Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day, and More: Being the 143rd issue of Cosa Bolle in Pentola

Greetings! Not much to report this week on the Italian Wine Review, though I hope to put some thoughts on Marsala up soon. On Italian food, the major new things are rundowns of the Barolos from Alba Wines that impressed me the most, which I divided into two groups -- 2003, which consists of fewer wines than I realized when I was taking notes and marking those that impressed me, and 2001 Riserva, which is a completely different kettle of fish.

Why so few 2003 Baroli? Because it was a very difficult vintage, even more difficult than the sorry, wet, cold 2002 vintage in some respects. While one often hears that hot dry summers are good for wine, it's also true that there can be too much of a good thing, and when this happens -- 2003 was the hottest, longest, driest summer in many, many years -- all sorts of things can happen: the grapes can overripen, or the ripening can just stop; the acidity can go through the floor, the tannins can remain as green as well-watered grass, sugars can go way up, leading to problems in fermentation and excessive alcohol, and so on.

People who work well, and are lucky, can mitigate the effects of all this, and produce good -- even very good -- wine despite the pitfalls Mother Nature scatters over the landscape. But the vast majority, those who worked well but had Luck frown at them, and those who simply made the wrong decisions, made dismal wines. That's just the way it is.

2001 was, on the other hand, an absolutely beautiful vintage, and I was greatly impressed by quite a few 2001 Barolo Riserva wines. They're pricy, and very young, but are the sorts of wines that one can buy and set aside with confidence, to enjoy for a special occasion 10, or even 20 years from now. You'll find what impressed me most here.

San Valentino
Returning to Cosa Bolle, San Valentino is rapidly approaching. You may not know who he was, or why people would associate a Catholic priest with Love. According to Jacopo Da Varazze, the Archbishop of Genova who compiled La Leggenda Aurea (The Golden Legend in English; it's the most important medieval Lives of the Saints) in the mid-1200s, Valentino was invited to renounce God and worship idols by the Emperor Claudius II in 280 AD. When Valentino refused, the Emperor had him locked up in the Provost's house, where he prayed that God illuminate the house, that those living there know God was the True God.

The Lord did, in the process restoring the sight of the Provost's blind daughter, and the whole family converted. Claudius was not pleased, and had Valentino beheaded. At this point Jacopo stops. Popular tradition holds, however, that Claudius had the entire family executed, starting with Valentino, and that on the eve of his execution he wrote the girl a letter, signing it "from your Valentine." After his death, tradition continues, a pink almond tree, symbol of abiding love, blossomed near his grave.

There is more, however. As is often the case with old Christian Holidays, San Valentino replaces a pagan festival, and more specifically a much older Roman fertility rite called the Lupercali, in which the men and women who followed the God Lupercus would meet in mid-February in the cave where the She-Wolf fed Romulus and Remus, put their names in an urn, and have a child draw several couples at random. The couples thus formed would live for a year as husband and wife, doing everything husbands and wives do until the next Lupercali, and in doing so guarantee fertility for the world.

As you might guess, the early Church was not at all happy with the Lupercali, and in 496 Pope Gelasio suppressed the holiday, decreeing that from then on people would celebrate Valentino instead. He was the perfect choice; in addition to writing the note to the Provost's daughter, he is said to have performed the first mixed marriage, between a girl named Serapia and a centurion named Sabino; the family refused when Sabino asked for her hand because he was a pagan, but Serapia had him talk to Valentino, who agreed to baptize him so they could marry, and also talked to the family. Alas, while this was happening Serapia caught consumption. Valentino hurried to her deathbed, where Sabino begged him to marry them, so he did (after baptizing Sabino), and as he raised his hands to impart the Blessing the betrothed fell into a blessed sleep from which neither awoke.

Valentino was also known for his love of children, and would let them play in his garden, which was much safer than the streets (some things never change). Come evening, he always gave the children flowers to take home to their mothers, knowing that if they carried flowers in their hands they'd hurry straight home, and that giving the gift would increase their love and respect for their parents. Thus comes, tradition says, the custom of giving loved ones little gifts.

