Carmelita’s Cookitaly

Zuppa Inglese

   

Emilia-Romagna's favourite sweet

This custard concoction of sunny cheerful colours is the most popular traditional dessert here, loved throughout the region: from Emilia, spreading west of Bologna, to Romagna to its east and of course in Bologna itself. It is now found in other regions too but nowhere else does it appear without fail on every restaurant menu. That this is its home and its place of origin is, for once, not contested.

The story goes that it originated sometime in the course of the 1500s in the kitchens of the rulers of Ferrara at the time, the Dukes of the Este family. They were leading patrons of the arts and under their rule in the Renaissance period the city enjoyed a long period of intense cultural and artistic activity. Besides encouraging musicians, poets and painters the Este family engaged in diplomatic activity to develop and maintain good relations with other powerful ruling families in Italy and in Europe. It is said that a courtier returning from diplomatic duties in England described a popular sweet served at the end of the banquets at the English court, the sweet today known as "trifle". He described its layers of custard, sponge and cream and the cooks of the Este court created the Zuppa Inglese inspired by his description.

This story does not entirely hold water as it would seem that the various dainty "little trifles" served in 16th and 17th century England had no trace of sponge cake. But it makes a pretty tale and suggests a plausible explanation of why the sweet is described as "Inglese", in other words, English.

Then there is the "Zuppa" part, which often confuses non-Italian speakers. The Italian verb "inzuppare" means "to dunk" or "to dip" or more generally to moisten something dry with some form of liquid. In this sweet, as in the much newer invention Tiramisù, sponge cake or lady finger biscuits are dipped into a liquid, making the resulting sweet a "zuppa".

There are savoury "Zuppe" too, usually thick stews of fish or meat served on a slice of toasted bread or else chunky soups containing cereals and legumes. The thing to remember is that the word "zuppa" in Italian does not translate as soup, and that it is often used to describe desserts.

But enough, on to the recipe for Italy's famous Zuppa, the "English" one from Emilia-Romagna.

 Zuppa Inglese

For 6 people you will need:

300g of lady finger biscuits ("Savoiardi") (10 and a half ounces or as many as fit in your container)

120g (4 ounces) sugar

30g (an ounce) flour 

500ml (a pint) milk 

5 egg yolks  

a vanilla pod (optional, but makes it special) 

50g (scant two ounces) chopped 70% cocoa chocolate 

a glass (cup) each of water and Alchermes liqueur  

(or substitute a liqueur of your choice or a diluted strawberry syrup for the traditional bright pink colour ) 

20g (1 and a half tablespoons) butter

optional sour cherry or sharp apricot jam

Set aside 100 ml (0.4 of a cup) of milk. Heat the rest with the sugar and the scraped out vanilla seeds till it comes to the boil.

Meanwhile, place the 5 yolks in a bowl and whisk them with the sifted flour, then still whisking, add the cold 100ml of milk gradually.

When the remaining milk has come to the boil and all the sugar is dissolved, add it gradually to the yolks while still whisking. Then place everything in the pan in which you boiled the milk and return to a moderate heat for about 10 minutes to thicken.

Whisk constantly and whisking patiently on low heat to bring the mixture almost to boiling point so that it thickens - the very fine bubbles on the surface will disappear when it is ready. Snatch it off the heat, and transfer to a cool bowl as soon as possible, as it can continue to cook and so curdle, .

Divide in two thirds and one third by pouring into two separate bowls - there is no need to be precise here. Add the chocolate, broken into bits, to the smaller amount and mix to melt the chocolate and blend well. Leave to cool.

Mix the water and Alchermes* together. Dip the lady fingers lightly in the liquid, and use make a layer at the bottom of one large or several small glass bowls. Place with the pink side facing the outside, so it is visible through the glass.

Now add a layer of the chocolate custard and if you wish carefully top with a very thin layer of sour cherry or apricot jam, dropping teaspoonfuls at regular intervals as it is impossible to spread the jam over the soft custard with a knife or spoon. If you like you can reserve some of the chocolate custard and place it in a piping bag or squeegee bottle to use for decorating the top.

Finish with a deeper layer of plain custard.

Refrigerate for  at least one hour before serving. For special occasions you could further garnish with one or more of whole sour cherries in syrup, grated chocolate and toasted flaked almonds.

* Today artificial colourings are used but originally the natural dye "Kermes" was used, hence the name which is clearly of Arabic origin.

