PUTIZA, from La Cucina Tipica Triestina

One of my readers has asked for this recipe and because she does not seem to be very familiar with the English language, I am providing a screen shot of the recipe from one of my books about La Cucina Triestina.

Trieste, Ponte Rosso

It is from this book:

The recipe is for Putiza. It is described as a Panettone ripieno (filled).

Putiza is called Potica in Slovenia.

It is a delicious, rich, yeast bread dough stuffed with walnuts, chocolate, pine nuts and  sultanas soaked in rum. It can be made at home, but is easily found in many pastry shops especially during Easter and Christmas.

There are no photos in the book, but this is what it looks like:

See also:

PRESNIZ and GUBANA (Easter cakes in Trieste)

Traditional Easter Sweets in Trieste in Friuli Venezia Giulia

CHICKEN GOULASH (Gulasch di pollo from Trieste)

Free-range birds are supposed to have room to roam and space to grow and therefore I may be incorrectly assuming that because they move they should not be accumulating as much fat as conventional chickens. Nevertheless, I seem to be spending more and more time removing large amounts of fat from the free-range organic chickens before I cook them.

IMG_1222

In this recipe I used a whole chicken divided into sections – perfect for stews and braises with the bones providing great depth of flavour.

I spent my childhood in Trieste and grew up with both Sicilian and Triestan food.

I wrote a recipe for Goulash as made in Trieste in 2012. Goulash is usually made with beef or a mixture of meats but this goulash recipe is made with chicken.

Goulash is spelled gulasch in Trieste; this city in the north-eastern side of Italy was once part of the Austrian – Hungarian and had very strong links with Austria at one time.

The strong red colour is achieved by paprika; no tomatoes or other vegetables are used apart from onions. This reflects the way goulash is made in Austria whereas in other countries where goulash is popular including Hungary, goulash is augmented with other vegetables – green and red bell peppers, tomatoes and carrots are the most commonly used.

I usually make make goulash with beef and because it is lean, I sauté the meat in the oil or fat after I have softened the onions. But because this chicken had sufficient fat in the skin I sautéed it before the onions and skimmed off any unwanted fat that had been released during the sautéing.

IMG_1217-800x800

INGREDIENTS
1chicken cut into sections

2-3 onions, sliced finely
extra virgin olive oil and if you have it, about 2 tbsp. lard

2-4 bay leaves and a sprig of sage
2 tbsp. sweet paprika and 1/2-1 tbs of hot paprika
¾ cup of red or white wine and 1 tbs caraway seeds (optional, but I like to do this)
water or stock to cover the meat
salt to taste

PROCESSES
Sauté the chicken pieces in a minuscule amount of olive oil and if you wish pour off excess fat as the chicken browns.

Remove the chicken from the pan, add more oil/lard to the pan if you wish and sauté the onions until it is golden.
Add paprika, herbs and caraway seeds and return the chicken to the pan.
Add wine and some stock (or water) and salt; cover and simmer on low heat until the meat is tender.  Stir occasionally and make sure that the level of liquid is maintained.

In Trieste it is usual to accompany goulash with spatzle (spaezle in German) or polenta or knodel (dumplings made with bread, but some also make them with potatoes) .

I presented the goulash with speatzle, but I did not make it.

SPAEZLE

To make spaezle  mix 2 eggs and as much flour and water it needs to make into a soft dough, leave it for about one hour wrapped in plastic wrap and then press the mixture through the holes of a colander  into boiling salted water or into the boiling juice of the gulasch. (Use a colander with largish holes).

I purchased Riesa Spaetzle made in Riesa Germany. It claims to be made with fresh eggs and the best durum wheat; Riesa is a town in the district approx. 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Dresden. Usually the spaezle is tossed in a little butter after it is drained.

I presented it with braised Kale. It was all very enjoyable.

RECIPE FOR GOULASH MADE WITH BEEF.  Gulasch (goulash As Made in Trieste)

twr-ps_th_spaetzle_int-191x300

 

 

 

 

 

ITALIAN DRUNKEN CHICKEN – GADDUZZU ‘MBRIACU or GALLINA IMBRIAGA – depending on the part of Italy you come from

In Trieste my zia Renata used to make what she called Gallina Imbriaga (in dialect of Trieste- braised chicken in red wine), but as a child I thought that she called it by this name to make me laugh, and it did. I thought that the concept of a drunk chicken was hilarious.

