Tag: traditional

the traditional recipe for fish couscous – Italian Cuisine

Taste of the sea, irresistible spices and ancient tradition: this is the Trapani cous cous by chef Agostino D'Angelo

The cous cous, also written couscous, is a recipe of Maghreb origin, arrived in Sicily during the period of Arab domination. From the exchange of cultures and gastronomic habits, was born the Trapani couscous, which has become one of the typical dishes of the region, particularly in the area of Trapani is San Vito Lo Head, is an authentic symbol of Sicilian cuisine, so much so that it is included among its traditional food products.

Unlike the North African one, prepared with meat, the Trapani couscous is from fish. According to tradition, the couscous must be strictly Handmade, using the technique ofincocciatura: the semolina is worked for a long time with the hands and with so much dedication, up to aggregate and give life to the typical granules. Cooking takes place in the couscoussiera, a special pot for the preparation of traditional cous cous, similar to one steam.

If you want to try making couscous at home, you can also create one couscoussiera housewife: use a pot with high sides and place a colander on it. It is essential that it fits perfectly into the pot, so that they are well attached to each other. you can seal by placing a damp cotton cloth around the edges, so that the steam does not leak out.

We tasted the fish couscous from Agostino D’Angelo, from Trapani and Executive Chef at the Oliviero del Belmond Villa Sant’Andrea of Taormina. After a childhood spent hand-grinding the semolina with his grandmother, the Trapani couscous could only be his main dish.
Below is your recipe, but don't cheat: no precooked couscous (or at least don't tell it).

cous-cous-fish

The recipe for couscous with Trapani by Agostino D’Angelo

Ingredients for 4 people

600 g soup fish
100 g scampi
120 g clams
150 g gallinella
280 g semolina for couscous
100 g onion
30 g garlic
1 bunch of parsley
100 g almonds
30 g tomato paste
1 cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
1 clove
1 lemon
100 ml olive oil
salt

Fish soup

Prepare a beat of oil, almonds, parsley, garlic and onion using a blender. Put in the pot and fry for 6 min. Then add the tomato paste and cook for 3 min until it is cooked well. Finally, add the already cleaned fish soup, covering it with cold water and cook for about 30 minutes. Once the fish is cooked, filter it all to get the broth that will serve to wet the couscous.

Cous cous
Fill a container with warm water and salt (or even sea water) that will serve to wet the semolina gradually and create microgranules. With the use of the fingertips, turn the mixture clockwise gently until small granules are created (repeat the process several times and for small quantities at a time).
Then prepare a mixture of onions, almonds, garlic and oil and mix with the previously prepared couscous.
Cook the couscous in a bain-marie, flavoring the water with lemons, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf for 75 min from the first steam.
Once cooked, place the couscous in a bowl and sprinkle with the fish broth obtained previously, covering a little at a time until the liquid is no longer absorbed by the couscous. Leave to rest for about 2 hours to let the whole thing flavor.

Preparation of the dish

Serve the couscous inside a mafaradda (an earthenware tajine) by adding gurnard, scampi and previously scalded clams. To finish the dish, serve with the previously obtained fish stock.

traditional recipes. Fried, zeppole, rice fritters – Italian Cuisine

On 19 March, the Italian tradition focuses on fried food: from the zeppole di San Giuseppe napoletane to the Tuscan rice fritters

There Father's Day and the desire to prepare something good for such an important person in our lives. Original and imaginative dishes, of course, but also ours tradition gastronomic offers us typical specialties to offer to our father, symbols of unsuspected rituals known since ancient times.

Another masterpiece of the nuns

Among these traditional dishes the most famous is certainly made up of zeppole of San Giuseppe Neapolitan, prepared with a mixture of eggs, butter, sugar, flour, water and lemon, fried and enriched by pastry cream and candied cherries (there is also the version al oven type cupcake). It is a reminiscence of the Roman feast of the Liberalia, which was celebrated on March 17 in honor of Bacchus and Silenus, the gods of wine and wheat. To pay homage to them wheat pancakes were prepared, while the wine flowed in rivers: this is probably one of the many "purification rites" at the beginning of the agricultural season. The Neapolitan version, like almost all Neapolitan Christmas cakes and the famous pastiera, was born thanks to the nuns. According to some those of the convent of San Gregorio Armeno, according to others that of Santa Patrizia, or perhaps of the Croce di Lucca or who knows, of Splendor. Certainly the first documentary evidence of St. Joseph's zeppole dates back to 1837, when it was mentioned by the famous Neapolitan gastronomer Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buonvicino.

