Tag: Piedmontese

Mixed boiled meat, the Piedmontese recipe – Italian Cuisine


A great classic of Italian cuisine: the history, the rules, where to eat it best and the recipe of San Giors di Torino to prepare it at home. Bee sauce included

The boiled it is the Piedmontese winter dish: a ritual that, one could say, has always dressed the table. Whenever the fog thickens between the hills of Langa, Roero and Monferrato, the harvests of the great reds leave time to age and the houses are enriched with that warmth that only the colder seasons can give. They call him His Majesty the Boiled and, in fact, the preparation and presentation have to do with wealth, but not opulence.

The rules of Piedmontese mixed boiled meat

Wealth of sauces and pieces of meat, variety of flavors: this is the secret of the Piedmontese mixed boiled meat. Loved by King Vittorio Emanuele II together with tajarin, game, bagna caoda and chopped hard-boiled eggs served with parsley and oil, the great Piedmontese boiled meat follows, in the best tradition, strict rules: it is accompanied by particular contours (baby onions mashed in butter, boiled potatoes, boiled turnips, boiled cabbage leaves, courgettes and fennel sautéed in butter, boiled carrots); is composed by seven cuts of pulp (pointed bow, priest's hat, walnut, brisket, breech, tender, scaramella), seven secondary cuts (cotechino, tail, head, tongue, zampino, hen, loin) e baby baths, or traditional sauces (green sauce, tomato and anchovy sauce, sauce with mustard, grape mustard, bee sauce). At the end of the meal, according to tradition, one should be served cup of hot broth made with all the cuts used, and it is also essential that each meat is cooked separately from the others and immersed in boiling water: the pieces should be tied and fenced with a few cloves and put in salted water with onion, celery, carrot , whole garlic (which will then be removed) and rosemary.

These are the basic rules, as recalled by theAcademician of Italian Cuisine Giovanni Goria, then there are the variants because it is unthinkable that everything described can be served for a meal. The boiled meat, which in the Langa also boasts a Confraternity aimed at its enhancement established in 1984 in Castagnito and Guarene (Cn), has Carrù Fat Ox Fair the culmination of his expression. This year the historic and anticipated event will be held on December 16 and, as usual, it will not be unusual to see queues of people ready to enjoy the renowned Piedmontese boiled meat (as well as tripe soup, Morozzo capon, Borgo San Dalmazzo snails, Cervere leek, green anchovies, raw meat, cheeses and hazelnut-based desserts) from the first light of dawn. After all, Piedmontese beef is one of the finest in Italy and, precisely in Carrù, the first news relating to livestock markets dates back to 1473, even if it is with Duke Vittorio Amedeo I that the history of this event took its its start. In fact, it was he who granted a decree to the citizens to organize an annual cattle fair to be held for three days in November, after the feast of San Carlo, even if only in 1910 the municipal administration established the fair of the fat ox as it is intended. today. Only Piedmontese breed cattle for slaughter can participate in the event, weighing up to fourteen quintals, divided between oxen, steers, calves, calves, bulls, bulls, cows and heifers. Technicians, butchers, breeders and veterinarians come together to compose the juries that will determine the best garments to which will be awarded, in the Foro Boario of the market square, over one hundred prizes divided between saddlecloths, a true and coveted symbol of victory, hand-decorated bands, gold medals, trophies and diplomas: in short, oxen and steers will parade triumphantly on the catwalk like real stars.

Tips for preparing boiled meat

But how to prepare a boiled meat comme il faut? We asked Paolo Ribotto, chef of the San Giors restaurant in Turin who offers it continuously from October until June: “The first rule – he comments – is that each piece of meat is boiled separately and with certain cooking times. We use nine different cuts (head, tongue, tail, ugly and good, muscle, scaramella, hen, cotechino, salami di turgia – salami produced in Canavese and in the Lanzo valleys with meat from cows now at the end of their career, ed) ranging cooked slowly from 7 hours of tail and head to chicken or cured meat time ". Fundamental rule to prepare the broth in which to dip the meat with celery, carrot and onion. "There are seven sauces – he continues – green bangetto, rubra, cougnà, horseradish sauce, bee sauce, fruit mustard, mustard in grains to which we also add coarse salt because many customers like to taste it on meat". A characteristic of San Giors is the accompaniment: "Here – concludes Ribotto – we serve the boiled meat dipped in its broth in a red-hot clay pot and separately we offer the ravioli del plin which must be placed in the broth and, while the customer eats, they finish cooking before being tasted separately. In addition to the plins, we accompany the course with mashed potatoes and leafy vegetables sautéed in butter ".

