Category: Events, Christmas and Easter

PRESNIZ and GUBANA (Easter cakes in Trieste)


In Trieste, while the Sicilian relatives were eating their celebratory desserts at Easter, we were either eating presniz or gubana (also called putiza) – both are made with similar pastry (gubana has yeast) and fillings containing different amounts of a mixture of nuts, sultanas, peel and chocolate. A little grappa or a little rum always helps.

The presniz or gubana are then placed into a round baking tin and coiled inside the tin so that when baked, the sides will join up and form a round shape when removed from the tin.

The preparation of gubana requires several steps in order to allow a sourdough to develop using very little yeast.

Pastry with yeast:
500 g flour 00
20 g of yeast
2 cups milk
130 g sugar
100 g butter
1 lemon, peel
1 egg yolk to complete
butter for the plate
3 eggs
salt
 
FOR THE FILLING:
150 g raisins,
60 g Mixture: candied citron,  candied orange, prunes, dried figs
150 g of walnuts
60 g of pine nuts
60 g almonds
100 g of dark chocolate
1 glass of grappa or brandy
2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs
30 g butter
2 eggs
grated zest of ½ orange and ½ lemon
 
Heat 4 tablespoons of milk and when it is warm, add the yeast and let it bubble.
Mix 100 g of flour with a teaspoon of sugar and the yeast dissolved in milk. Cover and allow to rise. When it has doubled in volume, add the remaining flour and remaining sugar, eggs, softened butter, a pinch of salt, grated lemon peel and milk. Work this into a dough. Allow to rest 24 hours.

Prepare the filling:

Soak the walnuts and almonds in boiling water, remove their skins and chop them finely.
Soak the raisins in alcohol for a couple of hours. Add the rest of the fruit cut into small piece sand soak for another hour.
Add grated chocolate  peel and pine nuts.
Add 1 beaten egg (beaten with a fork) and  soft or melted butter .
 
Roll out the dough on a towel in a thin rectangular shape (about 5 mm thick).
Fry the breadcrumbs in a little butter and when cool spread them over the dough.
Cover with the filling and leave a boarder around the edge (2 cm) . Roll it up on itself, in the shape of a coiled snake. Arrange on baking paper or buttered and floured baking tray.
Brush the surface with 1 beaten egg yolk, sprinkle with a little sugar and bake in a preheated oven at 190 ° C for about 45 minutes. Serve luke warm or cold (it cuts better and it is usually made well in advance of being eaten).
 

All you need to do is look at a map of Italy to understand why much of the cuisine in Trieste (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), is influenced by Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav traditions.

The apple strudel that is celebrated throughout the year and is a standard dessert in the kitchens of Triestini, has yet again a variation of the pastry, some of the nuts, peel and chocolate, but also raw apple. My mother always used the delicious apples because they were the sweetest. In all three desserts, the pastry is rolled around the filling. See Strucolo de Pomi

One year I went to Sicily for Easter and brought a presniz for the Sicilian relatives to try. I had gone to considerable trouble, buying it from what was considered to be the best pastry shop in Trieste and handling it carefully so that it would not be damaged while travelling.

There was no enthusiasm when I put it on the table, most of the relatives were too full to try it (it was presented with coffee and liqueurs after the big Sicilian Easter lunch after all), and those who did try the presniz did not express any great enthusiasm.

Tradition and only Sicilian food is everything for most Sicilians and I could probably say the same about any other region in Italy.

The traditional desserts for Easter in most of Sicily are made with ricotta. Many have cassata, made with sponge cake, ricotta, chocolate and candied peel, others, like the Ragusani  have cassatedde, small, baked ricotta filled tarts made with short pastry (cassatedde can be different shaped ricotta filled pastries in various parts of Sicily – some versions are smaller adaptations of cassata, some cassatedde are fried instead of baked). Very different, quite delicious and perhaps as interesting as presniz and gubana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALCHERMES/ALKERMES (The liqueur used to make Zuppa Inglese)

Alchermes (or Alkermes) is the iconic Italian liqueur traditionally used to make Zuppa Inglese, Italy’s answer to the classic English trifle. This vibrant, red Florentine liqueur has a long and fascinating history, and for many Italians its flavour is inseparably linked to one of the country’s most beloved desserts.

