Melanzane To Die For

One of my favourite Italian recipes is Melanzane Parmigiana. A lot of people have difficulty knowing what to do with aubergines, and I know what they mean….they can be tasteless and rubbery. Here, chef Domenico Maggi, explains how to make his delicious version.

Ingredients:

Fresh whole aubergine, medium sized – one per person should be enough.

Virgin Olive Oil for deep frying (Domenico says that if you can’t use that, the second best is ground nut oil).

Virgin Olive Oil for general cooking – a good glug.

Several cloves of garlic (how much you add is down to personal taste).

Several slices of bread.

Handfuls of fresh Basil and Parsley.

A couple of teaspoons of pickled capers, rinsed.

2 beaten eggs to bind.

Ground black pepper.

Canestrato or Pecorino cheese, grated.

Start with the aubergine and slice each fruit in two. Remove most of the the flesh from the centre of each half with a large spoon or knife, but leave a thin layer (about half a cm) lining the skins so they don’t fall apart during baking.

Deep fry the aubergine skins in olive oil for a few minutes, then drain. (Domenico uses virgin olive oil in the fryer no hotter than 180 degrees. Smoking point is 190, after which the oil’s structure can be damaged and becomes unhealthy to consume.) Put aside to cool, ready for filling.

Chop the remaining aubergine flesh into small pieces. Peel, crush and chop several garlic cloves. Heat virgin olive oil in a wok-type pan and fry the garlic until just golden. Add the chopped aubergines. The oil will be quickly absorbed by the spongy flesh, and it might seem dry, but don’t over do it as weirdly, once the flesh is cooked, the oil returns to the pan.

Take a large baking tray and decant the cooked aubergine into it. Leave to cool – shouldn’t take too long.

Take several slices of  bread, remove the crusts, and roughly chop into large cubes. Next, chop up large handfuls of fresh parsley and basil. (If you don’t have these, adding any other fresh herbs will also work.) Rinse a handful of capers to remove the pickling vinegar. Throw this all into the mix. Then add 2 beaten eggs and mix the whole lot with your hands into a lumpy filling. Season well with ground black pepper.

Next, stir in a couple of large handfuls of grated Canestrato (this is milder that Parmesan, similar to Pecorino, made from cow’s and sheep’s milk). I like the hands-on mixing thing – no need for extra washing up!

You shouldn’t need to add any extra salt, as the cheese does the job for you.

Now – back to the aubergine skins waiting in the baking tray….sprinkle a little cheese over them. Then push the mix into each half to the top. Once they’re all filled, you can sprinkle more grated cheese over the top to make a delicious crust. Set aside till needed and bake for around 20-30 minutes at 180 until golden and the aubergine halves are soft and just starting to collapse. A delicious aroma should fill the room.

Try serving with a basic Provençale style sauce on the side. Heaven.

The Monaci’s Chef Shows Us How To Do It!

Outside the Monaci Factory

Focaccia with Olives and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Aubergine Salad

Seafood Salad

Tomato Salad

Sweet Breads with Goats Cheese and Berry Jam

My Grundtvig colleages with Monaci’s talented Chef

Grundtvig Colleagues

Tucking in

Healthy Meditteranean diet

Squid Salad

Tasting the different dishes

Satisfaction

Adding pasta to tomato based sauce

Steaming away

Making sure the sauce is evenly distributed

Adding Basil

Spectacular

Adding Mozzarella

Getting ready to serve

Double Delicious

Being Served

Fabulous wines

Lavender Field

View from the Top of the Monaci Factory

From the finest wines to the most delicious food, we certainly weren’t expecting this all in one morning. For days we had been treated like royalty and so it continued.

After our fantastic, informative tour of the factory, we had worked up a true hunger. The spread was colourful and a heady aroma emanated. Stomachs growled as our talented chef tossed an enormous pan of pasta up in the air. All the ingredients were locally sourced born from a rich heritage of making do.  Surprisingly there was little garlic in this food. With the sea only a few miles away in any direction, seafood featured large.

