Tag: Maria Grammatico

SICILIAN CASSATA and MARZIPAN AT EASTER (Food and Culture in Sicily, La Trobe University)

I usually coat my cassata with marzipan and every time I do this people tell me how much they have enjoyed eating the marzipan and how it compliments the flavours of the cassata.

The last time I made cassata with marzipan was Saturday 23 March at Food And Culture In Sicily: Easter Cookery Workshop offered by La Trobe University and once again the people who attended the session liked the marzipan and said that they had never enjoyed eating it in the past.

The session began with a very interesting lecture on the history of food and feasting in Sicily, Italy and the Mediterranean.  Dr Gillian Shepherd is Lecturer in Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Director of the A.D. Trendall Research Centre for Ancient Mediterranean Studies at La Trobe University. During her lecture she focused on the literary and archaeological evidence for food production and consumption in the ancient world.

The lecture was followed with a food workshop and cooking demonstration that reflected the ways Sicilian cuisine has been influenced by the dominant cultures of the Mediterranean from ancient times to the modern day, which includes Greek, Roman, Arabic, French and Spanish cultures.

The cassata was very appropriate for this session, not just because of its derivation, but also because it was essentially and still is an Easter dessert. In time it has also become popular for Christmas.

Sicily produces large quantities of almonds and almond meal is used extensively for making traditional almond sweets and pastries. Marzipan fruit originate from Sicily and Sicilian pastry cooks are esteemed and employed all over Italy.

Marzipan when made in the traditional method is made by cooking a strong syrup of sugar and water and then adding freshly ground almonds. The mixture is kneaded till smooth (like bread dough) and then shaped.

The modern and easiest way is to make it with almond meal, icing sugar and water. It is still kneaded and rolled with a rolling pin. Unless you can buy fresh almond meal it is best to blanch the almonds and grind them yourself.

Over the years I have been making marzipan and adapting a recipe from Bitter Almonds, Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian girlhood. Maria Grammatico has a very famous pastry shop in Erice in Sicily and her recipes have been recorded by Mary Taylor Simeti.

This is the original recipe:
2 cups (300 g) whole blanched almonds
2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar *
1/3 cup water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
In a food processor, grind the almonds with about 2 tablespoons of the sugar until very fine, almost powdery.
In a food processor or in an electric mixer, combine the nuts, the rest of the sugar, the water, vanilla, and the almond extract.
Process or mix until the paste is very smooth. Remove to a marble slab or other cold work surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar and knead briefly by hand.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Marzipan will keep almost indefinitely in the refrigerator.

****This is what I do: I use 2 cups of ground almonds and 1 and ½ cups of pure icing sugar combined with ½ cup of caster sugar – this adds the crunchy texture that compliments the ground almonds.

I really like the taste of natural almonds and if I am using fresh almonds I see no necessity to use vanilla or almond extract.

I usually mix the sugars and almond meal with my fingers and add the water slowly. I am cautious with water because if the mixture is too wet I may need to add more almonds and sugar. I knead it as if I am making bread and if it needs more water I add it to make the mixture pliable.

This is not the first time that I have written about Cassata or Easter or Marzipan and there are many other posts about these three topics on this blog.

This post has the recipe for making cassata:

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LEMON MARMALADE TO USE IN SICILIAN PASTRIES. Conserva/ Marmellata di Limone (o di Cedro).

Lemon marmalade for Sicilian pastries is an essential ingredient in many traditional sweets. This lemon marmalade—known in Sicily as conserva or marmellata di limone (or made with cedro) adds the intense, aromatic citrus flavour typical of the island’s baking.

Sicily produces an impressive variety of citrus fruit, including the thick-skinned cedro (citron).

Cedri in Syracuse Market

Cedri, which resemble very large lemons, are eaten fresh in salads, but are most prized for being candied and used in cassate. Cedri are also  transformed into sweet conserve  and used in almond pastries and other desserts.

Candied/ glacé cedri

Sicilian pastries are often partly filled with lemon marmalade – Conserva or Marmellata di Limone o di Cedro (Citron).

In this blog post I have provided a recipe for making lemon Marmalade and one for Bocconotti, –  small tarts with lemon marmalade.

Recently I have fallen in love again with the pastries from Dolcetti (223 Victoria St, West Melbourne) made by Marianna Di Bartolo.

These exquisite dolcetti rekindled my desire for that strong, distinctive citrus taste found in so many Sicilian sweets.

MY RESEARCH and Sicilian Recipe Books

Researching the recipe was a process in itself. I rarely follow a single recipe strictly and usually compare multiple sources, drawing on what I know from years of reading Italian and Sicilian cookbooks. Each of the numerous times I have visited Sicily (and Italy), I have bought cookery books – not only by the greats of Sicilian cuisine and highly recognized writers and publications (Coria, Correnti, Taylor Simeti, Tasca Lanza (and more) but also by the less known ones (Maria Consoli Sardo, Di Leo, D’Alba, and many more.

The variations in recipes for this preserve, including quantities and methods, were numerous across different publications. Some directed peeling the fruit first, others boiled the peel multiple times and discarded the water, while some added sugar after boiling the pulp. The number of variations for making marmalade was comparable to those found in older Australian publications.

Among the many variations, the recipes I found most compelling were Marmellata di Limone (Maria Grammatico & Mary Taylor Simeti) and Conserva di Citru (Giuseppe Coria).

Grammatico/Taylor Simeti soak pricked lemons in water for five days, changing the water daily. Coria soaks un-pricked lemons for 24 hours and includes a cinnamon stick—something I also noticed in several older Sicilian texts.

