Cosa Bolle in Pentola?
More Mad Cow Disease, Legumes,
Valpolicella Smear, and a Couple of Vacation Ideas
Being the 71st issue of Cosa Bolle in Pentola, your Italian Cuisine newsletter.
Returning to Cosa Bolle, the BSE (Mad Cow) mess I discussed last time is snowballing more quickly than might have been expected; after banning French meats and announcing restrictions on blood donation for people who have lived in England (a decision whose implications are not good, which has also been adopted in Italy), the Germans have found infected cattle among their herds too. The animals probably contracted the disease the same way as the French and British animals did, by eating feed made from infected animal carcasses, which remained infectious despite being cooked because the prions that cause the disease are tremendously hardy. Meat consumption in Europe is down even more, and now Italian herders are blockading the Austrian frontier too to keep out German animals.
With regards to the problem, I got a note from Isabel, who says,
"I feel I should correct you on a couple of things you wrote about BSE, for the sake of clarity. I am aware that the media has done its best to confuse the issue ! As you, know I lived in UK at the time of the scare, so I feel I am somewhat better informed.
"First of all, we are talking of three diseases, all of them encephalopathies:
1. Traditional CJD. This disease has been known to scientists for a very long time (perhaps 100 years), strikes people who are over 60 in the percentage of one person per million per year, and has an incubation period of 20-30 years, perhaps more. The cause is not known, but most scientists suggest it may be genetic.
2. BSE. This disease affects cows and was first discovered in Britain in 1986. The British government denied it could cross species and therefore infect humans who ate infected meat for a very long time.
3. New variant CJD. This is the most recent of the three. The British government finally admitted as late as 1996/97 that people get it from eating BSE infected meat.
"Scientists realized it was a new disease when they noticed that the commonly held facts about traditional CJD were no longer valid (onset at 60+ years, incidence of 1 per million, long incubation period...). The latency period of nvCJD (the one you acquire from eating BSE infected meat) is actually rather short, from a few months to, say, a couple of years. This was one of the facts that alerted the British scientists. People who died were, in fact, so young that their whole life was shorter than the average incubation period of traditional CJD.
"A worrying development is the case of the British woman who died of nvCJD leaving behind an infant who is showing signs of the disease (he is only about 1 year old). This of course would suggest, if the diagnosis is confirmed, that the disease is transmitted from mother to child, and if this was so, then, why should it not be transmitted from cow to calf ??"
Worrisome indeed. Also got a note from Judy, of East Hampton (CT, USA), who says that Plum Island (selected by Albert Einstein to be the US Government's repository for infectious diseases) has sheep carcasses from three Vermont herds with Belgian animals, which suffered outbreaks of something that may well have been BSE. Apparently the authorities are being vague about the diagnosis, but the mutterings point in that direction.
In light of all this, what's one to do? Eating free-range animals that graze would be one answer, though one must still be quite careful -- there have been recent mentions of poultry problems in Italy, and the tightening of checks due to the BSE scare brought to light a scheme to funnel cattle infected with tuberculosis and brucellosis (among other things) from Eastern Europe through Sicily and on up to Piemonte. Perhaps turn to beans, which have long been referred to as the meat of the poor man, as Artusi observed in 1891: "If, in feeling around in his pocket, a worker unhappily realizes he doesn’t have enough to buy a piece of meat sufficient to make a soup for his family, he will find in beans a healthy, nutritious, and inexpensive alternative." Healthier than Artusi probably knew, because the proteins are high quality and there's none of the fat or cholesterol that comes with meat, assuming meat isn't added during the cooking.
Legumes
You'll find a number of bean recipes and information about beans on the beans page, and here are some more, drawn from Alessandro Molinari Pradelli's Grande Libro della Cucina Italiana.
