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A quick guide to Italian flour

by Luca Marchiori
written by Luca Marchiori

Italian flour

 

0, 00, 1, or 2? Italian flour can be confusing. Put it all straight with this quick guide.

Once, I thought I knew flour: plain, self-raising, strong, wholemeal—each with their own uses, each with their own consistencies. And then I moved abroad. It was while shopping in Switzerland that I first noticed alarming range of flours with unrecognizable names. I thought it would be a matter of just looking in a dictionary, but no. It wasn’t the names of the flours that were different; it was the flours themselves.

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Crostata di Ciliegie: Cherry Tart – Chestnuts and Truffles TV

by Luca Marchiori
written by Luca Marchiori

 

I’m delighted to present to you my first video recipe for Chestnuts and Truffles TV on YouTube. I really enjoyed making this video since I was able to go into a lot more detail about techniques, particularly with the pasta frolla, or shortcrust pastry, than you can in a recipe. You also get to see a bit of Tuscany and you’ll be seeing a lot more as I get out and about in future videos.  The full recipe including all the ingredients is below. Buon appetito!

 

Crostata di Ciliegie

Serves 6
Ingredients
250g / 2 cups plain flour
50g 1/4 cup granulated sugar
5g / 1 teaspoon salt
< 120g / 1/2 cup water
125g / 1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 pot jam

 

Method
  1. Put the flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl.
  2. Add the butter and rub in with your fingers until you have achieved the consistency of breadcrumbs.
  3. Add enough water to bring the mixture together into a dough. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for one hour.
  4. Butter a pie tin. Roll the pastry out to fill the bottom of the pie tin. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork. Keep the leftover pastry. Refrigerate the pastry case for one hour.
  5. Roll out and cut the remaining pastry into eight strips with a pasta wheel.
  6. Cover the bottom of the pastry case with jam.
  7. Place the strips of pastry over the top of the jam in the form of a lattice.
  8. Bake at 180°C / 355°F for 35-40 minutes. Allow to cool completely before serving.
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Panina di Subbiano: Saffron and sultana bread

by Luca Marchiori
written by Luca Marchiori

Panina di Subbiano

Italians like their recipes and ingredients to have an origin. Knowing where something comes from give a sense of tradition and authority very important in Italian cuisine. Thus salsa amatriciana  comes from the town of Amatrice, parmigiano-reggiano, is named for the twin provinces of Parma and Reggio d’Emilia, and risotto alla Milanese, comes from the city of Venice. OK, I’m joking there since it obviously comes from Milan but you get the point.

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Crostata ai fichi: Fig tart

by Luca Marchiori
written by Luca Marchiori

 

Crostata ai fichi:

An Italian friend once told me there are certain things you just don’t buy. One of them is tomatoes and another is figs. No matter where in Italy you live, some friend or neighbour will be growing them in their garden, and at this time of year people happily swap, or give away, the excess. So far, this year, I’ve been presented with two crates of tomatoes—for homemade passata—a huge crate of potatoes, and copious baskets of figs. We grow tomatoes and potatoes as well as delicious blackberries, but don’t have a fig tree, so thank providence for a very good friend who does.

Fichi

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Torta alle ciliegie: Cherry cake (recipe)

by Luca Marchiori
written by Luca Marchiori

Cherries

This is an incredible time of year, with fruit and vegetables seeming to come into season with the frequency of trains arriving at Santa Maria Novella station in Florence. This week, it’s the turn of cherries. I have two small cherry trees at La Madera which yielded enough fruit for a cake, but a friend with several mature trees offered me a few from her garden. That ‘few’ turned out to be a huge bowl full which left me to put together a long list of things to make.

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