Cooking
These aren't souvenirs as you'd normally think of them. I just made them tonight, but I made them with Maria Grammatico's recipe. As you may recall, we visited her pasticceria while in Erice. I happen to have a copy of the book she coauthored with Mary Taylor Simeti, Bitter Almonds, which is part autobiography, part cookbook. It appears to include recipes for just about every confection offered in the pasticceria, including the ones we tried during our visit.
Our favorites were the Belli e Brutti, which were translated as "Beauty-Unsightly" at the Pasticceria Grammatico, but as "Good and Uglies" in the book. Ugly though they may be, mine did not turn out as they should. They should have maintained their shape, but instead they spread into very flat cookies. They taste much as I remember the one I ate in Erice - very sweet, lots of almond flavor, and a little lemon.
I cheated a little since I was doing this on a weeknight. I didn't grind my own almonds. Instead I purchased a bag of almond meal. It's possible this was partly responsible for my misshapen uglies, but I'm more inclined to think it has something to do with egg size (which is not specified in the recipe) or the leavening. In any case, the almond meal probably doesn't provide the same almond flavor that freshly ground almonds would, but it made these cookies super easy.
I confess I haven't read this book yet, though it was purchased long before our trip, but I look forward to reading it soon!
Pasticceria Grammatico
- Mondays With Maida - Almond Tartlets
Page 248 in the old book / page 269 in the new book Tartlets again, but this week they're almond. The recipe is very similar to last week's. The filling is the same but for the chocolate and flavorings and the pastry is still shortbread-like,...
- Mondays With Maida - Almond Macaroons
Page 240 in the old book / page 263 in the new book I'm afraid no almond macaroon will ever measure up to my ideal almond cookie: Brutti ma Buoni (or Belli et Brutti as the case may be), but if I'd never tasted the Italian version of this cookie,...
- Mondays With Maida - French Filbert Macaroons
Page 219 in the old book / page 246 in the new book Funny that this cookie comes so soon after my revisit with its Italian cousin, Brutti ma Buoni, or as Maria Grammatico calls them, Belli et Brutti. Last time I tried that recipe which is made with almonds,...
- That Cookbook Meme
It finally found it's way here thanks to Alice, so here goes... Total number of (cook/food) books I've owned: I really have no idea. Because of limited space, I occasionally thin out my books, so who knows how many have passed through here. At...
- Monreale And Erice
View from Erice Tuesday we left Palermo and headed towards Erice with a stop in Monreale. The day would bring some wonderful surprises. As we came into the town of Monreale, the congested little streets became even more difficult to navigate because,...
Cooking
Souvenirs: Belli e Brutti
These aren't souvenirs as you'd normally think of them. I just made them tonight, but I made them with Maria Grammatico's recipe. As you may recall, we visited her pasticceria while in Erice. I happen to have a copy of the book she coauthored with Mary Taylor Simeti, Bitter Almonds, which is part autobiography, part cookbook. It appears to include recipes for just about every confection offered in the pasticceria, including the ones we tried during our visit.
Our favorites were the Belli e Brutti, which were translated as "Beauty-Unsightly" at the Pasticceria Grammatico, but as "Good and Uglies" in the book. Ugly though they may be, mine did not turn out as they should. They should have maintained their shape, but instead they spread into very flat cookies. They taste much as I remember the one I ate in Erice - very sweet, lots of almond flavor, and a little lemon.
I cheated a little since I was doing this on a weeknight. I didn't grind my own almonds. Instead I purchased a bag of almond meal. It's possible this was partly responsible for my misshapen uglies, but I'm more inclined to think it has something to do with egg size (which is not specified in the recipe) or the leavening. In any case, the almond meal probably doesn't provide the same almond flavor that freshly ground almonds would, but it made these cookies super easy.
I confess I haven't read this book yet, though it was purchased long before our trip, but I look forward to reading it soon!
Pasticceria Grammatico
- Mondays With Maida - Almond Tartlets
Page 248 in the old book / page 269 in the new book Tartlets again, but this week they're almond. The recipe is very similar to last week's. The filling is the same but for the chocolate and flavorings and the pastry is still shortbread-like,...
- Mondays With Maida - Almond Macaroons
Page 240 in the old book / page 263 in the new book I'm afraid no almond macaroon will ever measure up to my ideal almond cookie: Brutti ma Buoni (or Belli et Brutti as the case may be), but if I'd never tasted the Italian version of this cookie,...
- Mondays With Maida - French Filbert Macaroons
Page 219 in the old book / page 246 in the new book Funny that this cookie comes so soon after my revisit with its Italian cousin, Brutti ma Buoni, or as Maria Grammatico calls them, Belli et Brutti. Last time I tried that recipe which is made with almonds,...
- That Cookbook Meme
It finally found it's way here thanks to Alice, so here goes... Total number of (cook/food) books I've owned: I really have no idea. Because of limited space, I occasionally thin out my books, so who knows how many have passed through here. At...
- Monreale And Erice
View from Erice Tuesday we left Palermo and headed towards Erice with a stop in Monreale. The day would bring some wonderful surprises. As we came into the town of Monreale, the congested little streets became even more difficult to navigate because,...