Mushrooms with Mortadella Mousse

I am going to be away for a week with my family and old friends, as my niece is getting married in Malta. I am not sure how much I will be able to post while there so I thought I would post a recipe from today's Bologna cooking class before I set off tomorrow. Spuma di Mortadella is a traditional Bologna favourite for antipasto, and serving it in mushroom caps give it a bit more substance. The mushrooms - and the balsamic reduction - are a good foil to the very tangy savoury Mortadella mousse.

Real Mortadella di Bologna is a centuries old fine "cooked salami", one of the many feathers in Bologna's gastronomic cap, for this is the city that gave it birth. It is a pork only product, made from the finest parts of the pig very finely ground. It was once knife chopped and then pounded with pestle and mortar, hence the name. It is larded with fine back fat strips and lightly perfumed with mace, white pepper, allspice berries and coriander seeds. It is very fragrant and it is a sheer pleasure to breathe in deeply when you unwrap the neatly folded package you bring home from the deli.

Mortadella di Bologna I. g. p. - this means Indicazione Geografica Protetta which is a European Union quality standard that guarantees the place of origin - contains neither peppercorns nor pistachios - these are found only in other mortadellas made in the south. The "sausages" are cooked slowly - a 10 kilo (22. 5 lbs) Mortadella takes 24 hours to cook. Big is good where Mortadella is concerned, the bigger the better. Around 12 kilos is a good size though larger ones are made. Very little Mortadellas are also available today but a true Bolognese gourmet will always prefer to buy just a few ounces freshly sliced from a huge Mortadella - just a little as the heady aromas quickly fade and it is best to go back to the deli for more when you need to, rather than to eat Mortadella at anything other than its very best. Best of all is the Slow Food protected Classic Mortadella which is not easy to find outside Bologna, but which is well worth a try should you ever come across it.   

As I always have 25 year old Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale, we used this in the centre of the mousse today. You can see in the photo how richly dark and glossy it is compared to the paler reduction of ordinary Balsamic vinegar on the plate.

Notes

It is better to use a good quality cooked ham rather than a inferior Mortadella iIf you cannot get Mortadella di Bologna I.g.p.  You can add a little Marsala or a little Dijon style mustard to the ham mousse.

If you wish you can make 3 times the amount of Balsamic reduction and store for future use  - it will last many months stored in the fridge. If you transfer it to a plastic squeegee bottle with a fine tip you will be able to draw pretty patterns with it more easily.

 Vegetarian versions - no longer Bolognese - can use avocado or pea puree for the filling.

Cappelli di Funghi con Spuma di Mortadella

For 4 people you will need:

100g (3 1/2 ounces) Mortadella di Bologna I.G.P., 4 very large mushrooms, 50 ml (quarter cup)fresh cream

Optional Balsamic Syrup: 30 g (an ounce) sugar, 25 ml (a tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons) water, 40 ml ( 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons) ordinary Balsamic vinegar

Washed dried salad leaves for serving

The mushrooms

Wipe the mushrooms clean, remove stalks and reserve for another use

Brown the mushrooms caps without using any fat on both side in a non stick pan. At a certain point liquid will from inside the caps: when it does turn them over so that it drains out. Continue till golden brown on both sides Remove from the pan and place upside down on a plate to drain off excess liquid.

It is best not to season the mushrooms. Adding salt produces too much watery liquid and the Mortadella is already highly seasoned

The Mortadella mousse

Chop the Mortadella finely then place in a small processor or whizz with a stick blender. Add the cream and whizz again. Add water as needed to achieve a nice creamy texture.

Empty the Mortadella mousse into a bowl, season with a little pepper only, it is already salty enough

The Balsamic Syrup

Place the sugar and water in a pan and cook until almost all the water has evaporated. Let the sugar caramelise then deglaze the pan carefully with 40 ml of ordinary Balsamic Vinegar.

Carefully means you add just a little of the vinegar to being with as it will spit and sizzle when it hits the pan.

Allow the liquid to reduce till syrupy. It will stay liquid while it is hot so place a drop on a cold saucer to test the consistency at room temperature. If it is too thick dilute with water and test again. If it is too thin and runny reduce further. Leave to cool

To assemble and plate

Fill each cap with some of the Mortadella mousse, making a dome on top so there is lots of filling.

Place salad leaves on each of four serving plates with 1 or more mushroom caps on top of the leaves.

Make a depression in the centre of the Mousse and drizzle the Balsamic reduction into this and on and around the mushroom caps.