JUNE 2019 l iviltà DELLA avola N. 316 C T ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

INTERNATIONAL

EDITION

ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA ISTITUZIONE CULTURALE DELLA REPUBBLICA ITALIANA FONDATA NEL 1953 DA ORIO VERGANI

www.accademia1953.it CIVILTÀ DELLA TAVOLA CIVILTÀ N. 316, JUNE 2019 Table of contents Civiltà DELLATavola ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

June 2019 / n. 316 Focus of the President

Editor in chief Paolo Petroni 2 Jamie Oliver’s empire collapses Copy Editor (Paolo Petroni) Silvia De Lorenzo

Layout Simona Mongiu

This issue includes articles by L’ACCADEMIA ITALIANA DELLA CUCINA Nicola Barbera, è stata fondata nel 1953 da Orio Vergani Flavio Dusio, e da Luigi Bertett, Dino Buzzati Traverso, Gigi Padovani, Cesare Chiodi, Giannino Citterio, Ernesto Donà Paolo Petroni, dalle Rose, Michele Guido Franci, Gianni Mazzocchi Anita Rubera. Bastoni, Arnoldo Mondadori, Attilio Nava, Arturo Orvieto, Severino Pagani, Aldo Passante, Gian Luigi Ponti, Giò Ponti, Dino Villani, Photo credits Edoardo Visconti di Modrone, Adobe Stock, Gloria Novi. con Massimo Alberini e Vincenzo Buonassisi.

vvv Traditions l History Publisher Accademia Italiana della Cucina Via Napo Torriani 31 - 20124 Milano Misleadingly named foods Tel. 02 66987018 - Fax 02 66987008 3 (Gigi Padovani) [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.accademia1953.it

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Monthly Magazine Reg. n. 4049 - 29-5-1956 Tribunale di Milano

Futurism in the kitchen 6 (Nicola Barbera)

Cuisine l Products l Food Technology What’s cooking in the… 8 dishwasher? (Anita Rubera)

Regulations regarding personal data protection On the cover: graphic elaboration of The Drinker The Italian Academy of Cuisine, in its capacity as data controller, hereby informs its members that (1914) by Umberto Boccioni, Jucker Collection, their personal data are handled with respect for the principles of integrity, lawfulness and tran- sparency as well as protection of privacy and members’ rights, to implement the management of the member-association relationship as deline- ated by the Association’s Statute and By-laws, and for any related purposes where applicable. The processing is carried out by authorised parties, in paper and computerised form, in compliance with the provisions of the aforementioned EU regulations and current national legislation. To view all the information provided under EU regu- lations, and in particular to learn what members’ Parmigiano Reggiano rights are, please visit the Association’s website. 10 and Grana Padano (Flavio Dusio) Rivista associata all’Unione Stampa Periodica Italiana Focus of the President Jamie Oliver’s empire collapses

by Paolo Petroni President of the Academy A symptom of disaffection with restaurant chains.

t’s not inconsequential news. The sudden closure, in one fell swoop, of 23 restaurants in Jamie Oliver’s British I chain, plunged into administration while 1000 employees are sent home, could appear of little relevance to and its cuisine in general. Jamie Oliver, now 44, was already world- famous at barely 20. Hailing from an obscure village in Essex, he was the first cook to become a television star. Out faces stiff competition from the many Italian restaurants in of thin air, he had created a chain of 25 restaurants and a London, from trattorie to pizzerie, from solid to prize-winning. food retail empire; he published a popular monthly cooking A choice, that is, which didn’t exist a decade ago. magazine (Jamie magazine); he wrote recipe books and presented an acclaimed television programme with cooking courses. At his peak, he had over 3000 employees and a The concept of a chain guaranteed by its name revenue of approximately 260 million Euros. is no longer popular

