I’m dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow
(Bing Crosby – White Christmas)
Thank you for reading and sharing.
And I’ll be eternally grateful for your support.
Grazie, Monica
Let’s keep the conversation going.
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Upcoming newsletter
Saturday, December 16, My perfect day (don't skip it, you'll find a surprise!!)
Thursday, December 28, The year to come
Wednesday, January 3 2024, The sweets of the Epiphany
Then, I will return to the routine with two publications a month + 1 special issue dedicated to the Via Emilia (things to do, see, and eat in Emilia-Romagna).
Waiting for the snow
The expectation is a time-space of varying duration. Of course, a lot depends on what you are waiting for.
In some cases, you can be perfectly precise. Other times, you cannot know whether it will be a few hours or days.
Let me give you an example. As a child, I could predict when Santa Claus would come, but not how long the expectation for snow would be.
It was enough for the wind to raise its voice, and the sky quickly turned from almost white to gray again. From my comfy observatory, the armchair leaning against the wall under the large living room window, I noticed it. And shaking my head, I went to the kitchen to console myself with a cookie.
Then, after the break, I would return to gazing at the color of the sky and recording the temperature, waiting for the aroma of snow carried by the air. The snow smells cold and light with a vague hint of wetness. When you can feel it in the air, it is an unmistakable signal it is arriving.
Of those days, with my head turned to the nearest window, whether at home, at school, or on the school bus driven by Mr. Ravanelli, I found that more than the snowfall, it is the memory of the expectation that is still vivid in my memory.
Yet the expectation is more than time spent waiting. It is also a state of mind.
As we wait for something to happen, we shape that time. Sometimes, the most extraordinary things happen right there.
And are you still waiting for snow?
2024
If you read my newsletter, you probably remember that from January I would like to introduce you to a historical journey about the origins of Italian pasta.
I hope you'll find it interesting to learn about the evolution of a dish we all cook and love.
Not just pasta!
In 2024, I will also write about Italian historical and modern cookbooks, women of food, past and present, and home cooking. The home kitchen is where we all, recipe after recipe, conquer glories and defeats, fall, and always get back up.
I will season insights into culinary history with a sprinkling of memories and recipes.
If you like the menu, please consider sharing my newsletter with friends and family who might be interested (thank you very much).
Women in the kitchen.
Marietta Sabatini
I will tell you more about her.
She lived in Pellegrino Artusi's shadow even though she was his sidekick.
For sure, she lent the gastronome her arms and hands to cook the recipes collected in Science in the kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.
The Tuscan Marietta Sabatini (1860-1940) was maestra di casa in the Artusi home during the Florentine period of Pellegrino, who was born and raised in Romagna.
The expression maestra di casa implies that Marietta was a maid, cook, and housekeeper. Welcomed as a daughter, she worked alongside Artusi in the writing of his work.
And well did the friends of the Casa Artusi Foundation do in establishing a Marietta Prize reserved for all home cooks who are passionate about cooking, regardless of gender. And an honorary Marietta Prize
has been created since 2005 to have the opportunity of thinking about Artusi’s inheritance in an articulated way, pointing out those skilled people, not only women, who give honor to food culture and table. In particular these Marietta Prizes, in the name of the faithful cook of Artusi, wish to remember those who spend time and ability on the discovery and protection of our land food resources with books, articles, conferences, and tasting, and those who have made gastronomy a personal vocation, finding out a noble activity inside it, aimed to present again recipes and dishes otherwise destined to be forgiven.
And thanks to this activity, the name of Artusi's cook today indicates all of us home cooks. And so, Mariette and Marietti, let's get into the kitchen!
N.604, Panettone Marietta
(Marietta’s Panettone)
My Marietta is a good cook, and such a good-hearted, honest woman that she deserves to have this cake named after her, especially since she taught me how to make it.
With these words, Artusi introduces the Marietta panettone, concluding:
This panettone is worth trying, because it’s much better than the Milanese-style panettone that’s sold commercially, and isn’t much trouble to make.
Don't obsess over a recipe that requires pastry chef skills and equipment.
Make panettone with a recipe suitable for all of us home cooks.
I don't want to contradict Pellegrino, but panettone is something else.
However, give this recipe published in 1891 a chance and share panettone by serving it with its history.
The Recipe
Mix all ingredients and bake immediately in the oven without any rising time.
Ingredients
15 cm diameter mold
100 g butter, softened out of the refrigerator
eggs, 1 whole + 2 yolks
300 g 00 flour
200 g milk
15 g or one packet of baking powder for cake
80 g caster sugar
smell of 1 grated lemon zest
80 g raisins, soaked in hot water and dried
20 g chopped candied fruit
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C degrees (356F).
Whip the soft butter with the egg and the two yolks into the planetary mixer or with electric whips.
Add flour and milk a little at a time, stirring.
Then add baking powder, sugar, and lemon zest.
Knead the mixture for at least 5 minutes.
Finally, add raisins and candied fruit and stir to incorporate.
Butter the mold.
Pour the mixture into a mold twice as large as the amount of batter, deeper than it is wide taller than wide (I used a paper one).
Bake it for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, lower the temperature to 170C degrees (338F).
If it turns out right, it should rise a great deal, and have a puffed-up, dome-shaped top with cracks in it.
Buona cucina, Monica
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