I was surprised by sweetbreads topped by acidic, tart goat’s cheese, balanced beautifully with a sweet, berry jelly.

It’s very easy to be vegetarian in Southern Italy. Fruit is generously sized and yet the strength of the sun makes flavours sing: no insipid supermarket fare here. A lot is said about the Mediterranean diet contributing to a long and healthy life, but even if it is a load of old twaddle, at least you’re enjoying yourself as your taste buds zing and if it is  true , then what a bonus!

Learning From The Monacis – In Wine Making, Sympathy For Environment Is Key

When I woke up this morning it was snowing whirling dervish flakes. God! It’s nearly Easter too. Poor Suggs and Co: stirling performance last night at the sad closure of BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane.  I thought back to those warm, balmy days on the Grundtvig Project, longing for soothing Negroamaro wine and the succulent dishes we tried.

(Cue: one of those wobbly dream filters they used to use in the movies.)

We are visiting the Monaci family vineyards in Copertino, Salento. Originally from Campania, the family moved to the Puglia region 50 years ago. Our speaker is Angela Venturi, wine and PR expert specialising in wine making and high quality agricultural tours. Spanning 22 hectares, this masseria focuses on red grapes (Negroamaro, Primitivo, Black Malvasia) trained to grow flat on espaliers (trellis) making the fruit easier to harvest. (A plant’s lifespan is 25-30 years.) This plant is hardy. In 2007 temperatures reached 52 degrees – a great year for red grapes, Angela waxed enthusiastically.

The Monacis never buy in grapes for blending and follow a policy of respecting the soil by not forcing growth.  Nevertheless, 100,000 bottles is usual for a good year. Young and white grapes need to be protected from the sun, which can be ferocious in these parts, so vines are planted so that the fruit is protected by the shadow of its own leaves. Nowadays, Antonio cares for the plants while Adriano lays down the law in the factory.

Harvesting 80% by hand, usually takes place late August – early October and sugar content of the grape on average 21-22%. This year sugars weighed in at a whopping 27% – and so expectations were high. Timing is critical as each day you leave the grape, the sugar content changes and the flavour is corrupted. Early harvesting hours protects both the grape and the workers and is over by 11am due to the extreme heat in this region.

Angela, Wine Expert, Explains

Patrick samples the grape

Adriano and Antonio

The Spanish Contingent

The Macerator

Grundtvig colleagues listen intently

Then the wine is stored underground well away from light.

Fermentation tanks

Bottling up machines

The fruit is transported to the press, any hard wood and leaves left over are macerated and put back in the soil as compost. After 6-7 days in the fermentation machines (whose design dates back to the 40’s and provide a stable temperature) skins are removed, recycled and sold to be made into Grappa and surgical alcohol. Nothing is wasted here!  The wine is then kept in huge vats under ground away from the light, at 16-18 degrees until ready for storing in barrels. 100% French Oak, they  provide natural oxygenation without overcoming the wine’s true flavour, which in itself is strong enough.  For 18 months it lays in the barrel and left for a further 10 months in the bottle to settle. “Simpotica” stays in French Oak Barrels for only 6 months.

Bottling

Bottles are received sterilised but are cleaned and re-sterilised to be sure. Great pains have been taken to ensure the quality of the natural cork used.  Over the years, it was sourced from Salento, then Sardinia but nowadays it’s imported from Portugal. (Plastic doesn’t allow breathing, screw top proved a disaster!)

History

Salento has a long history of wine making. Byzantine monks, then the Normans and Frederick II improved the cultivation in the area. Exporting can be attributed to the Berbers. Unfortunately, all wine production in the region was destroyed by disease and had to be re-established in the 19th Century. Wineries from the North started buying grape from the South and due to mass production methods, quality suffered but nowadays, Puglia is the fourth region after Sicily producing quality wines.

(Cue: the wobbly dream filter again.)

It’s Still Snowing!