Recently I decided to investigate the origins of this recipe and  it seems that  Friulani (from the region of Friuli Venezia Guilia, in a northeastern region of Italy) and i Triestini (who are part of this region) claim it as their own, but so do those from Padova (in the neighbouring Veneto region) and those from Central Italy particularly those in Umbria and Tuscany.

drunk-chicken-800x600

The recipe in each of these regions, whether it is a pollo ubriaco (drunk) and pollo in Italian being the generic word for  gallina (hen) or a galletto (young cock or rooster) seem to be cooked in a very similar way with the same ingredients – chicken cut into pieces, red wine and the following vegetables – carrot, celery, onion, garlic and parsley – all common ingredients for an Italian braise. Some marinate the chicken pieces beforehand, and as expected the wine needs to be from their region, i.e. if it is a Tuscan recipe the wine must be a Sangiovese or Chianti and if from Umbria, the choice of wine must be an Orvieto or Montefalco.

DSC055631-800x533

One recipe from Friuli  browns the chicken in butter and oil and also add brandy as well – drunken indeed if not paralytic.

Other variations are in the type of mushrooms: fresh or dry porcini or cultivated mushrooms. Rosemary is the  herb most favoured and parsley; some use sage and/ or thyme. The recipe is beginning to sound more and more like Coq Au Vin. So which came first… is it the French or the Italians ?

But I also found a recipe called Gadduzzu ‘Mbriacu (rooster) in Giuseppe Coria’s Profumi di Sicilia, and what I like about this recipe is listed as a variation – it is the addition of a couple of amaretti (almond biscuits) at the very end to flavour and thicken the sauce. Now that is a great addition!!

Coria suggests 1 onion, 1 carrot, heart of celery, 100g of porcini …. I added greater amounts of vegetables and used chicken legs (called coscie di pollo in Italian). Corai does not suggest using Nero D’Avola but this would be the preferred Sicilian wine to use.

1 chicken, cut into 6 or 8 pieces
200 g. mushrooms.
2 onions, sliced finely
2 carrots, diced
3-4 sticks from the centre of the celery, sliced thinly
½ litre of red wine
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2-3 amaretti
Dry the chicken pieces with kitchen paper and brown them in the oil evenly. Remove them and set aside.
Sauté the onion, carrot and celery until golden in the same pan and oil .
Add the chicken, herbs, seasoning and the red wine, cover and simmer for about 20 mins.
Add mushrooms and cook everything some more till all is cooked (30-40 mins altogether).
Break up the amaretti into crumbs and add it to the sauce before serving.

 

 

 

GULASCH (Goulash as made in Trieste)

I bet that you have never seen gulasch spelt like this…unless you are from Trieste. Trieste was part of the Austro- Hungarian empire and much of its cooking reflects this.

Gulasch in Trieste is made with meat, onions and paprika. It does not contain tomato or potatoes or peppers or other spices. I have seen recipes that include a few winter herbs – rosemary or marjoram, but this is not common.  My touch is to also add some red wine and caraway seeds; some cooks do this, some do not.

In Trieste gulasch can be made with beef or pork and may have a mixture of meats: beef shin, pork and maybe horse meat. I do not wish to put you off; I make mine just with beef, either shin, bolar or oyster blade, and it tastes wonderful.
Like all meat stews or braises it is best made the day before to allow the flavours to develop even further.
It needs to cook slowly – I cooked mine for about three hours and the slow cooking is essential.

INGREDIENTS
2 k beef (shin, bolar, oyster blade) cut into large squares
2-3 onions, sliced finely
extra virgin olive oil and if you have it, about 2 tbsp. lard (no mucking around with this recipe)
2-4 bay leaves
2 tbsp. sweet paprika and 1/2-1 tbs of hot paprika
¾ cup of red wine and 1 tbs caraway seeds (optional, but I like to do this)
water or stock to cover the meat
salt to taste

PROCESSES
Sauté the onions in hot oil till golden.
Add beef and paprika and sauté the beef.
Add  wine and some stock (or water), caraway seeds and salt; cover and simmer on low heat until the meat is tender.  Stir occasionally and make sure that the level of liquid  is maintained.

In Trieste, i triestini (the people from Trieste) may accompany their gulasch with spatzle (egg, flour, water made into a soft dough and the mixture is pushed through the holes of a colander into boiling salted water or into the boiling juice of the gulasch). Some like to have it with knodel (dumplings made with bread but some also make them with potatoes) others with polenta.

I like to have it with polenta – plain, ordinary (not Instant) polenta cooked in salted water and stirred until it begins to detach itself from the sides of the pot, then baked in an oiled tin till it forms a nice crust. Love it, and I doubt very much if my Sicilian relatives would enjoy it.

For other recipes from Trieste, see:

IOTA (Recipe, a very thick soup from Trieste) Post 1

IOTA FROM TRIESTE, Italy, made with smoked pork, sauerkraut, borlotti beans – Post 2

Strucolo de pomi (apple strudel)
Gnocheti de gris (semolina gnocchi in broth)
Patate in teccia (potatoes braised with onions)
Dolomiti – baccala mantecato (creamed baccala)
Risi e bisi (rice and peas- risotto)

MA2SBAE8REVW