Fiori di Zucca Ripieni
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Squash Blossoms filled with Sausage, Mozzarella and crusted with Breadcrumbs, Pistachios and grated Pecorino cheese.
This is one of those Sicilian food remnants that can trace it's roots to the Arab rule of that island in the 900's. Zucchini flowers, or any kind of squash really, can be found filled with a variety of fillings, sometimes nothing but a single anchovy, other more elaborate mixtures of ricotta or other cheeses.
Most commonly you will find squash blossoms batter fried but the results are too often lackluster. I had some the other day at an uncaring restaurant in which they were filled with a boring mozzarella and dredged in thick batter, they barely tasted of anything.
I have been quietly salivating over this recipe all summer long, I like that they are baked instead of fried and that instead of a batter they are coated in equal parts breadcrumbs / pistachios / pecorino cheese. I used store bought Italian sausage with several extra big pinches of fennel seeds mixed in.
My neighbor grew the zucchini on the plate on our shared fire escape, indeed he gave me three blossoms too but I had to purchase more to create a substantial batch.
For the zucchini salad on the plate all I did was slice them wafer thin and anoint them with extra virgin olive oil, salt, lemon and mint.
BRACIOLE
This is my family’s signature dish reserved for special occasions. We had a weathered old index card with my grandmothers hand-written recipe on it in a drawer near the stovetop.
The origins of Braciole in Italy weave through history, with written records resembling our dish dating back to the 13th century. However it is with the Sicilian dialect word ‘Farsumagru’, this would coincide with the French rule of that island. The French term for filling for meat is ‘Farcie’, the Sicilian word ‘Magru’ means ‘lean’ so it seems that the Sicilian description was referring to a lean cut of meat filled with a stuffing.
However, the term 'Braciole' remains enigmatic, adopting different meanings in various regions. I once saw a chalkboard menu outside a restaurant in Umbria with the days special of “Braciola”, what they brought me was a grilled pork chop. I since learned that the word “Braciola/Braciole” (the ‘a’ and the ‘e’ just signify singular or plural) can mean any cut of meat that has been pounded or flattened. It also might mean grilled which our family recipe certainly is not! The closest food I found myself in Sicily were under the title ‘Involtini’.
Our rendition involves butterflied and pounded flank steak I always read of others using top round so I wanted to try that variation today. The filling is mainly breadcrumbs mixed with tomato sauce and cheese until thick, also a layer of prosciutto and herbs. My grandparents recipe included hard boiled eggs as well, but my mom and I never liked that part so we omit them. The concoction is skillfully rolled, tied, browned, and then lovingly braised for hours in a tomato sauce enriched with a generous amount of red wine.
'Nfigghiulata Antica
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'Nfigghiulata Antica
Something I hoped to find on my recent trip to Sicily was 'Nfigghiulata. I searched Palermo's restaurant menus posted in windows, pastry shops, bakeries, but couldn't find a single one. Even online it is an elusive term to search for, it's complicated spelling doesn't help matters.
'Nfigghiulata must be very old. The recipe I learned from my late mentor Carlo Middione called it 'Nfigghiulata Antica meaning 'in the old style' or 'ancient'. He suggests it most likely comes from the time of Saracen rule of Sicily from at least 900-1100 due to the tradition of forming the role into a crescent shape when there is no other reason to do so. I always thought it would make more sense to shape it long and straight to make slicing later more uniform. However every one I ever made including this one just for myself I couldn't resist sticking with the traditional crescent. Croissants are shaped this way for the reason, because they share the same origins.
The actual Saracen (or Moorish, or Berber, or Muslim.. terms change over time) influence in architecture and cuisine lasted much longer than their relatively short rule, in fact most of the more famous Sicilian dishes recognized world wide stem from this period; Caponata, Cassata. Arancini, Cannoli, Pasta coi le Sarde, Panelle, etc.
Carlo's recipe for 'Nfigghiulata Antica is really regal, focaccia dough (or Scaccia) is rolled thin, topped with lightly cooked ground veal, swiss chard, onions, spring onions, pitted olives, cauliflower florets, minced salami, provolone cheese then rolled up gently, shaped into a crescent, then baked for an hour taking time to baste it with olive oil every fifteen minutes.
If you are curious enough to want to make this may I suggest Carlo’s indispensable cookbook The Food Of Southern Italy page 64.
Pesce all' Acqua Pazza
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Occasionally something so simple, so unpretentious and humble can be very striking. One of the more memorable dinners I had on my recent trip to Sicily was a whole fish gently poached in Acqua Pazza, which means "Crazy Water". I remember thinking that maybe it's because it's so uncomplicated that you never encounter it in the States, but now that I think of it, generally fish preparations in the United States are even more simple, sometimes just grilled with some ill-suited sauce, or fried with no sauce at all.
Poached fish recipes that I remember from training in French restaurants are similar but the aromatic vegetables and herbs are strained and discarded before serving. I've also noticed that poached fish, which is really a perfect way of cooking something so delicate, is overlooked and ignored by today's gourmands.
𝘗𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭’𝘈𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘢 𝘗𝘢𝘻𝘻𝘢 is one of those preparations that you can find from Almafi coast down to Sicily and then back up the Italian boot up the other side at least through the region of Abruzzo. The origins called for seawater though I wouldn't recommend that today. Instead just simmer whichever aromatic vegetables and herbs you like, in my case here I used fennel, red onion, carrots, celery, capers, olives, tomato, basil, thyme, parsley, garlic, peppercorns, lemon and white wine, then lower whatever whitefish you want, Rock Cod in my case, simmer lazily, gently lift it out onto a plate and drench with the poaching liquid. I used potatoes too that I cooked separately in salted water with herbs. Drizzle the best olive oil you can afford and have some hand torn chewy bread nearby. The clean, bright flavor you won't soon forget, at least, I haven't.