Q:
Please help me. When my mother was alive she would always
make this fantastic scungilli salad. Please tell me if you have a recipe
that I can try to make. With Christmas Eve coming I would love to add it
to my fish dinner. Thank you
James Pagnanella
A: That's an easy one
Jimmy! For those of you that don't know,
scungilli is the meat of the conch, or a giant snail. You know, the ones
that the islanders would blow on and make that haunting sound. You can
buy conch packed in water sliced very thin. It has great texture and
tastes kind of like the foot of a clam. It goes great in tomato sauce,
in pasta or as an antipasto. Drain it well, add some extra virgin olive
oil, lemon or red wine vinaigrette, some chopped fresh garlic, lot's of
chopped parsley, crushed red pepper, a bit of dried oregano, salt and
pepper and I'll bet this will send you back. Also you may add thinly
chopped fennel or celery.
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Q:
Why is the cannoli cream that I get at Italian
bakeries always different from what I can make at home? One ingredient I
found on a package of Ferrara's cannoli cream was cinnamon oil and that
may be one secret to the flavor differences, but the other difference I
can't duplicate is the consistency. Bakery cannoli cream is as thick and
smooth as peanut butter. If I beat ricotta a lot at home it turns soupy,
if I beat it only long enough to combine the sugar, it stays thick but
you can feel the small cheese curds on your tongue. How do bakeries keep
it smooth as silk yet thick as peanut butter?
Via e-mail
A:
To be real honest, I think the cannoli cream in Italy is
not that |
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good and really varies a
lot. The original ricotta used was from sheep's milk. A few years back
we did some shows in an area of Sicily called Piano d' Albanese on a
plain, near Palermo. It consisted of 400 or 500 people whose decedents
came from Albania, hence the name the "Plains of the Albanians". Most of
the people kept goats and sheep and made Pecorino cheese and fresh
ricotta. We filmed the making of the ricotta from with the milking of
the goats to slaughtering a male to get the stomach (the rennet), to
building a fire and heating the milk and making the ricotta out of the
whey. Then they made cannolis that were about 2 lbs. each. The filling
was very simple: ricotta, sugar and a little vanilla. It's important to
let excess liquid to drain off the ricotta, so put it in a strainer
overnight. You will be surprised on how much water there is the next
day. Experiment with whole milk or skim milk, one is better than the
other. You can also add roasted chopped almonds, candied citron cubes,
candied watermelon rind, white crème de cocoa, Galliano or powdered
cinnamon or small pieces of chocolate. Good luck. |
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