The frittellaro of Rome

The same tradition of the Pagan Liberalas is also at the origin of the traditions of the cauliflower fritters or pancakes, to Rome but also in the Lazio and in Umbria. At the Church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami in the Forum, in particular, in the past the Carpenter brotherhood organized solemn celebrations and banquets based on pancakes and cream puffs, from which the Roman saying “San Giuseppe frittellaro".

Lombard tortelli …

In Lombardy the heirs of the Roman fritters are i tortelli di San Giuseppe, simple balls prepared with a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar, yeast and milk, fried and sprinkled with vanilla sugar.

… and the Bolognese ravioli

TO Bologna Father's Day is the day of raviole of San Giuseppe, a sort of sweet ravioli prepared with a mixture similar to shortcrust (rich in butter) and with a filling of jam or Bolognese mustard (sweet mixture based on quince, pears, oranges, sugar and just a pinch of mustard). Everything, then, to be baked in the oven. As you can see, here the fried food disappears but not the origin of this dessert. At one time, in fact, braids of San Giuseppe raviole they adorned all the hedges that they were between Trebbo di Castelmaggiore and Fiesso di Castenaso, and everyone could take: it was the signal that winter was ending, and that it was time to get back to work in the fields.

Tasty balls

In Tuscany the father is celebrated with the Fried Rice: They're preparing boiling water, rice, milk and lemon peel, with the subsequent addition of sugar. Once dried, the mixture is left to rest overnight, after which it is enriched with egg yolks, raisins, liqueur, vanillin and yeast: many small balls are prepared that come fried. It is also here a derivation of the ancient Roman pancake, widespread especially in Siena and described as early as the fifteenth century in the Book of art coquinaria of Martino da Como.

The Salentine tables

Do others have a dish? Very well, in Salento San Giuseppe is even celebrated with a huge one buffet: the Table of Saint Joseph. To which at least 3 guests (the Holy Family) must be invited, up to a maximum of 13 (the Last Supper). Tradition requires that they be prepared 13 dishes for each saint, for a total of 169 dishes! Perhaps the dish-symbol of the anniversary is however mass and ciciri (pasta and chickpeas), but also the pasta with honey and the fried fish (still the fries …).

A broad bean cream

Also in the Salentine tables, typical dishes include net beans, broad bean cream topped with garlic, onion and extra virgin olive oil and accompanied by wild chicory.

The zippulis of Reggio

The Reggio version of the zeppole is called “zippuli ca'ricotta". They are prepared with farina, sugar, eggs, vanilla, lard and stuffed with ricotta, sugar, cinnamon, grated lemon and icing sugar.

The Sicilian version

In Sicily the donuts are prepared with a dough of flour, rice, orange honey and icing sugar. They have a cylindrical shape and are fried and then covered with orange honey, icing sugar and cinnamon.

The greedy sfinci

In Sicily, in addition to the zeppole, for Father's Day you can also eat the sfinci of San Giuseppe, very similar to the Neapolitan zeppole but with one sheep's milk ricotta cream, sugar and dark chocolate drops (similar to that of cannoli). The sfinci come fried in lard and then decorated with chopped pistachios and orange peel and candied cherries.

of Massimo Lanari

Carnival, the best traditional sweets – Italian Cuisine

Joking, festive and cheerful. The carnival brings us every year a wave of confetti, joy, masks and occasions for take us a little less seriously. Also in the kitchen.

In this period, in fact, as tradition wants, one abandons himself to real sins of throat. The strong dishes of the Carnival are in every region the fried desserts, to spoil in cheerful mixed trays decorated with icing sugar and colored pralines.
Lies, chatter, crostoli, rags, castagnole, pancakes and tortelli lend themselves to endless variations, teasing the most gluttonous gorge and surprising the most curious palates.

For example, have you ever tasted the rumors stuffed with zucchini? Serve with the caramel mousse? And what about tortelli with coffee filling? The Carnival is crazy and invites us to experiment a bit.
Here then is a selection of recipes perfect for organizing a carnival snack and preparing a tasty table that will animate every costume party. And to enter the right climate, why not cook masked?

Have fun preparing the classics Chatter, the sweet mixed fried, le chocolate balls fried in batter, le peach fritters syrup, le chiacchiere filled with zucchini, i coffee tortelli with almond cream, i flakes with Marsala with strands of caramel, the chatter with caramel mousse, the baked rice discs, the gianduia pancakes, the refined apple slices in batter and spicy oranges, the traditional ones damselfish, the cicerchiata and the delicate chestnut of pear and citrus sauce.

Our Carnival desserts

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Chiacchiere classic recipe