In 2008, he launched the chain Jamie’s Italian It is, above all, the concept of a chain guaranteed by its name intending to change the restaurant which is no longer popular. Oliver had his own restaurants, business in Britain while today franchises are often successful. With widely varying fees, depending on the brand’s importance (rang- ing from 20 thousand to 200 thousand Euros), one can open The topic is particularly interesting to us because in 2008, he restaurants bearing the franchisor’s name. One must adhere launched the chain Jamie’s Italian intending to change the to very stringent guidelines regarding furnishings, personnel restaurant business in Britain through high-quality ingredients, attire, dishes offered, and usually also ingredients purchased; replacing fish and chips with Mediterranean cuisine and olive one then pays royalties to the brand’s owners. Sometimes it oil. He had, therefore, laudably taken cues from Italian cuisine - works and sometimes not. It works with fast food, but not with or maybe pseudo-Italian, but nevertheless complimentary high-quality restaurants. The system inherently flattens to our country. However, evidently something went wrong. overall food quality, encouraging standardisation, which is In the background, a structural crisis which struck the British the opposite of what we seek in restaurants that we frequent restaurant business (including the forerunner, Carluccio’s), per- not only for fuel but also for pleasure and exciting exploration haps Brexit-fuelled economic worries, perhaps rent increases, of new foods. Since we even look askance at the numerous ingredient costs and competition from other chains. The fact restaurants opened by the latest celebrity chef, a character of the matter is that times have changed: the chain offering often only loosely grounded in reality, how much more must Italian food, often unremarkable and by no means cheap, now we be suspicious of restaurant chains, mere middling eateries.

Page 2 Traditions l History Misleadingly named foods

by Gigi Padovani Journalist, food writer

The ‘obscure pedigrees’ talian cuisine is truly rich in ‘sins of the The ‘obscure pedigrees’ and the myths tongue’ (as a book edited by Professor with which cuisine is often rife obfuscate of many culinary IMassimo Arcangeli is aptly entitled). the etymology of many specialities, in- Indeed, many dishes can be categorised cluding famous ones. Examples abound: preparations often as ‘misleadingly named’, as Pellegrino aubergine parmigiana which is not from obfuscate the Artusi pointed out in his cookbook La Parma as its name suggests; the abysmal scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene ‘spaghetti bolognese’; the so-called ‘Rus- etymology (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating sian salad’ - even spaghetti, stand- Well). Introducing recipe n. 627 for plum ard-bearers of Italian cuisine, did not arise of specialities, including pudding, the culinary scholar from Forlim- on our peninsula but were brought by famous ones. popoli explains: “This English term should the Arabs to Catania in the 12th century. indicate a pudding made of plums, of Rivers of ink have been spilt about which however it is entirely bereft”. He aubergine parmigiana. Having estab- adds, discussing recipe n. 628 for plum lished that this recipe is not from Parma cake: “This is a sweet in the same mislead- but from Sicily or Campania (the latter is ingly named category as the preceding hypothesised by Marco Guarnaschelli recipe”. Gotti in his Great Illustrated Encyclo-

Page 3 paedia of Gastronomy), there are var- ious linguistic theories concerning its name.

There are various linguistic theories concerning the name of aubergine parmigiana