And among the most popular boiled meats in Turin there is also the one proposed by Madama Piola, the bistro led by the starred Christian Milone. Here we serve biancostat (scaramella), shaved head, tongue, cotechino and chicken accompanied by four sauces: green and red bath, mayonnaise and mustard.

Madam piola

"The piece that should never be missing in the boiled meat – declares the chef who has his headquarters at the Trattoria Zappatori in Pinerolo – is the cut of the scaramella because it is a little fatter than the brisket and is less fat than the belly therefore in all the interesting characteristics of boiled meats can be found in just one cut ". And if at the Ponte Barra restaurant the boiled meat cart is an institution that can be eaten every Wednesday and every Sunday by reservation, in Carrù, on the other hand, one of the undisputed destinations is the Vascello d'Oro: here the Gran Bollito Misto is served in seven cuts (scaramella, brisket, head, tongue, tail, cotechino and hen) with extra virgin olive oil and coarse salt and accompanied by its sauces (bagnet verd, bagnet russ, spicy mustard, horseradish, cugnà and avie sauce ).

Mixed boiled meat, the recipe of chef Paolo Ribotto

San Giors

Ingrediants:
400 gr of head
400 gr of tail
400 gr of hen
300 gr of tongue
300 gr of bad and good
300 gr of cotechino
300 grams of turgia salami
250 grams of muscle
250 gr of candy
celery, carrots and onions to taste

Method:
Prepare the broth by adding celery, carrots and onions to the water, then start cooking the meat over moderate heat and in different pots starting with the longest cuts: tail and head between 6 and 7 hours; language for 6 hours; muscle, bad and good and scaramella for 5 or 6 hours; hen 1 or 2 hours; cotechino and salami di turgia the necessary, but less than all other cuts of meat. You can start in the morning so that in the evening the boiled meat is ready to be portioned and eaten the following day. It is essential in cooking that the meat is always immersed in the broth and that it cooks over very low heat. The indicated doses of meat may seem excessive, but after they are cooked the weight will be considerably lower and right for four diners.

Bee sauce, the recipe of chef Paolo Ribotto

Ingrediants:
100 gr of hazelnuts
40 gr of honey
70 gr of sweet mustard

Method:
Crush the hazelnuts until they are reduced to a puree, then add the honey and mustard a little at a time and mix everything together.

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The ancient Piedmontese apples: all the reasons to find them – Italian Cuisine

The ancient Piedmontese apples: all the reasons to find them


They are rich in vitamins and polyphenols three times more than the most famous varieties found in large retailers and have a wealth of aromas, aromas and taste that makes them unique

They have weird names, sometimes female, like Carla, or of colors, Grigia di Torriana, or, again, Gamba Fina, Buras, Runsé, Magnana, Dominici and Cavilla Bianca. They are all apples of native varieties, present in Piedmont since the end of the thirteenth century. Cultivated since the time of the Cistercian monks in abbeys, they have developed a particular resistance to diseases and are decidedly rustic varieties. Looking small, with a taste tending towards acid, in the 1950s and 1960s, when beautiful, red, huge varieties of apples, such as Fuji or Granny Smiths, appeared on the market, these tiny, imperfect specimens went out of fashion, effectively disappeared. "We have continued to cultivate them", says Federica Quattrocolo, contact person for the Slow Food Presidium products, "because they are on average three times richer in vitamins and polyphenols compared to more commercial varieties. But, above all, they have a completely different range of aromas, tastes and fragrances than those we are used to consuming from large distribution .

An inexhaustible wealth

There are about 700 varieties of apples registered in the territory that goes from Saluzzo to Turin, up to Pinerolo. There were more than a thousand when at the end of the eighteenth century the French nurserymen of Chambery brought them to sell to the botanical garden of Turin. In 2000, when the Slow Food project began together with the Malva Arnaldi School of Bibiana, a training institute for specific technical figures in the agricultural sector, eight qualities were chosen and with those the Presidium was established, which relates to realities or techniques that are considered to have historical value, which are linked in some way to products that define a territory, but which are considered at risk of extinction. Slow Food helps small producers to enter a communication network that gives visibility to the chosen product or reality. That of the ancient Piedmontese apples was one of the first Slow Food presidia in Italy.

A historical reality of the territory

The cultivation of apples for the Canavese area has always been very important. It is a foothill area, with great biodiversity, where there have always been many different varieties of fruit such as apple trees, kiwis, blueberries … In the town of Cavour for the garrison of apples a ten-day event has been held for many years, in mid-November All apples: here there is a fair part where fruit is sold, an educational part, with schools, and a gastronomic part, in which the chefs of the restaurants in the area offer menus based on apples, with the use of this fruit from dessert appetizer.