The care and attention that goes into making these lovely wines is something I’ll certainly remember! As I gaze out of my window, the snow hasn’t let up and I’m reticent to get out of my pyjamas and go shopping.

Loving Lecce – Life-long learning through cultural exchange and healthy food production

Colleagues from the Grundtvig Project outside Instituto Antonacci, Lecce, Puglia.

Rich aromas of baking bread drifted towards me as I meandered around the streets of Lecce last week. Just in the shadow of an old amphitheatre in Piazza San Oronzo was what could be described as a farmer’s market, thronging with visitors. It was intoxicating, the musical sound of the Italian language, the hues and scent of the food.

Part of a multi-national delegation, I was representing the UK with two of my Embrace colleagues. There were Brazilians, Italians, Latvians, Spanish, Turkish, French and Romanians. One way or another all of these people present had taken positive action for their communities by volunteering, raising money or teaching. Vita and Francesco were our guides, very knowledgeable and friendly too.

The European Commission’s Grundtvig Project aims to bring life-long learning to all age groups and funds a range of activities including exchanges, study visits and networking opportunities. The project is aimed not only at learners but also teachers and anyone involved in education and training.

And so it was that the following morning, after meeting at the door of Instituto Antonacci (an institute for the blind which also doubles as a B & B), we embarked on what can only be described as culinary heaven.

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Gianni Delana, proprietor and chef of Il Ristoro Dei Templari Pizzeria ( Via Ascanio Grandi, Lecce), stood proudly in front of us in his whites. Luigi was on call to help him with any prep. The restaurant had vaulted ceilings, very common in this region and the walls were a lovely mellow ochre. Will, our lovely US ex-pat interpreted in style.

Italian cookery is admired worldwide, the most well known dish being pasta of course. Originally dishes were made without tomatoes until the 1500’s when they were imported from the Americas. There is an abundance of vegetables in the cooking which is connected to the Jewish tradition. Catholic, Jewish and Islamic cookery came together with the introduction of legumes (pulses) such as chick peas. Chicoria (Chicory) and Augergines are very common being used in the delicious Melanzana Parmiggiana. (Mala – Insana : Not healthy!)

Ciceri e Trie

This is a deliciously simple Middle Eastern dish using boiled pasta, fried pasta and ceci (chickpea) soup: pure flavours, full of protein and yet no animal product at all. If you do fry the pasta, make sure the olive oil is not past its smoking point of 190 degrees, as this damages the molecular structure of the oil and ruins its health benefits as well as spoiling the taste. The pasta should be golden brown and crunchy when done. The soup can be made simply by frying chopped onions, adding vegetables and stock, spices, salt and chick peas.

Ceceri e Trie, boiled pasta, fried pasta with chickpea soup.

Garlic versus Onions

While I was in Lecce, I noticed an absence of garlic in many dishes. Will explained that  onion is used towards the Ionian Sea while in Northerly climbs, the use of garlic is more common: down to personal choice really.

Pasta
Puglia, Campagna and Graniano regions are all famous for pasta making. The yellower the pasta, the richer it is in protein. Combined with lamb is common because it is not connected to religious rites and sheep were easier to raise on the local terrain. Salsiccia salentina o di Lecce, a local sausage is made from offal and comes from the need to use all of the animal.

To make pasta according to this region’s traditions, couldn’t be simpler. Make a well in the middle of  a heap of local hard flour made from Durum wheat, pour in some water little by little and knead until the dough is elastic and pliable. Then make a ball and lay to rest for 30 minutes. Make your shapes (Oriechetta – Little Ears or Maritata – conjoined pasta), leave for a further 20 minutes to harden, boil in salted water…. There you go!

Little Ears or Oriechetta Pasta

Fat

The use of locally grown olives in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, high in anti-oxidants, gives the food unique flavour and is used both in savoury and sweet dishes. Production started in 200BC when it was introduced by the Greeks via Sicily. Jewish culture forbids pork fat so olive oil was a convenient substitute. Surprisingly, the oils from this versatile plant were also used for lighting! Will explained that the further North in Italy you travel, the more batter and animal fat is present in dishes.

