The writer tells us Neapolitan Loredana Lemon as a kind of friendly conversation, the legend of the pasta, the ancient methods of preparation and the unique technique used by the nuns in the monasteries of Naples. At the end of a short excerpt from his book "The kitchen of Cockaigne. A gourmet stroll with Matilda Serao "
»Card of the book" The kitchen of Cockaigne ....""Interview with Loredana Limone sul book
The origin of Pastiera is very old and comes from pagan worship to celebrate the arrival of spring.The legend says that the siren Partenope was chosen as the home beautiful Gulf of Naples and from there he sang in a voice sweet and melodious. The people then to thank you for this wonderful song brought her gifts, gifts of seven to be exact, as the seven wonders of the world, each of which had a meaning:
1) the flour, a symbol of wealth,2) cottage cheese, a symbol of abundance,3) eggs, a symbol of reproduction,4) wheat cooked in milk, symbolizing the merger of the animal kingdom and the vegetable,5) the orange blossom scent of Campania,6) the spices, in honor of all the peoples7) to cheer the sugar sweetness of the song of the siren.
The siren had regard for the gifts, but mixed them gather in an amalgamation that left his hands pastiera the first of which was the unwitting author.The pasta is then entered in the Christian tradition, becoming the cake to celebrate with the Holy Easter. Even today, Easter is on the table in all families and is a symbol of peace.
The preparation of the pasta industry is complex, long and laborious.Tradition has it that pasta is prepared on Holy Thursday because it is a dessert that aging improves and you can save up to ten days, but not in the refrigerator because it would spoil quickly.In an era, not so remote, they used to do this: you bought the wheat which was sold in bulk bags of jute, it is put to soak in cold water for fifteen days, changing the water every two days. The grain thus obtained was then drained and cooked in milk measured. Fortunately, today there are on the market of the providential cans cooked wheat ready for use. The ricotta and sugar were mixed in a ceramic zuppierone until it became a cream and the experienced home, which usually was the grandmother did not say "stop, that's okay."Then he followed all the complex ritual of preparing both the filling and the pastry is finished by putting the strips of dough typically ranging sull'impasto arranged in the typical form of the cross of St Andrew and fixed to the edges of the pan very well, both for aesthetics, and because the mixture must be prevented from escaping.The pasta is cooked in special pans that are called aluminum wheels and being very delicate and pastry is also sold in these rotate think the cost is included in the price of pastaThe cooking of pasta traditionally ranged from three to four hours over low heat, but today there are modern ovens for another time.
The nuns had a way of preparing a whole - say - detail: it was rumored - the people's voice, the voice of God - the nuns worked the dough into a rather unusual: those who possessed the buttocks and hips more prosperous, they sat on the ' mixture, which was placed on the marble seats of their cloister, and devout prayers whispered long and rhythmically writhing allowing the pasta to thrive.
Finally a brief excerpt from my book ... I fictionalized it first and then me excited.
But the queen of all desserts, also born in the peace of the cloisters, is the pasta. Its origin is very old and comes from pagan worship to celebrate the arrival of spring, then introduced the mystical atmosphere of the resurrection of Christ, has become a message of peace and grace on Easter table. The sisters sewed it for a large number of rich bourgeois and patrician houses, and when the servants went to collect it on behalf of their masters, the door of the convent, a nun-smelling wildflowers opened cautiously, flowed a scent that s' implied in the alleys and around, spreading into low, gave consolation to the poor people for whom that aroma was heavenly witness to the presence of the Lord.
recipe :
ngredients for the pasta for 12 people:
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a 1 kg. of frozen puff pastry (if you want to do at home click here)
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gr. 700 sheep cheese
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gr. 400 of cooked corn (canned in supermarkets is, if you can not find click here to learn how to cook it yourself, or you can replace with: barley that is soaked the night before and baked for 30 minutes or rice grain round cake baked for about 20 minutes)
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gr. 600 sugar
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1 lemon
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gr. 50 candied citron
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gr. 50 candied orange
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gr. 50 candied pumpkin (it's called "cucuzzata") or other mixed candied fruit
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gr. 100 milk
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gr. 30 of butter or lard
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5 whole eggs + 2 yolks
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a sachet of vanilla
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a tablespoon of orange flower water
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pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Preparation:
Make the pastry-thawed at room temperature.
Pour into a casserole-cooked wheat, milk, butter and the grated rind of 1 lemon, cook for 10 minutes stirring often until it becomes creamy.
Whip-apart from the ricotta, sugar, 5 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks, one packet of vanilla, one tablespoon of orange flower water and a pinch of cinnamon (optional)
Working-up everything to make the dough very thin. Add some grated lemon peel and candied fruit cut into cubes. Mix everything with the grain.
Take the pastry-thawed, or one made by you and relax the dough to a thickness of about 1 / 2 cm with a rolling pin and covered the pan (about 30 cm. In diameter), previously buttered, cut the excess part, and ristendetela ricavatene strips.
-Pour the ricotta mixture into the pan, livellatelo, folded to the inside edges of the dough strips and decorated with brush strokes that form a lattice with beaten egg yolk.
-Bake at 180 degrees for an hour and a half until I got the pasta does not have an amber color, and let cool before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar.
P.S. Once cooked the pasta can be refrigerated for 4-5 days.
