The Italian Cook Book Part 25

Egg-yolks, five.

Milk, one pint.

Skin the almonds and chop them in little pieces about as big as a grain of wheat. Put on the fire two thirds of the sugar and when it is all melted pour the almonds and stir continually with the ladle until they have taken the color of cinnamon. Then put them in a tin greased with b.u.t.ter and when they are cold, pound them very fine with the remaining third of sugar.

Add the yolks and then the milk, mix well and pour the mixture in a mold with a hole in the middle and greased evenly with b.u.t.ter. Place the mold in a double boiler so that it will be cooked by steam.

206

STUFFED PEACHES

(Pesche ripiene)

Six big peaches not very ripe.

Four or five lady-finger biscuits.

Granulated sugar, three ounces.

Two ounces sweet almonds with three peach kernels.

Candied fruit (angelica) half an ounce.

Cut the peaches in two parts, remove the stones and enlarge somewhat the cavity where they were with the point of a knife. Mix the peach pulp that you extract with the almonds, already skinned, and grind the pulp and almonds very fine together with two ounces of the sugar. To this mixture add the lady-fingers crumbed and the candied fruits. Cut in very small cubes. This will be the stuffing with which you will fill the cavities of the twelve halves of peach. These you will place in a row in a baking tin, with the stuffing above. Add the remaining ounce of sugar and bake in oven with a moderate fire.

207

MILK GNOCCHI

(Gnocchi di latte)

One quart of milk.

Sugar, nine ounces.

Starch in powder, four ounces.

Eight yolks of eggs.

A taste of vanilla.

Mix everything together as you would do for a cream and put on the fire in a saucepan, continually stirring with a ladle. When the mixture has become hard keep it a few moments more on the fire and then pour it in a plate to make it about half an inch thick and cut it into diamonds when it is cold. Put these diamonds one over the other with symmetry in a baking tin or in a fireproof gla.s.s plate, with some little pieces of b.u.t.ter in between and brown them a little in the oven. Serve hot.

208

SABAYON

(Zabaione)

Yolks of three eggs.

Granulated sugar, two ounces.

Marsala or sherry wine, five tablespoonfuls.

A dash of cinnamon.

First stir with the ladle the yolks and the sugar until they become almost white, then add the wine. When ready to serve, place the saucepan in another one containing hot water and beat until the sugar is melted and the egg begins to thicken.

SYRUPS

(Sciroppi)

The syrups of acidulated fruits, diluted with ice water are refreshing and pleasant beverages, greatly appreciated during the summer months. It is well, however, not to drink them until the digestion is completed, because they may disturb it, on account of the sugar that they contain.

209

RED CURRANT OR GOOSEBERRY SYRUP

(Sciroppo di ribes)

Remove the stems from the bunches of gooseberry and place them in an earthen vase, to be kept in a cool place. When it has begun to ferment (which may happen after three or four days) sink the surface film and stir with a ladle twice a day, continuing this operation until it has stopped raising. Then put in a cheese cloth, letting the juice come out through pressing with the hands or in a machine. Pa.s.s the juice through a filter, two or three times if necessary, until you obtain a limpid liquid. Then put it on the fire and when it begins to boil pour in it granulated sugar and citric acid in the following proportions:

Liquid, six pounds.

Sugar, eight pounds.

Citric acid, one ounce.

That is to say for each =three= parts of the liquid, add =four= parts of sugar, and =one= ounce of citric acid for =eight= pounds of sugar mixed with =six= pounds of liquid.

Stir continually with the ladle so that the sugar does not stick to the bottom, taste it to add some more citric acid if you judge it necessary, then let it cool and place in bottles to be sealed.

When a beverage is to be prepared pour in a tumbler less than half an inch of syrup for a tumblerful of ice water.

210

RASPBERRY SYRUP

(Sciroppo di lampone)

This is prepared like the other explained above but, since this fruit contains less gluten than the gooseberry the period of fermentation will be briefer. The large quant.i.ty of sugar used in these syrups is necessary for their conservation and the citric acid is used to correct the excessive sweetness.

211

LEMON SYRUP

(Sciroppo di limone)

Three big lemons.

One and a half pound of sugar.

A tumbler of water.

Skin the lemons, removing the internal pulp without squeezing it and taking off all seeds.

Put the water on the fire with the skin of one of the lemons cut in a thin ribbon like strip with a small knife. When the water is near boiling put in the sugar then remove the lemon skin and immerse the pulp of the three lemons. Boil until the syrup is condensed and cooked right, which is known by the pearls that it makes boiling and the color of white wine that it acquires. Preserve in a bottle, and when needed, dilute in a tumbler of ice water. A small quant.i.ty will make a delightful beverage.