Wherever in the world you are — from Australia, we wish you peace and happiness with your family and friends for the festive season.
Auguri di Buon Natale!
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Christmas Canestrelli
‘Tis the season to be jolly — and to continue my Italian summer theme, I’m baking some Christmas canestrelli to give as gifts. Don’t you think they look beautiful in my beautiful glass container by Creative Glass Gifts?
Canestrelli are delicious buttery Italian cookies originally from the Italian region of Liguria. Traditionally they were baked at Easter and they are also served at weddings and christenings. But these flower-shaped shortbread cookies which are generously dusted with icing sugar, are a great alternative to my usual Christmas shortbread.
Canestrelli means ‘little baskets’ which refers to the baskets in which the cookies were placed to cool after baking.
My recipe is adapted from cookbook La Cucina – The regional cooking of Italy and is really simple to prepare.
Canestrelli
Servings: approx 30 cookies Prep time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
150 gr all-purpose flour
50 gr potato flour
100 gr butter, cubed and softened
zest of 1 lemon
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 egg separated, egg white beaten until frothy
pinch of salt
70 gr icing sugar
pinch of baking powder
extra icing sugar for dusting
Method:
Sift the flours into bowl. Add the butter, lemon zest, vanilla, egg yolk, salt, icing sugar and baking powder. Mix with a fork until the mixture comes together. This can also be done in a food mixer.
Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead into a ball. Wrap in plastic and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough to form a sheet about 5mm thick and cut out flower shapes with a small hole in the centre.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet and brush them with the egg white.
Bake at 190 degrees for 10 minutes, or until pale golden.
Dust with icing sugar while still warm and again when cool.
Enjoy with your morning coffee, or in Australia, serve at afternoon tea. Or give as a gift in a beautiful container.
Buon appetito!
PS: Do you have a favourite Italian biscotto that you serve at Christmas? I’d love you to share the recipe!
You say tomato, I think Italiano
When you say tomato, what comes to mind? Pizza, pasta sauce, summer salads? To me, those bright red globes are quintessential Italiano summer fruits. But even though the tomato is an essential ingredient in many iconic Italian dishes, it isn’t native to Italy. The tomato originated in the Andes and the Spaniards distributed them throughout Europe where initially, they were regarded with suspicion. When they first arrived in Bel Paese, they were grown as ornamentals, for their beauty.
Today, tomato consumption per capita in Italy is around 60kg per year compared to around 20kg per capita in Australia. Globally, it’s the most important fruit (yes, it’s a fruit) crop with 160 million tons produced in 2011. That’s a lot of pomodori!
My tomatoes are looking beautiful right now. Some plants have grown to almost a metre high, with plenty of flowers. There are a few fruits, but I hope that soon there’ll be lots of red orbs of summeriness!
Toward the end of summer, cooking the sugo di pomodoro (tomato sauce) is a ritual practiced by many Italo-Australian families. The sauce is bottled and stored for use throughout the year. This year, I hope to make my own sugo with some of the tomatoes from my garden.
Historically, the word pomodoro appears to have a number of origins. It was known as pomo di moro – apple of the Moors, as it was a favourite of the Arabs; the French thought the tomato had aphrodisiac qualities and called it pomme d’amour – love apple; another version is the Italian pomo d’oro, which translates to golden apple.
But whichever version you like — if you say tomato, I think Italiano!
Alla prossima!
Recipes for my Italian summer
I love cooking and I’m a cook who needs a recipe, so they are always on my reading list. I’ve been known to while away a few hours looking though cookbooks when there is an occasion coming up (and even when there isn’t one!). I have lots — not only Italian, also Thai, Vietnamese and Greek. My favourite chefs are Delia Smith, Nigella (who also loves Italy and Italian cooking), Luke Nguyen and Aussie chef Karen Martini whose recipes feature Italian, Greek and Lebanese food. I also have recipe books dedicated to Italian food, as well as books that focus on Italian regional cuisine. Now I have another excuse to while away some time looking at recipes for my Italian summer. It’s research, right?
