Spring

Pan mejino o pàn de mèj o pàndemèinn Pan di miglio/Elderflower and polenta cake from Lombardy

~ stefano arturi ~ 14 Comments

Pan de mej - elderflower and polenta cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an old treat from Lombardy, now, alas, almost extinct.

Originally, “pan de mej” were crinkly yellow flat biscuits made with millet flour (“mej” in the Lombardy dialect and “miglio” in Italian) and flavoured with chopped dry elderflowers; over the course of the centuries the millet has been replaced by polenta flour, but chopped elderflowers have remained a key ingredient. These biscuits were traditionally eaten on the day of San Giorgio, the 23rd of April, dunked in single cream: in Lombardy, San Giorgio was hailed as the patron saint of milkmen and, in long gone days, the 23rd of April was when milk supply contracts were renewed. I can vouch for the excellence of the combination of warm pan de mej and cold single cream. In my version, I follow Anna del Conte’s lead and bake a cake instead of biscuits and I use fresh elderflowers. This is a dry cake, exquisitely perfumed, whose restrained elegance and goodness should be revived. Continue reading →

Pizzelle napoletane – Neapolitan fried small pizzas

~ stefano arturi ~ 14 Comments
pizzelle
pizzelle
pizzelle
pizzelle

 

Pizzelle,  fried small (ish) pizzas,  are iconic and beloved  Neapolitan street food whose strong hold on Italian popular culture has been assured for ever  by being the protagonists of a legendary sketch in the movie L’oro di Napoli (The gold of Naples, 195 )  where a young and voluptuous Sophia Loren plays a flirtatious pizzaiola,  a pizza maker, whose pizzelle as well as her prosperous bosom are legendary in the neighbourhood. As she fries the pizzelle she shouts: “…Scialate…scialate…Mangiate oggi e pagate fra otto giorni…” (Enjoy…enjoy…eat now and pay in 8 days’ time…”).

They are also firmly rooted in local home cooking though. As a kid, I used to spend a couple of weeks every summer in Salerno, not far from Naples and I clearly remember pizzelle being prepared by relatives: what a feast, for a little Milanese kid, whose mother was a reluctant cook and who would never embark in any deep frying. My aunt’s pizzelle were simply dressed with a a little tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan: stuck one on top of the other, they would be kept warm in the oven, ready to be devoured with gusto after an exhausting morning at the beach -they are amongst my strongest food memories.  Continue reading →

Caponata di sedano – celery caponata

~ stefano arturi ~ 4 Comments

Caponata di sedano

Celery is one of the main ingredients in the classic summer aubergine caponata.  Few days ago, I thought of making it the protagonist, foregoing the aubergines (not in season now, of course) and the result was excellent

Please read my post on caponata first. This is just a note to myself, not to forget this dish

First I made the sauce from my caponata recipe.
Meanwhile I stringed a large bunch of celery (whichI  had placed in cold water for few hrs).  I then cut it up in thickish slices.

When the sauce had simmered for about twenty minutes, I added the celery and let it cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

The caponata di sedano was rested for 24 hrs and eaten the following days. Delicious.