The first hypothesis - favoured by Marino Marini in his well-researched work La gola (The Palate) - posits an origin in the word parmiciana, which, in a 19th-century Sicil- ian-Italian dictionary (Mortillaro), indicates ‘a type of window shutter’: a blind with The ink has likewise flowed abundantly kitchen’, with various vegetables (includ- wooden slats positioned as in a ladder, over spaghetti alla bolognese (‘Bolo- ing beets) and mayonnaise, when he which is how the aubergines are layered. gna-style spaghetti’). On 14 December published his culinary classic in 1891. Others, however, trace a different linguis- 2018, the Academy’s Delegation Describing recipe n. 454, he remarks that tic trajectory, noting that the recipe’s pre- deposited the recipe for ‘Bologna-style “the so-called Russian salad” (as it sub- cise original name is parmigiana di melan- tuna spaghetti’ with a notary: a marked- sequently became known in Italy) is “now zane (‘parmigiana of aubergines’) rather ly different recipe from that prevalent in vogue during luncheons”. It probably than melanzane alla parmigiana (‘Par- around the world. Then in 1982 the Bo- had French origins and was particularly ma-style aubergines’). This would refer to logna Academicians deposited another fashionable during the Belle Époque in the Latin word parma, meaning ‘shield’, recipe, for ‘classic and genuine Bolognese elegant Parisian restaurants, frequent- reflecting the shape of the serving dish. If ragù’, containing minced beef, pancetta, ed by Russian aristocrats. instead we would rely on Artusi, we must tomato purée and minced vegetable Yet more astounding is the alleged gen- recall that his treatise does not speak of soffritto(mirepoix), finished with cream. esis of three very famous desserts with parmigiana or parmiciana, but rather of So? If we follow Guarnaschelli Gotti’s En- contested origins at odds with the names tortino di petonciani (recipe n. 403), ‘auber- cyclopaedia, we can establish that the they have borne for centuries. gine flan’, using an archaic name for au- term ‘alla bolognese’ (for tagliatelle, lasa- In , the highest compliment is “tu bergines. All clear? No, because years gne, mixed fry-up, mixed boiled meats, si ’nu babà” (you are a babà), referring to earlier, in his Cucina teorico-pratica (Theo- tortellini) indicates a recipe deriving gen- the dessert, firmly integrated into Nea- retical and Practical Cuisine) published in erally from the Emilia region. The latest politan tradition, which is to be enjoyed 1837, Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buon- observations are from the historian Gi- ‘on the go’, writes Renato De Falco, and vicino, had included recipes for ‘parmi- ancarlo Roversi, who maintains that ‘on a whim’. This typical dessert of leav- giana dishes’ defined by having layered ‘vermicelli al ragù’ (vermicelli - similar but ened sponge cake saturated with rum ingredients: cocozzoli (zucchine) and car- not identical to spaghetti - with meat probably arrived in Naples in the mid-19th cioffi (artichokes). sauce) existed in Bologna. century. The mystery remains: where did Instead, it seems established that genovese the babà originate and whence came (literally ‘from Genoa’), a traditional its name? The most creditable hypothe- Neapolitan meat and onion sauce used ‘Russian salad’ probably sis attributes it to a Parisian bakery near over mezzani (medium-sized macaroni), has French origins Les Halles, the French capital’s oldest: was never prepared in the Ligurian capital. Stohrer, founded in 1730. In that shop Are we sure? In truth, some aver that this one may still enjoy a cylindrical babà, dish resulted from the expertise of a Ge- Visiting Moscow one may encounter an rather than the Neapolitan version noese cook at the Bourbon court of Naples, ‘Olivier salad’; in Hungary, a ‘French salad’; shaped like a chef’s hat. In the early 18th or from the lore transmitted by sailors and in Berlin, an ‘Italian salad’. In 19th-cen- century, the baker Nicolas Stohrer ap- alighting from Genoese warships. There is, tury Piedmont, a recipe for insalata rusa, prenticed at a castle in Alsace which also in fact, a traditional sauce in Genoa con- meaning ‘red salad’, was established: it hosted the exiled Polish king Stanisław sisting mainly of onions and a large single contained beets and carrots dressed with Leszczyński. It is unclear whether the piece of meat, known as o tucc. Undoubt- cream. It spread throughout Italy towards king - a true gourmet - or the baker in- edly, no Neapolitan will ‘swallow’ the notion the end of that century because Artusi vented the dessert. There are two hypoth- that this is a Ligurian sauce. provided a version of this recipe ‘from my eses regarding its name’s origin: the Pol-