Alchermes and Alkermes.. same liqueur , different spelling
Zuppa Inglese and Its Origins

Just as trifle remains a nostalgic favourite in English kitchens, Zuppa Inglese has never gone out of style in parts of Italy. Recently, while enjoying a beautifully made trifle with friends, I was surprised to discover that many seasoned travellers at the table had never tasted its Italian counterpart.

Literally translated as “English soup,” Zuppa Inglese layers sponge biscuits, crema pasticcera (crème anglaise) and liqueur. It is believed to have developed in the late 18th and 19th centuries, possibly introduced by wealthy English visitors living in Italy. The “soup” reference may describe the moist, soaked texture—or may come from the verb inzuppare, meaning “to soak.” Instead of jelly or jam, Italians added something far more characterful: the liqueur Alchermes.

The Story of Alchermes

Alchermes is a strong, ruby-red liqueur originally associated with the Medici family.

The modern Alchermes is likely to be the development of an eighth century tonic which as well as rose-water, cinnamon, sugar and honey, was said to contain ground pearls, leaf gold, raw silk, musk, ambergris (produced in the digestive of system of sperm whales and used in perfumes).

The modern version is simpler but still intensely aromatic, defined by spices, citrus peel and floral notes.

When I was growing up in Trieste in the late 1950s, Zuppa Inglese was a fashionable dessert in many restaurants. Like most Italian families, we rarely baked sweets at home—desserts were purchased from a trusted pasticceria. When we moved to Australia, my mother began making Zuppa Inglese for special occasions, and the tradition has happily continued in my own kitchen.

Zuppa-Inglese-copy-300x201

Making Alchermes at Home

For years Alchermes was difficult to find in Australia. My mother and I substituted Maraschino, which worked well enough, but lacked the intensity of the real thing. Eventually, in the 1980s, I began making my own liqueur using methods similar to Sicilian rosoliu, a traditional homemade infusion dating back to the 15th century.

In Sicily, the ingredients are steeped in alcohol before being sweetened with sugar syrup. My aunt, zia Niluzza, is a master rosoliu maker, and I follow much the same process.

As a Sicilian saying goes:
“Quannu ‘na cosa piaci, nun fa dannu.”
When one likes something, it can’t do any harm.

In Italy, pure grain alcohol is readily available, but in Australia I make Alchermes using vodka or grappa. The quantities below are approximate, as I rarely measure spices precisely.

Homemade Alchermes Recipe
INGREDIENTS
  • 700ml bottle vodka or grappa (use around two-thirds)
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • Peel of 1 orange
  • 1 heaped tablespoon each of fennel, cardamom, coriander and cloves, lightly crushed
  • 1 tablespoon mace or nutmeg
  • ½ vanilla bean or a generous pinch of saffron
  • ½ teaspoon cochineal, or more to colour
  • 1 tablespoon rosewater
  • 500g sugar
  • 1 litre boiling water

PROCESS

  1. Place the alcohol and all aromatics except cochineal and rosewater into a wide-mouth jar and seal.
  2. Store in a cool, dark place for at least 14 days.
  3. Dissolve sugar in the hot water and cool.
  4. Add cochineal and rosewater to the syrup.
  5. Pour the syrup into the steeped alcohol.
  6. Strain through cheesecloth.
  7. Bottle and seal. It keeps indefinitely.

Alchermes is available in some specialty wine shops, but at certain times,  I do still like to make my own.

Homemade Alchermes won’t be as brilliant in colour as commercial versions, but the complexity of flavour is incomparable. You can add more Cochineal if you prefer a deeper colour.

Vodka+bot+%25232-250x250
Homemade Alchermes is not the vibrant red colour as the commercially made one

Zuppa Inglese continues to be glorified in my present household.

For Christmas time celebrations, I am often asked to make and bring a trifle. I of course make a  Zuppa Inglese and am often nervous about presenting this variation. But I needn’t worry – is it the Alchermes that does it, and keeps everyone happy.

Great for Birthday celebrations as well.

See: How to make Zuppa Inglese, a famous Italian Dessert.

ZUPPA INGLESE revisited

Marmellata di cigliege (Cherry jam) and Zuppa Inglese

LONG LIVE ZUPPA INGLESE and its sisters