Grammatico and Taylor Simeti recommended weighing the pulp and using 1¼ times its weight in sugar.

Coria suggested adding 2 kg of sugar for every 3 kg of pulp and 1 cup of water. I particularly liked his recipe for the addition of a cinnamon stick, which was also mentioned in many of my older Italian publications.

What I did, RECIPE

Inspired, I decided to make a homemade conserva using large, thick-pith lemons—each weighing around 700g—treating them much like cedri.

Pricked the lemons (weight 2.1kg ) and soaked them for 3 days, changing the water every day to soften the skins.

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Sliced them into medium julienne with a mandoline for texture.

Used 1 kg sugar to 2 kg pulp, added 3 cinnamon sticks, and no water.

Cooked until set (about 40 minutes), using the traditional saucer test – You know the old trick about testing jam/ marmalade by placing a little on a cold saucer, cooling it, and if adequately set it should wrinkle and feel firm.

Packed the hot conserve into sterilised jars.

Lemon and Cinnamon Marmalade

The result is an intensely flavoured, deeply lemony conserve—perfect for filling Sicilian pastries or adding bright citrus notes to desserts.

Cedro is used in Cassata and Panforte (not Sicilian).

PANFORTE again and again

PANETTONE AND PANFORTE for an ITALIAN CHRISTMAS

SICILIAN CASSATA and some background (perfect for an Australian Christmas)

SICILIAN CASSATA and MARZIPAN AT EASTER (Food and Culture in Sicily, La Trobe University)

CASSATA DECONSTRUCTED – a postmodernist take on Sicilian Cassata

 Recipe: BOCCONOTTI

Italian bocconotti are small, buttery pastries filled with jam. In Sicily they are filled with citron (cedro) marmalade.

The tarts can be left open-faced or covered with slightly smaller pastry circles to create small lids, placed in the centre, but leaving a gap and not reaching the edges.

Ingredients
  • 500 g plain flour
  • 250 g sugar
  • 150 g unsalted butter (traditional is lard for pastries)
  • 2 eggs + 1 yolk
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or seeds of ½ vanilla bean
  • 2–3 tbsp white wine (dry)
  • 400 g marmellata – use the lemon marmalade
  • Method
Make the pastry (pasta frolla)
  • In a large bowl, mix the flour and sugar.
  • Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Don’t overwork the pastry.
  • Add the eggs, yolk, lemon zest, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of white wine.
  • Work the dough quickly until it comes together—add the extra tablespoon of wine only if needed.
  • Shape into a ball, flatten slightly, wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
  • Use small tartlet tins or mini-muffin tins. Grease lightly with butter.
  • Roll the pastry to about 3–4 mm thickness. Cut circles large enough to line the moulds.
  • Press the dough gently into each mould. and fill generously with the marmalade but leave some space at the top
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 170°C). Bake for 20–25 minutes, until pale golden.
  • Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack.

PASTA DI MANDORLA (How to make Marzipan recipe)

This photo of marzipan fruit (also called Frutta di Martorama) was taken in a pastry shop in Catania. This pasticceria has shaped the marzipan into a variety of shapes: apples, apricots, oranges, prickly pears, different varieties of plums, cherries, green figs, pomegranates, pears , chestnuts and almonds.

I make marzipan when I make cassata di ricotta which I cover with a thin coat of pale green marzipan (I use a drop of green food colouring. In earlier days my mother used to use a little puree made with wilted spinach leaves). Sometimes I also add a proportion of ground pistachio nuts to the almond meal.

In one of my previous posts I have included a non traditional, simple recipe for making marzipan and for shaping marzipan fruit. I like this version because  it is less sweet.

INGREDIENTS
almonds ground, 500 g – blanched and ground finely
icing sugar, 300 g, icing sugar
vanilla bean paste, to taste
egg white, 1
salt, a pinch

In a bowl whisk the egg white with the salt until frothy. Whisk in the vanilla. Gradually stir in the almonds and the sugar, kneading as you go to form a smooth, pliable dough. Add  more almond meal and/ or icing sugar if it is too soft.

The most authentic recipe that I have found is in the book called Bitter Almonds, Recollections and Recipes from a Sicilian girlhood. The book was researched and written by Mary Taylor Simeti and it contains recollections and recipes of Maria Grammatico, famous for making almond pastries. She has a wonderful pastry shop in Erice and I visited this recently (in September 2009).

This is the recipe as written in the book.

• 2 CUPS (3oo gr) whole blanched almonds
• 2 CUPS (4oo gr) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (0.,75 dl) water
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

In a meat grinder or a food processor, grind the almonds with about 2 tablespoons of the sugar until very fine, almost powdery.
In a food processor or in an electric mixer, combine the nuts, the rest of the sugar, the water, vanilla, and the almond extract, if using. Process or mix until the paste is very smooth. Remove to a marble slab or other cold work surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar and knead briefly by hand.
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. Marzipan will keep almost indefinitely in the refrigerator. This makes 800gr of marzipan.

A particular specialty at Easter time in Sicily are the pecorelle pasquali (marzipan lambs). These lambs are from Pasticceria Spinello in Modica Sicily (it is near Ragusa where my relatives live). In Sicilian they are called agneddi (lambs)or pecuredde (small sheep) di pasta riali. . They are often filled with citron jam or paste made from pistachio nuts.

I once bought one for my mother and she still has it, 20 years later. She said that it was too pretty to be eaten. It was never kept in the fridge – it is a little bit dusty!

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