Ancient apples in the kitchen

All these ancient apples are perfect for raw consumption, with their crunchiness and their marked acidity. But they also lend themselves to cooking: the Gray, for example, is the most suitable to bake in the oven. Already at the time it was soaked in large jars filled with hot water and a syrup was made that could also be consumed in the following months. “In reality, all these apple varieties can be kept for many months. They are harvested in mid-October, apart from the Carla which is harvested at the beginning of September, and then they are left to mature in the lofts for months. In this time the taste softens, rounds, and buy all the nuances that make these apples an extraordinary product". In the kitchen they are extremely versatile, they are suitable both for making desserts and for savory dishes, such as roasts or risottos. They have a reddish, streaked or red-green hue, some are dotted, others are golden, such as Gray. They are apples that were once also used as a medicine in decoctions. Of all, the Carla variety is the one with the oldest taste, the one that refers to childhood memories.

Low yield, but great disease resistance

The ancient apples of Piedmont have been rediscovered thanks to events such as Salon of taste or the Basket of typical products of Turin. They are difficult varieties to grow mainly because the yield is not as abundant as that of the best known apples. They often have a tendency to alternate between: one year they are abundant, the next year the harvest is almost nil. This is the main reason why growers have decided to abandon them over the years, despite the fact that they are very resistant to pests and diseases. Fortunately the trend has changed, and now on the territory there are 25 farmers who have decided to replant these ancient fruits. The plants grow from 300 meters up to 600 meters above sea level and the higher they grow, the more good their fruits are. This depends on the type of soil, which drains and does not stagnate water and allows the plant to absorb all the nutrients present in the soil. Each plant grown in different valleys has its own particularity, and this means that biodiversity is, in these places, an unmissable resource.

Risotto al Barolo: a Piedmontese gourmet recipe – Italian Cuisine

Risotto al Barolo: a Piedmontese gourmet recipe


A not too complex first course, borrowed from Piedmontese gastronomy risotto al Barolo avails itself of the complicity of a wine well known all over the world. Made in Italy excellence, this intense red elixir, with a "full" color and full-bodied flavor, is perfect in combination with simple preparations that enhance the natural aromatic notes and to which it gives, in turn, a particular accent. A real gourmet recipe.

If we want to give the right hype to this dish we need to mention a great character: the revolutionary statesman Camillo Benso Count of Cavour, to which Piedmontese rice and Barolo wine they owe in large part to their fame. In the period in which he was minister of agriculture Cavour had the canal dug that later took his name, to regulate the irrigation of rice fields in the Vercelli and Novara areas and to introduce cutting-edge cultivation methods to his father's estate in Levi, near Vercelli, thus giving a great boost to rice production. But the count is famous above all for his decisive contribution to Piedmontese winemaking and in particular to the production of the great Barolo. An intense, elegant red, even Unesco heritage. In order to obtain a red wine worthy of rivaling the most famous French wines, in 1836 he summoned General Pier Francesco Staglieno to the castle of Grinzane, his commander when he was a garrison officer, but also a renowned winemaker. He modified the winemaking and aging systems of the Nebbiolo wine and with the collaboration of the French enologist Louis Oudard he suggested new techniques, guiding the count and the marquise Giulia Falletti di Barolo towards the production of the great Barolo. Thus contributing to the success of the "wine crusade", as Cavour himself defined it.

Two excellences in one dish

Having said this, one wonders: was it Cavour himself, notoriously a lover of good food (his famous phrase "… catches the table more friends than the mind") who invented the recipe for risotto al Barolo? Not so sure. But whoever first espoused the creamy texture of a Carnaroli or a Vialone with the rich flavor and intense aroma of this extraordinary wine, it has contributed to giving an unrepeatable dish to the already rich gallery of Piedmontese specialties. The recipe is told in a few words: the sauté where the marrow fat slowly melts, a first splash of wine – that wine – then the drop of the rice which, browning, begins to soak up its aromas, therefore still wine, the indispensable blend to evaporate the excessive alcohol content and away with the small additions of boiling broth. The flame must be extinguished when the risotto, of an intense pink color, still soft and on the wave, is ready for the final creaming with butter and Parmesan

Barolo and its curiosities

Barolo is a wine that is obtained from fermentation of Nebbiolo and takes its name from Falletti family, Marquesses of Barolo who first started the production of this wine. Barolo has obtained the certification of controlled and guaranteed origin. In fact, to obtain this precious nectar it is necessary to proceed to an aging of at least three years in oak or chestnut barrels.
This wine has color intense red and the nose is intense and persistent with aromas of violets, vanilla and spices. Sommeliers pair this wine with red meats, braised meats, game and aged cheeses, even if it is considered an excellent meditation wine.

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