheated oven at 180 ° C in static mode. When the cake is well colored, take it out of the oven and let it cool before turning it out of the mold and serving it cut into slices.

Browse the gallery for photos and further tips

Incoming search terms:

https://gordon-ramsay-recipe com/recipes-of-italian-cuisine/33-layer-ligurian-cake-the-origin-of-the-name-italian-cuisine html

Country of origin on the label: not just pasta and rice – Italian Cuisine

Pasta, love and pride of Italian cuisine. But where does the wheat come from?, where are spaghetti, rigatoni, conchiglie & c, glorious protagonists of local recipes? From our beautiful country? Or from unknown distant places?

Clarity on the country of origin: that's what asks 96% of consumers, according to the latest consultation of the Ministries of Agriculture. And that's what they will get, since a new decree provides that theindication of origin of the main ingredient it is not mandatory only for pasta (wheat) and rice, but for all foods, From hamburgers to fruit juices, from cold cuts to jams.

For a year already, the experimentationobligation to indicate onlabel of all dry pasta and rice marketed in Italy, the place of production of wheat and wheat rice.

As for pasta, the "country of wheat cultivation" and the "country of milling", ie where the semolina was produced, must be indicated on the label. If the cultivation / milling took place in a single country for at least – only … – 50%, this country is indicated and its membership in the European Union or not. For example: "Italy and other EU countries". Otherwise we read for example "EU and non-EU countries".

The introduction of the origin of wheat on pasta labels had "disruptive effects on the wheat imports from Canada with a drastic drop of 75% in the last year"- said Ettore Prandini, president of Coldiretti, the leading Italian agricultural association. Coldiretti has led a long battle against foreign wheat, accused of often arriving in our country already old and at risk of containing substances toxic to our body. Pointing the finger in particular on controls in foreign crops compared to the use of pesticides. Glyphosate, the most used in the world, is for example massively used in many producing countries, starting from Canada. In Italy for a couple of years its use has been severely restricted, but we can not say elimnitao (in addition to everything, you can easily buy online).

As for rice, the "Country of cultivation", the "Country of processing" and the "Country of packaging" are indicated on the label. If you find written "Origin of rice" and the name of only one country, it means that everything – cultivation, processing, packaging – took place in that country.

A similar provision had already been taken in 2016 with regard to dairy products, forcing the indication of the "milking country" and the "country of packaging and transformation". If the label indicates "Italian milk" it means that the whole process has taken place in Italy, otherwise the wording could be, for example, "Blend of non-EU countries".

Not only that: over the years, for some other foods it became mandatory – at least partial – transparency: carne sheep, goats, swine, chicken and beef; tomato; fresh fruit and vegetables; eggs; honey; extra virgin olive oil; fish. Now lIndication of the origin of the subjects it will extend to all packaged foods. As for the meat, also that of rabbit, therefore, but above all the processed meats, like hamburgers. Then cold meats, bread, preserves, fruit juices … The provenance of 'prevailing ingredient' it will be so largely unveiled. And a little more protected the Made in Italy agribusiness. The game is still open to fight theItalian Sounding, or the food that "plays Italian", produced by companies disguised in Italian, but which are not Italian. Source of diatribe with the same EU, theagropirateria and the counterfeiting of Made in Italy products are worth every year a turnover exceeding 60 billion euros each year (data from Coldiretti).

Carola Traverso Saibante
October 2017
updated February 2019

DISCOVER SALE & PEPE COOKING COURSES

5 French dishes of Italian origin – Italian Cuisine

There are many French recipes that are actually of Italian origin. To bring them and spread them in France, many centuries ago, it was Caterina de 'Medici, who married the Henry d'Orléans, the future king Henry II. Here are 5 famous and unsuspected French dishes that come from Florence

Give her crêpe a soupe à l'oignon until to omelette, many are i French dishes that actually hide aItalian origin, Florentine to be precise. Entered in the tradition of beyond centuries centuries ago thanks to the notorious sovereign Catherine de Medici, the folds of time seem to want to mask what is poised between legend and truth even today.

From the history books to the table

It all began in 1533 from the marriage between the niece of Lorenzo the Magnificent is Henry of Orléans, the future Henry II. The young adolescent, not satisfied with the French gastronomic offer, moved to Paris bringing with her the excellence of the national table among Florentine, Tuscan and Sicilian cooks. From this political union derives the great Italian influence on the table beyond the Alps: in Catherine de Médecis ou la Reine noire of Jean Orieux it is said that the Florentines have reformed the ancient French cuisine of medieval tradition and they go back to modern French cuisine. Last confirmation comes from the very recent publication of the book The table de la Renaissance. Le mythe italien written with several hands and coordinated by Pascal Briost is Florent Quellier, which collects the contributions of different authors and highlights the influence of Italian cuisine on the French one of the time up to today.

Catherine de Medici in a portrait kept at the Louvres in Paris.

Not just the pants!

When Catherine de Medici he moved to Paris, he managed to conquer the palates of the entire court so much to become famous and be included in the most important French recipes – sans faute! Not only: how queen of France, Caterina de 'Medici leaves her imprint on many aspects of our daily life: even the introduction of the underpants is imputed to her, which she uses when she goes riding, riding not to the Amazon, but to men's fashion. His revolution also transforms the table, which is set with damask tablecloths, the dishes are changed between a course and the other distinguishing between salty and sweet and, above all, appears the fork, putting an end to the archaic use of eating with your hands. The culinary legend continues with what it would bring to France: fromolive oil to spinach, beans, peas is artichokes (of which he was very greedy), until the cooking of birds with orange, the pasta and i fruit sorbets and finally the White bread or pan de la Reine. Caterina de 'Medici affirms the pleasure of the table in all its splendor: chronicles of the time report the menu of the gala dinner given in his honor by the city of Paris in 1549 in which dishes are served that must be divided by three, the perfect number of the superstitious queen: «33 roasts of roe deer, 33 hares, 6 pigs, 66 hens for broth, 66 pheasants, 3 bushels of beans, 3 bushels of peas and 12 dozens of artichokes … simply exceptionnelle!

5 Franco-Florentine plates on all

A quick and timely historical excursus that leads us to discover how many of the dishes that have made the French cuisine world famous are inspired by Italy, Florence and the court of the doctors to be more precise. Let's see the most known in the foreground French dishes that (maybe) you did not know were instead of Italian origin.

1) The Canard à l'orange located in the Duck with Melarancio his ancestor. It seems that the original dish was proposed by Sicilian cooks to the wedding banquet of Catherine de Medici and Henry II. The combination of meat / fruit is the particularity of this recipe, which has clear roots in Arab and Sicilian cuisine, and has spread to Florence at the Corte de 'Medici during the Renaissance.

2) The crepe, or the "grandmother's peels", Belong to the history of ancient Tuscany, then come from the countryside to the Medici family kitchens where they are prepared as crepes with the" sauce glue "(pre-béchamel).

3) There Soupe à l'oignon inspired by the Florentine onion soup, the carabaccia originally from Certaldo, imported to our court by the King of France, Henry II d'Orléans.

4) The Omelette they are simply the evolution of our omelettes, enjoyed by the Medici family for generations that Caterina brings with her across the Alps: a preparation of eggs and vegetables that the French like.

5) Also macarons they arrive in France passing from Florence: their name derives from the verb dent is Legend has it that they were born in Venice in the sixteenth century and then served as court cake at the royal wedding with the Duke of Orleans.

Incoming search terms:

https://gordon-ramsay-recipe com/recipes-of-italian-cuisine/5-french-dishes-of-italian-origin-italian-cuisine html