A few years ago I received from amore mio a tome of a book called La cucina – the regional cooking of Italy. It’s from the Accademia Italiana della Cucina (Italian Academy of Cuisine) which was founded more than 60 years ago, to preserve the the culinary heritage of Italy. With more than 2000 recipes from all regions of Italy, it’s a veritable encyclopaedia of traditional Italian cooking. You can find recipes on their website. (It’s in Italian and you have to register to access the recipes)
When I first opened the book, I was intimidated. Not a picture in sight! And recipes for anything from smoked goose to polenta fruitcake, laurel liqueur to wild herb soup, and pasta in a myriad ways.
I haven’t cooked many dishes from the book but my Italian summer plans call for another look. I hope I can do justice to these traditional Italian recipes.
Here’s a peek . . .
Even though some of the recipes come from traditional kitchens when Italians grew most of what they ate, they are open to interpretation. As Paolo Petroni, founder of the Slow Food Movement says,”tradition is in perpetual motion and new life must always be breathed into the past”.
Here’s to giving new life to ancient traditions!
Buona cucina!
PS: Do you have a favourite Italian recipe that’s been passed down from your nonna? Please share if it’s not a secret!
The foundations for an Italian summer
As I said in my last post, I’m planning to live like an Italian this summer. This means preparing the foundations — planting and nurturing the fruit and vegetables that we will be eating this season. The garden is bursting with new growth. The fruit trees — apple, nectarine, fig, pomegranate, apricot, lemon, and the vines —grape, passionfruit, berry and kiwi are showing signs of a great harvest.
Let’s hope (speriamo!) my green thumb endures . . .
Planting the foundations for an Italian summer
In order for growth and progress, it’s necessary to begin with good foundations. So it is in the garden. New vegetable beds have been created, the soil has been enriched, seeds have been sown and planting has begun!
Some of the summer vegetables I’ve planted:
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pomodori (tomatoes)
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melanzane (eggplant)
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cetrioli (cucumbers)
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lattuga (lettuce)
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ravanello (radish)
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barbabietola (beetroot)
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peperoncino (chilli)
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rucola (rocket)
Mine is not a dedicated orto (vegetable garden) as I love flowers too. It’s a cottage garden and the vegetables and herbs —basilico (basil), timo di limone (lemon thyme), origano (oregano), salvia (sage), rosmarino (rosemary), aneto (dill) and prezzemolo e menta (parsley and mint) have to live among the roses, begonias, geraniums, hollyhocks and daisies.
Spring is in the air, but summer isn’t far behind. Over the next few months, we’ll see how my foundations for an Italian summer bears fruit.
Looking forward to un raccolto abbondante (a rich harvest!)
PS: Do you grow your own fruit and vegetables? What’s in your garden?
How to live like an Italian
Live like an Italian”, was Dina’s advice when I lamented that hadn’t visited Italy that summer. I missed the place, the people, the Italian ways. I’ve reflected on her words, on how I could live like an Italian, especially when I’m not in bel paese.
How do you live like an Italian when you’re not in Italy?
Is it about the food . . .the language . . .the culture . . . family? Maybe it’s the way you behave — in Italian it’s called Il Galateo. Perhaps it’s about traditions and rituals.
I asked some friends if they live like Italians.
“Of course!” was the chorus.
But what did it mean to them to live like Italians?
Food and family topped the list. Not surprising! When we think of Italy there is an immediate association with food. It defines what it means to be Italian no matter where in the world they live.
For Italians however, food means more than just filling stomachs. Food and food practices have important roles within the family — through food preparation rituals, traditional family gatherings, and celebrations.
And for Italian Australians, especially the generation that emigrated in the 1950s, the traditions and rituals of the past continue, as do the values of family and culture which they brought with them all those years ago. In some ways, they are more Italian than the Italians!
So I’ve decided to live like an Italian this summer.
Of course it’s about the food. But it will also include growing the fruit and vegetables, recipes and cooking, rituals like enjoying an aperitivo in the evenings, making the sugo, and gathering family and friends together, books, Italian language and cultural activities.
It’s going to be an Italian summer in Australia and I am going to live like an Italian. Perhaps I’ll start my own traditions.
Buone tradizioni!
PS: Do you have rituals and traditions in your family that have endured over time?