briciole

biscotti Digestive e formaggio inglese / Digestives and English cheese

A series of events have kept me away from the blogosphere in recent weeks. Things will be hectic for at least another couple of weeks: c'est la vie. However, I managed to complete the assignment pertaining the current edition of Cook the Books. Reading Nigel Slater's Eating for England was quite pleasant. A number of his vignettes struck a chord with me, since I have many memories related to English foods, and I had fun comparing notes, so to speak, with him. For example, it looks like we share an appreciation for Bourbon biscuits, which I tasted the first time while... Read more →

gelato al biscotto / ice cream sandwich

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca. This challenge was interesting for me for two main reasons. One is that graham wafers (a.k.a. graham crackers) were on my list of to-try recipes. The second is that I had never tried to bake anything gluten-free. The recipes for the Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars are here. In our household, we cannot eat the Nanaimo Bars as described in the... Read more →

pasticcini da tè per il solstizio d'inverno / tea cookies for the winter solstice

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] It's that time of the year when Susan of Food Blogga invites us to Eat Christmas Cookies and how can one turn down such a sweet invitation from such a nice person? Last year I contributed offelle di marmellata to the event. I have baked countless batches of offelle since then, and have also managed to mail some in a package. A few months ago, I altered slightly the original recipe for the pasta frolla (sweet shortcrust pastry) used to make offelle and with the new version I made crostata di prugne... Read more →

offelle di marmellata

Offella is an ancient name meaning focaccia dolce (sweet). It comes from the Latin offa, a small focaccia made with farro. The recipe for these cookies was inspired by the one in La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiare bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well — this and the other two links below go to an English translation of the book) by Pellegrino Artusi, first published in 1891. In Italy, we refer to this seminal cookbook as L'Artusi. I have no childhood memories of cookie-baking at our house in preparation for the Holidays. However, that... Read more →

tartarughe di pasta frolla / sweet shortcrust pastry turtles

I recently wrote about making pastiera (here and here). In the first post I hinted at a way of recycling the leftover pasta frolla (or pastafrolla, sweet shortcrust pastry). My aunt Lucia used to make crostata (jam tart) and with the leftover pasta frolla she would make mini versions of the same dessert, i.e., crostatine (literally, small crostate). I (sort of) did the same. For the occasion, I used the sea turtle cookie cutter I had received for my participation to the adopt a creature campaign by Oceana. The sea turtle (tartaruga marina) is my husband's favorite marine creature (mine is... Read more →

Novel Food #3: biscotti

Biscotto is a word of Latin origin that means twice-baked: the dough is baked, then cut into slices and baked again. From describing a cooking procedure, the word biscotto came to indicate a baked product, crunchy and rather dry in texture. Nowadays, biscotti are not necessarily twice-baked 1. In Italy, you can find shelves full of biscotti in grocery stores: frollini, novelllini, petit, oswego (or osvego), plus a host of brand-specific names. What do we do with them? He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a liter of milk, splashed some into a pan, and set it on the flame to... Read more →

savoiardo / ladyfinger

The word savoiardo literally means from Savoy, a region of France that in times gone by included parts of the Italian region of Piedmont. The County of Savoy in time became a Duchy. Later on, the Duke of Savoy acquired also the title of King of Sardinia and finally, in 1861, Vittorio Emanuele II became King of newly-united Italy. The Savoy family lost the Italian throne in 1946, when people voted to change the monarchy into a republic. The savoiardo of interest in this context is a cookie and, as its name suggests, one related to the noble family of Savoy.... Read more →

reginella

My last name is also the name of a town in Sicily, not far from Palermo. Because of the name, I have always felt a special connection with the island. My first visit dates back to 1980 and, soon after my arrival in Palermo, I tasted amazing cookies called reginelle. The word reginella literally means little queen: reginelle is the plural. You really never use the singular form, because as soon as you taste one of those delicacies, you want some more. Reginelle are thumb-shaped, slightly bigger than thumb-sized and covered with sesame seeds. To ensure complete coverage, the cookies are... Read more →