For the summer months, or where it's warm: Fagioli, Cipolla e Cingherlin (or Zincarlin) -- Beans, Onions and Cingherlin Cheese
This is a Lombard recipe, and to be frank I've never had Cingherlin cheese. However, Mr. Pradelli says to slice it finely or dice it, which means that it's moderately firm, and I would expect it to be fairly mild too -- along the lines of a fresh (as opposed to aged) Grana. In any case, to serve 6 you'll need:
- 10 ounces (250 g) dried borlotti or cranberry beans
- A finely sliced onion
- 1 pound (500 g) finely sliced or diced Cingherlin
- Olive oil
- Red wine Vinegar
- Salt and Freshly ground pepper
Soak the beans overnight. Boil them in lots of water, salting them when they're partially cooked. Drain them well, transfer them to a large bowl, and mix the onion and cheese into them. Season to taste with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, and serve.
The perfect oil? I'd go with the oil produced around Lake Garda, which is extremely tasty. Otherwise, perhaps Tuscan, which is a little more flavorful than Ligurian and will stand up to the onion better.
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
And here's a Tuscan relative for winter or cooler weather:
- 1 pound (500 g) cannelloni beans, soaked and boiled only until they're fairly firm, salting the water mid-way through the cooking.
- 3 grains pepper, finely ground
- A minced mixture of fresh basil, thyme, marjoram, and mint -- I'd figure a between 2 and 4 tablespoons
- A finely sliced onion
- Finely sliced pecorino Toscano (if you cannot find this, use very mild romano)
- Olive oil
- Toasted slices of Tuscan bread
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C)
Drain the beans, transfer them to an oven-proof dish, dust them with the pepper and herbs, lay the onion and cheese over them, drizzle well with oil, and heat through until the cheese just begins to brown.
Serve the beans over slices of toasted bread.
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
And here's a recipe from Friuli that has a little pork -- we're told pork is considerably less risky than beef -- Fagioli e Radicchio, Beans with Radicchio. It's a winter dish, and you do have to like pork:
- About a pound (400 g) of freshly shelled beans, or a half-pound dried beans, soaked in water over night.
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 pound (200 g) fresh radicchio, picked with the root (it's long and tapir-like)
- 4 ounces (100 g) cured lard or pancetta, diced
- 1/2 a glass of strong red wine vinegar
- Salt & pepper to taste
Boil the beans in salted water to which you have added the bay leaves. When they reach the al dente stage remove them to a colander with a slotted spoon and then put the colander to rest over the water so as to keep them hot.
Wash the radicchio well, removing any dirt that may have stuck to the roots, dry it, and cut each plant into two or four pieces lengthwise, depending upon their size.
Heat a pan and sauté the diced lard until crunchy, then turn of the heat and season it with vinegar, checking salt and pepper too.
Lay some radicchio on each of your plates, spoon some hot beans over each, and season everything with the pork mixture.
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
And finally, Fagioli alla Gallurese, a dish from Sardegna. Wild fennel is much more aromatic than domestic fennel, and one generally uses the fronds rather than the bulb. To serve 6 you'll need:
- 1 pound (450 g) dried beans, soaked for several hours or over night
- A small head of Savoy Cabbage
- An ounce (25 g) of wild fennel
- An onion, minced
- 6 ounces (150 g) blanched, peeled, seeded, chopped and drained tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 10 ounces (250 g) pancetta or cured lard, ground (you may want to reduce this considerably, though I wouldn't omit it entirely)
Set the beans to boil in a large pot. While they're simmering, wash the cabbage well, and slice it finely. Wash the fennel too, and mince it. Grind the pancetta with the garlic.
When the beans are about half cooked, add the cabbage, minced onion and wild fennel. Ten minutes before the beans are done, stir in the tomatoes. When the beans reach doneness, stir in the ground pancetta, heat for a few more minutes, until the excess water is absorbed (you don't want a liquid soup), and the beans are ready. They'd go nicely, I think, with a salad.
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
Beans not your cup of tea?
