Friday, July 20, 2007
Cookbook Review: Cucina Del Sole
There are three things that immediately irritate me about Cucina Del Sole, a "celebration of southern Italian Cooking," written by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. One is calling it a celebration. Sorry, but the word is overused, and I see no streamers and party hats in my office at the moment. The other is a blurb by Alice Waters, who seems to have become a professional book promoter, as I run across her name on the back of one book after another. (Alright, maybe it was just two in a row, but that was too many.) And then there are no pictures, as happens all too often in cookbooks these days.
But the lack of pictures makes more room for the writing, which is engaging, and I'm delighted to find someone whose penchant for rambling sentences exceeds even mine. The recipes are marvelous and often surprising. For example, I had done a lot of research into pizza last year as I finished the Complete Idiot's Guide to Pizza and Panini, but I had never seen an approach that called for a biga - a starter slurry of flour, water, and yeast that is variously called a poolish, levain, or sponge, depending on where in the world you are. (And certainly I hadn't seen the tip of adding a teaspoon of white vinegar to adjust the pH of the dough and make it easier to work.) There's a recipe for making semolina-based pasta, rather than the ubiquitous northern Italian approach of eggs and regular flour. There are terrific seafood recipes (no surprise in southern Italy) and meat dishes with variations that are usual in English texts, like Sicilian Braised Rabbit in a Sweet-and-Sour Sauce. The delights continue through vegetables (Marsala Carrots - what a natural pairing) and desserts (Olive Oil Cake with Walnuts). List price is $29.95, and it will be worth every penny - and a lot cheaper than flying to Italy to collect the recipes and know-how yourself.
But the lack of pictures makes more room for the writing, which is engaging, and I'm delighted to find someone whose penchant for rambling sentences exceeds even mine. The recipes are marvelous and often surprising. For example, I had done a lot of research into pizza last year as I finished the Complete Idiot's Guide to Pizza and Panini, but I had never seen an approach that called for a biga - a starter slurry of flour, water, and yeast that is variously called a poolish, levain, or sponge, depending on where in the world you are. (And certainly I hadn't seen the tip of adding a teaspoon of white vinegar to adjust the pH of the dough and make it easier to work.) There's a recipe for making semolina-based pasta, rather than the ubiquitous northern Italian approach of eggs and regular flour. There are terrific seafood recipes (no surprise in southern Italy) and meat dishes with variations that are usual in English texts, like Sicilian Braised Rabbit in a Sweet-and-Sour Sauce. The delights continue through vegetables (Marsala Carrots - what a natural pairing) and desserts (Olive Oil Cake with Walnuts). List price is $29.95, and it will be worth every penny - and a lot cheaper than flying to Italy to collect the recipes and know-how yourself.
Labels: cookbook, Cucina Del Sole, Italian, Italy, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, review, southern
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Traditional Approach to Pound Cake from Southern Cakes Book
A review copy of Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations by Nancie McDermott arrived. Although I haven't had a chance to test the recipes, there's a great tip on pound cakes. The traditional recipe is a pound of sugar, a pound of flour, a pound of eggs, and a pound of butter. But the question I always had was how do you get a pound of eggs? Crack five or six or seven (depending on the size), and you might get more or less a pound, but not on the money.
Here's the flash of the obvious - the important thing is equal proportions. So you weight the eggs first, and then you weigh out equal measures of everything else! Then you cream the sugar and butter, beat in the eggs, and mix in the flour. Bake in a floured and greased pan at 350 until a skewer put into the center comes out clean.
Here's the flash of the obvious - the important thing is equal proportions. So you weight the eggs first, and then you weigh out equal measures of everything else! Then you cream the sugar and butter, beat in the eggs, and mix in the flour. Bake in a floured and greased pan at 350 until a skewer put into the center comes out clean.
Labels: cake, cakes, McDermott, pound cake, southern