With Columbus visiting the Americas, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes became an important addition and changed the direction of Mediterranean cooking. The potato, which had just been an ornamental house plant before, was used to feed the starving during famine. Pasta and tomatoes became loved in Italy and were exported wherever Italians went.  (Mac-Eroni: Noodles and Tomatoes.)

Pizza

The origins of White Pizza are less well known. Its roots are from the Middle East/ or Egypt where people wanted a flat vehicle to carry food, such as ‘Pitta’ or ‘Piadina” which means flat bread. After the discovery of yeast, it was possible to create a light bread. Around this time humans evolved from hunters into farmers. This bread could be cooked on stone similar to Tortillas in South America.

Modern Pizza

Rumour has it that when Queen Margherita visited Naples in the 1860’s, the Neapolitans developed the idea of serving the national colours on a plate. This became Pizza Margherita and the National dish.

Green, white and red on the European table….Green for basil, red for tomatoes, white for Mozzarella!

Ojén –More than Bitter Sweet

Juan, Mum’s neighbour and Gene Wilder look-alike with the bright blue eyes, lamented the election of a Basque politician at the beginning of May 2011. I had some sympathy. How do we assimilate extremist politics without it being at the expense of the moderate voter?

“Spain is finished. We may as well move to America” Juan stated in a resigned way. I drew parallels with Northern Ireland but Juan bounced back again: “You are Great Britain. You’ll be O.K. Our royalty is finished.”

Not being aux fait with Spanish politics, I only got the gist. One thing’s for sure : the Spanish are a passionate bunch alright.

In all the years I’ve been visiting Spain, this was the first time it had coincided with elections of any kind. Marbella is normally a play ground for the rich but this time, I noticed an increase in Graffiti : “ Immigration – NO!” The people here, like in most EU countries, have suffered greatly with the property slump, the rise and rise of India and China. In any recession, extremist political parties enjoy a parasitic popularity, preying on the down right insecure. Hot topic here was the talk of Portugal needing further financial assistance.

It’s upon this background that I find myself once again visiting the quintessential white village Ojén.

Just 30 minutes’ drive from Marbella on newly surfaced, curling roads, Ojén (whose name is apparently derived from the Arabic for bitter or rough),  has remained relatively unspoilt. Situated on the Almadán Stream and close to the Rio Real Valley, historically, the town was attractive for its minerals: talc, nickel, iron and lead. It was also famous at one time for its Aniseed liqueur Aguardiente.

Ojén’s weekly market compares favourably with Marbella’s sprawling Monday effort if picturesque is what you want. It features the most beautiful fruit and veg, the biggest tomatoes I have ever seen and there is less emphasis on cheap clothes. But that’s not to say there aren’t any because this market serves a small community which would be cut off were it not for modern transport. The fresh water pours relentlessly out of the fountain and locals drop by with a bottle to fill.

Here, Andalusians catch up with their mates and place a bet and as with many town squares, their activities are overseen by a church. Offerings are left outside.

Swallows nest beneath the shelter of balconies, making globe like structures from their spittle and mud. Pausing at the entrance to feed their young, then darting off again, whistling through the air, they’re so fast, almost impossible to capture. I feel exhilarated trying to do so and all this happening above the bustle of the market place. A short visit to the local shop is in order. (It’s owned by a friend of my mum’s.)

A delicious honey covered traditional Spanish pastry accompanied by the obligatory café con leché doesn’t go amiss before we head back to the urban sprawl of town.

Stopping at the viewpoint to take in the approach to Ojén is sort of a ritual as is taking in the view of the massive dam on the Rio Real: for once, no cranes spoiling the view. Perhaps the recession is a cloud with a silver lining. At least developing new villas seems to have stopped for the time being. Perhaps the unstoppable really is stoppable.

Maybe development isn’t always a good thing. Yes, it creates jobs but at what cost? That’s all well and good coming from a tourist that visits once a year but what future is there for the next generation of Andalusians? I wonder.