The Tuscan Year by Elizabeth Romer

Author:Elizabeth Romer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

AUGUST

The corn that was harvested during the month of July lies piled in its sacks and represents one of the fundamental and most characteristic staples of Tuscan cooking. The country people know how to use bread to its greatest advantage. The old peasants who baked their loaves only once a week became adept at using the stale bread in ways that made their meals both appetizing and economical. Their dishes of zuppe, ribolliti and cacciucco, a fish stew, were all based on thick slices of the rough saltless bread, which has the nutty flavour of real unrefined flour. Silvana has learnt these lessons well and makes many dishes based on bread. One of her favourite supper dishes is acquacotta, which literally means ‘cooked water’, and signifies a poor man’s dish made out of absolutely nothing. It is a very ancient recipe, that comes partly from the charcoal burners who lived deep in the Tuscan forests and are traditionally among the poorest of people. In actual fact acquacotta, which has many variations, is an absolutely exquisite dish fit for the most fastidious food lover. One version uses pieces of the funghi porcini which in France are called cêpes. The funghi are cooked gently in a pan with olive oil, salt and pepper and some mentuccia, the small-leafed wild mint that grows in the fields. When the funghi have given up their juices a little tomato conserva is added, and a ladle of water for each person. The mixture is then left to simmer gently. Whilst the funghi simmer, a lidded soup dish must be prepared. In it should be one raw egg per person beaten up together with a generous handful of parmesan cheese. When the funghi broth is ready it must be tipped into the soup dish and stirred into the eggs and cheese. The dish is then covered and left to stew for a few minutes. It should be eaten hot, but not too hot; again, as we have observed before, to bring out the flavour. To serve it one must place a good slice of hot toasted bread in each soup plate and pour over a ladleful of the acquacotta.

To make Acquacotta con Funghi for four people you will need 400 g or 14 oz of fresh porcini, three tablespoons of olive oil, two cloves of garlic, a sprig of mentuccia, wild mint, salt and black pepper, two teaspoons of tomato conserva, a scarce litre or just under 1¾ pints of stock or water, four eggs, four tablespoons of grated parmesan and four slices of good bread.

Clean the porcini carefully and cut them into pieces. In a large saucepan heat up the olive oil then add the cloves of garlic which must be chopped, the leaves from the sprig of mentuccia, wild mint, and a sprinkle of black pepper. Let the garlic soften but on no account let it burn or even turn brown. Next add the funghi and turn them in the oil over a very low heat; after a while the mushrooms will start to give up their juice.

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