Cosa Bolle in Pentola?
Il Migliaccio Napoletano
Being the 4th issue of Cosa Bolle in Pentola, your Italian Cuisine newsletter.
The Internet is an amazing thing. I recently received a request for a migliaccio recipe made with corn meal and cooked on the top of the stove. In Northern and Central Italy migliaccio is either a pig's blood concoction (which is rare nowadays because of the difficulties involved in procuring fresh blood) that can be salty or sweet, or a winter pastry made with chestnut flour -- obviously not what Cathy had in mind.
A search on the Net turned up Migliaccio with Polenta and Sausages, a recipe offered by Stefano Milioni that has since vanished, and a page dedicated to enogastronomic tourism in Praiano, a town on the Costiera Amalfitana (south of Naples -- nice photos too), with a migliaccio recipe (in Italian) similar to Stefano Milioni's, and an introduction that says it's a Carnival dish. In addition to corn meal, the recipe called for pasta doppia, which isn't discussed in any of my cookbooks, so I turned to it.hobby.cucina (the Italian equivalent of the rec.food.cooking newsgroup), where I was told it is essentially a sheet of pasta dough that has been rolled out and folded over.
I also got a message from Elena Galeazzi, who forwarded me Teresa de Masi's recipe for Neapolitan Migliaccio, which sounds like the Neapolitan Easter Ricotta cake Cathy was also looking for. The recipe comes with a preamble that I much liked, and with Teresa's kind permission am including in my translation.
Having said all this, here is Il Migliaccio Sette Anni Dopo, Migliaccio seven years later:
"The strangest things flitter through your head sometimes. It would have been just a couple days ago, would have been but wasn't, and will never be again. It would have been a birthday.
"Eyes that continue to look at me, and that I cannot see, nor ever will again. Hands I gripped tightly with my own, which were a little larger than hers, and which I held during her first walks. Legs I saw rise slowly, and slowly begin to walk. And a smile, just like mine.
I've always liked to cook, Il Manuale di Nonna Papera [Walt Disney's manual for little girls] is probably to blame. Not her, she just liked to eat. And be naughty, especially when I was cooking… 'Wow! You're baking a cake!' She'd say it behind my back, and before I could turn around disaster had struck: the oven open and the cake collapsed.
"I'm smiling now, and how could I not? I know how to make it even better, something very sweet.
"Migliaccio is a classic Neapolitan specialty, something I've never come across anywhere else. Its flavor is reminiscent of pastiera di grano [another Neapolitan sweet, made with ricotta and grain], is it aroma of orange blossoms. It's got the same color too, like a ray of sunlight. And it's easy to make, when you come right down to it. To begin, prepare a pastry cream with 3/4 cup (175 grams, or about 175 ml) whole milk, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2/3 cup potato or corn starch. [With these proportions it will come out quite thick -- bring the milk to a boil. While it's heating, whip the yolks with the sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and foamy, then sift the starch into the mixture, stirring constantly to keep lumps from forming. Stir in the hot milk, a few drops at a time, then heat everything over a very low flame, stirring gently, until it thickens somewhat -- about 10 minutes. Don't let the cream come to a boil, and be gentle, lest it curdle.] Then heat another 3/4 cup of milk with a pinch of salt, stir in a scant 1/2 cup of semolina (80 grams), a cup of sugar, and cook for about 5 minutes.
"Afterwards, you simply have to combine this mixture with a touch more than 3/4 of a pound (350 grams) of fresh ricotta, a flacon of acqua di fiori d'arancio [orange blossom water, use orange extract if need be, to taste), two more yolks, and the pastry cream. Done. Butter and flour a mold, and bake the mixture in it at 360 F (180 ·C) until it done. [It should set, figure about 45 minutes but check it at 30]. Open the oven and let the migliaccio cool without removing it, to make sure it's completely dry, and dust it well with confectioner's sugar.
"In a couple of hours I'll again behold the color of a sunbeam. Tomorrow night a friend will share it with me, but I won't tell him the 'why.' Nor will he know we're celebrating a birthday, there won't be any reason to tell him. But he will smile, I know that. And in that smile, and mine, I'll find another that my eyes, and mine alone, haven't seen for seven years. Because everyone always said my sister and I had the same smile. It would have been a birthday, her 33rd. And it will be reason for joy."
Recipes mean more if they have stories behind them; if you would like to write Teresa, her address is tdemasi@tin.it.
Moving on to other things, in response to my restaurant query of last week, Elisabetta Fagioli, who makes wonderful Vernaccia at San Gimignano, called a restaurant she supplies in Trentino and asked about restaurants in the Madonna di Campiglio area; the owner suggested Il Mezzo Soldo, in a town called Spianzo Rendena, and Mildas, which is located in Pinzolo. Elisabetta also says that, should you have a car and drive through Rovereto (it's on the way towards Bolzano and Austria), to stop at her client's restaurant, the Ristorante al Borgo, Via Garibaldi 13, tel 0464 436300 -- they make all the local specialties, especially gnocchi alla trentina and strangola preti (literally priest-chokers, an extremely hearty pasta dish).
Speaking of wines, another reminder that if you plan to be in Northern Italy during the week including April 16-20, you should think about stopping in Verona to visit Vinitaly on Sunday the 19th, when the show is open to the general public. It's an excellent opportunity to sample just about all of Italy's wines. You'll find all sorts of gems, and there will also be pavilions dedicated to olive oil and food. The one drawback is that you will have to drive or come by train, because finding accommodations in Verona is difficult. For further information, visit their site (which also has listings for other commercial fairs).
Have a wonderful day, and thanks for visiting!
Kyle Phillips
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