Then chick peas. Here's a recipe for ceci alla pisana, chick peas Pisan style, which may seem somewhat unusual, but actually resembles a number of other Tuscan legume dishes in which one cooks the legumes and serves them and their broth over toasted bread. It will be nice in the cooler months, and will serve 6:
- 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) chick peas, soaked overnight
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) olive oil
- An onion, minced
- A clove of garlic, minced
- 4 salted anchovies (the kind you buy whole from a tin in a deli, or 8 filets) rinsed, boned and mashed
- 2/3 pound (300 g) beet greens, tough ribs removed, blanched
- A ladle of tomato sauce
- Toasted Tuscan-style bread
- Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil for a couple of minutes, then stir in the anchovy filets. Drain the chick peas and add them to the pot, together with the blanched beet greens, check seasoning, stir in the tomato sauce, cover, and simmer it over a very low flame for a couple of hours or more, checking every now and then; add a little water if it appears in danger of drying out.
Toast the bread, set it in soup bowls, and ladle the chick peas and their broth over it.
A printer-friendly version of this recipe.
Legalize it (again)
Moving in a very different direction, some will recall that about a year ago I discussed the failure of prohibition as a means to combat drug abuse -- and got quite a few angry replies inviting me to stick to food. Well, that discussion came on the heels of an antiprohibitionist proposal floated during the annual meeting of Democratici di Sinistra, the chief party in Italy's governing coalition. Today the Minister of Health and a leading exponent of Forza Italia, the primary opposition party, concurred in saying that prohibition isn't working and the only way to stop drug traffic and abuse is to eliminate the profit motive. In other words, liberalize. There will be howls of protest tomorrow, but we may be headed in that direction.
Misuse of the Valpolicella name
Well, you now have two of the major Italian current events. If we instead look towards the world of wine, last week I met with Dr. Fasoletti, director of the Consorzio in charge of safeguarding and promoting the Valpolicella area's wines (Valpolicella, Valpolicella Superiore, Recioto della Valpolicella and Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone -- note the V-word in every name). At the end of the conversation he showed me a photo of a sign that said: Valpolicella (the word "police" within Valpolicella highlighted with a different color), and then, in English: "Please don't drink and drive. Last year over 90,000 people were convicted of drink (sic) driving." Turns out that the photo was of a billboard (attached to a bus if I remember right), and was part of an initiative dreamed up by Britain's Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions as a way of fighting alcohol abuse; there were also signs that involved the words lager, beer and rum. However, none of the other signs specified a particular product, and I can understand the Consorzio's being upset at having its wines associated directly with drunk driving. So could the DETR, which immediately yanked the Valpolicella posters when contacted by the Consorzio. But the add agency that dreamed up the campaign apparently cannot, because when they sold the project to Ireland the Valpolicella posters reappeared. If you happen to see one, contact the Consorzio at vinovalpolicella@tiscalinet.it, or drop me a line and I'll send it along.
Winding down, a couple of travel ideas. First, if you're interested in a cooking holiday, Giuliano Hazan is organizing courses in Villa Giona, a magnificent Renaissance villa just a few minutes from Verona, which is one of the prettiest cities in northern Italy, boasting all sorts of Roman things, the Arena with its opera festival, and spectacular Romanesque churches too. The wines will also be very nice: Marilisa Allegrini of Allegrini is organizing that end of the trip. For more information, see http://www.giulianohazan.com/classes_italy.htm.
If you instead will be going to Florence and want to do something different for a morning (or a day), Patricia Haskel has spent quite a bit of time exploring the city and has discovered pretty sites that many locals don't know about. If you'd like her to take you around, or shopping for that matter, check her website, http://www.expattours.com
Finally, this time's proverb, which is Puglian: Ce wé u lambasiàune, te l'a dà cavé: If you want a lampascione (an edible bulb) you've got to dig for it. Since they're deep set, this means that if you want something good, you have to be willing to work to get it.
A presto,
Kyle Phillips
Webweaver, About Italian Cuisine
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