I'm ready to make "La Bella Calda" or La Farinata from the cookbook: È Pronto! By Benedetta Parodi (Page 77).
My adopted grandfather asked me if I wanted to taste some morsels of food which were sizzling in his huge open oven. I nodded yes, enthusiastically. First he caught a sausage with his long fork. He sliced a piece and handed it to me on a napkin. Juicy and almost too hot to eat, real country food. So so good.
Just outside the kitchen door, I saw neatly tied bundles of cut grape vine trimmings. This was the fuel for the oven. Nothing is wasted in the countryside.
Then he pulled a pizza style pan from the oven. The pan contained something I had never seen before. It looked a little like the corn meal mush my grandmother used to make. But the taste was not that of corn. It resembled a big crepe with texture. I never forgot its taste and I've desperately craved it.
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After years, and a better grasp of Italian, I discovered the name of this fabulous food: Farinata or Cecina (in Tuscany)
I've never eaten it again in Italy. Perhaps because I haven't returned to Strevi since our sweet Nonno passed away.
One day, I saw a picture of Farinata in a magazine and finally knew its name. I researched and armed with knowledge I decided to purchase its ingredients and make it myself, at home.
Last year, while visiting my family in Cremona, I bought a package of organic Farina di Ceci (garbanzo bean flour).
We had a lively family discussion that evening! When I revealed my plan to make Farinata at home, Marina (her father was my adopted Nonno) firmly stated it could not be done. Impossible. I would need a wood burning pizza oven. Lucky Marina, she spent her childhood, exploring and learning how to cook in her parents' restaurant in Strevi.
Primo, Marina's husband, asked me what I had in mind? It might work he said. Marina was so cute, she waved her hand and turned away from the discussion, with a meaning of 'good luck trying the impossible.'
I did make it last year. It wasn't perfect, but it was edible. I've been waiting to make it again, using a different recipe. I only have enough flour left for two more tries.
My idea now is to cook it in a cast iron pan in a really hot oven. Benedetta's recipe did not disappoint. My cast iron flat pan however, was not deep enough, but I am closer to getting this right.
I will buy a deeper skillet and make Farinata again next weekend.
La Farinata
Serves 4
250 g garbanzo bean flour
700 ml water
Fresh rosemary, one stem
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Place flour in a large bowl. Slowly add water, mixing continuously with a whip. Drop in the rosemary stem.
Cover and let rest for 1 hour or more. Can rest overnight.
Discard rosemary and skim off bubbly surface layer.
Gently stir in oil, reserving 2 T for the pan.
Preheat oven to 430 degrees.
On stovetop, preheat a cast iron skillet. Drizzle the 2 T olive oil to coat the pan. Do not let oil smoke. Pour batter into pan and carefully transfer pan into oven.
Bake 25-35 minutes until top is browned.
Turn out onto cutting board. May top with freshly ground pepper. Cut as you would pizza. Serve hot or warm, right from the oven.
Farinata
per 4 persone
Ingredienti
700 ml d'acqua
100 ml di olio
250 gr di farina di ceci
rosmarino
sale e pepe
Procedimento
- Mettere l'acqua in una ciotola con un po' d'olio.
- Aggiungere poco per volta la farina di ceci mescolando con la frusta a mano cercando di evitare la formazione di grumi.
- Unire il rosmarino e sale e lasciare a riposare per circa mezzora.
- Versare il composto in una placca rivestita di carta forno unta d'olio.
- Infornare per 10 minuti circa a 220 gradi, poi ripassare per qualche altro minuto al grill.
- Tagliare a rombi condire con pepe e consumare calda.
Next, a bit of history:
Farinata is said to have been discovered after the battle of Meloria, between Pisa and Genova, when the victorious Genoese fleet was hit by a storm so violent the barrels of chickpea flour in the holds were broken open and mixed with the seawater that was coming in. When the waters calmed the sailors scooped up the mess -- they couldn't throw it away because it was all they had -- and spread it on the decks to dry. It was so good that when they got home they began baking it, calling it L'Oro di Pisa, Pisan gold.
The final thing to note is that though this chickpea farinata is considered Ligurian, you will also find it along the Tuscan coast, where it is called cecina or torta di ceci, in the French Costa Azzurra, where it is called socca, in Piemonte (introduced by genoese traders), where it is called belecauda, in the Genoese colonies of Sardinia, where it is called fainè, and in Gibraltar, where it is called calentita.
Farinata is said to have been discovered after the battle of Meloria, between Pisa and Genova, when the victorious Genoese fleet was hit by a storm so violent the barrels of chickpea flour in the holds were broken open and mixed with the seawater that was coming in. When the waters calmed the sailors scooped up the mess -- they couldn't throw it away because it was all they had -- and spread it on the decks to dry. It was so good that when they got home they began baking it, calling it L'Oro di Pisa, Pisan gold.
The final thing to note is that though this chickpea farinata is considered Ligurian, you will also find it along the Tuscan coast, where it is called cecina or torta di ceci, in the French Costa Azzurra, where it is called socca, in Piemonte (introduced by genoese traders), where it is called belecauda, in the Genoese colonies of Sardinia, where it is called fainè, and in Gibraltar, where it is called calentita.
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