Having said all this, a couple more ideas for Valentine's Day, or any other romantic occasion:

Bruschetta in Giallo - Bruschetta in Yellow
Bruschetta is, at its simplest, toast rubbed with garlic and seasoned with olive oil and salt, and it's a wonderful way to start a meal. However, you can do much more with a slice of toast, including this light snack. To serve 4:
  • 8 slices toasted bread, ideally Italian
  • 4 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons heavy cream
  • A walnut-sized chunk of butter
  • 6 ounces (150 g) cooked shelled shrimp (canned will be fine), drained
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives, or more to taste
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Toast the bread and keep it warm.

Beat the eggs with the cream. Heat the butter in a non-stick pan, add the eggs, and stir them about to scramble them, adding the shrimp as well after a few seconds. Continue to cook until the eggs reach the degree of doneness you like, and season them with salt and pepper.

Arrange the toast on four plates, spoon the egg mixture over them, sprinkle the chives over all, and serve at once, with a dry white wine. A Ribolla Gialla might be nice.

Spaghetti alla Cipolla Rossa Con Acciughe Sotto Sale - Spaghetti with Red Onions and Salted Anchovies
This might not be romantic in the traditional sense, but it is a rather lusty, zesty dish that will heighten the senses. Red onions are a little sweeter than white onions, and make for a slightly richer dish. To serve 4:

  • A scant pound (400 g) thick spaghetti (or even bucatini).
  • 2 salted anchovies, headed, boned, rinsed, and crumbled
  • A pound of red onions, peeled and finely sliced
  • 3/4 cup salted ricotta, grated
  • A bunch of parsley, minced
  • 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) extravirgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Set pasta water to boil, salt it when it does, and cook the pasta. In the meantime, heat the oil in a broad fairly deep skillet and add the crumbled anchovies. Stir over a gentle flame for a couple of minutes, until the fall apart completely, and add the parsley. Stir the mixture about and add the onions, which will separate into rings. Season to taste with salt and pepper, cover, and simmer over a low flame for about 10 minutes, by which point they will have softened. Uncover the pot, stir in half of the cheese, and turn off the burner.

When the pasta is done drain it, turn it into the skillet, and cook over a brisk flame for about 2 minutes, and serve it at once with the remaining grated cheese. A wine? White, and I might be tempted by the refreshing directness of a Colli Albani.

Finally, something strictly for Valentine's day:

A Cuore Fondente, or Melting Heart

While a heart-shaped baking tin for two is not a requirement, it does add to the presentation. You'll need,
For the crust:
  • 1/2 cup (50 g) flour
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, broken into bits
  • An egg yolk
For the filling:
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 4 ounces (100 g) baking chocolate
  • 2 more tablespoons unsalted butter
  • Good quality milk chocolate and powdered sugar
Using a mixer, beat the flour, sugar and butter until the mixture looks like crumbs. Beat in the yolk too, and when the dough forms into a ball warp it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a half hour.

Roll the dough out to about an eighth of an inch thick (3 mm), and use it to line a heart-shaped pan whose midline is between 4 and 5 inches (10-12 cm). Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork and chill it for 20 minutes. While it's chilling, heat your oven to 360 F (180 C)

When the time is up, line the dough with oven parchment, fill it with dried beans, and bake it for 20 minutes. Remove the pan, remove the beans and the parchment, and let the baked crust cool.
In the meantime, break the chocolate into chunks and melt it over a double boiler with the cream and the butter, mixing well. Let the mixture cool, pour it into the pie shell, and chill everything in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Come time to serve it, decorate it with shavings of milk chocolate and powdered sugar.

To make a bigger pie to serve 6 you'll need:
  • 2 cups (200 g) flour
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup plus a tablespoon (80 g) sugar
  • An egg and a yolk
  • 1/2 pound plus one ounce (250 g) baking chocolate
  • 3/5 cup (150 ml) heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • A 10-inch (25 cm) diameter pan

Winding down, a couple of modern proverbs:

Il cuore ha le sue ragioni e non intende ragione
- The heart has its reasons, and doesn't listen to reason

Non baciarti mai davanti a casa... L'amore é cieco ma i vicini no - Never kiss on your doorstep… Love is blind, but not the neighbors

A presto & Auguri!

Kyle Phillips
Editor, The Italian Wine Review
http://www.italianwinereview.com
Want to comment? Drop me a line at Kyle@cosabolle.com

PS -- Please forward this to anyone you think would enjoy it! If you would like to read past issues (nothing in them really gets stale), you'll find recent ones at Cosa Bolle.Com, http://www.cosabolle.com, and older ones at http://italianfood.about.com/blbol.htm.

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