Page 4 (The Good Housewife’s Jewel). A more re- cent, monumental compendium of re- gional Italian cooking, published by Anna Gosetti della Salda in the 1970s, men- tions both Tuscany and Emilia as the dessert’s possible origins. Finally, we must note that sponge cake, known as pan di Spagna (‘Spanish bread’), is Italian, specifically Genoese. According to tradition, in the mid-18th century the Genoese cook Giovan Battista Cabona, travelling in Spain with Marquis Do- menico Pallavicini, the Genoese ambas- sador, first presented this light, fluffy dessert at a royal banquet in Madrid. The ish babka, or ‘granny’, due to its shape cal name it appears in the book Il cuoco French christened it pâte génoise, hon- reminiscent of a full skirt; or the character sapiente (The Wise Cook) from 1871. Pel- ouring its inventor’s presumed origin. Ali Baba from the 1001 Nights, which legrino Artusi then definitively codified Nevertheless, many culinary historians Stanisław, a noted bookworm, was read- it in his recipe n. 675 for zuppa inglese, doubt that this name refers to the Ligu- ing when he first tasted this new delight, prepared with 18 savoiardi (ladyfingers), rian capital: indeed, in 1750 the term christening it accordingly, this being half soaked in Alkermes and half in Rosolio génoise indicated an almond-filled lemon shortened later to babà. (both sweet liqueurs). It is the Alkermes, cake. created by the monks of the Santa Maria The closest recipe to what is now called Novella Apothecary, which supports the ‘génoise’ appears in the treatise Il confet- How did babà reach Naples? Tuscan origin theory, since a thriving An- turiere piemontese (The Piedmontese Con- And why do Italians name glophone community lived in Florence fectioner) from 1791, describing a ‘Span- their own trifle ‘English soup’? in the 19th century. ish bread’ named ‘St Genevieve’s bread’. ‘English soup’ may indeed have some link This would imply an entirely different to England. According to one theory pos- origin: could these be the petits pains de Legends? And above all, how did babà iting its origin in Ferrara, at the Este Sainte Geneviève (‘St Genevieve’s little reach Naples? Probably thanks to early court, in the 16th century, the recipe was rolls’) cited by the Duke of Luynes in 1747? 19th-century culinary Francophilia, spear- introduced by a diplomat of the Este Some sources, therefore, characterise this headed by Maria Carolina of Austria, realm, impressed by an English dessert preparation as a homage to the French queen consort of Ferdinand IV of Naples: known as ‘trifle’. This appears in a text from saint rather than the Italian city. the new Parisian sweet was immediately 1569 entitled The Good Huswife’s Iewell Gigi Padovani recreated by the palace bakers, in both ‘rounded crown’ and miniature ‘outdoor dining’ variants. Even more complex is the history of tri- fle, known as ‘English soup’ (zuppa inglese), the ancestor of all Italian dolci al cucchiaio (‘spoon sweets’ - desserts to be eaten with a spoon). It was clearly an Italian invention, whose origin is disput- ed between the regions of Emilia-Ro- magna, Tuscany and Campania. Its earliest known recipe is in the Manuale del cuoco e del pasticcere di raffinato gusto moderno (Manual for Cooks and Bakers with Refined Modern Tastes) by Vincenzo Agnoletti, which calls it ‘Ma- rangoni gelati, detti ancora Zuppe Inglesi’ (‘Frozen marangoni, also known as English Soups’). With a similar recipe and identi-

Page 5 Traditions l History Futurism in the kitchen

by Nicola Barbera Milano Duomo Academician

The banquet becomes he father of Futurism was Filippo to visual arts, from costume to music and, Tommaso Marinetti, who pub- eventually (1930), even cuisine, obviously theatre, art, action, T lished the firstFuturist Manifesto opposing its traditional incarnation, dis- against academic culture in Paris on 20 missed as ‘retrograde’. In literature it antic- exciting sensory February 1909 in Le Figaro. ipated Dadaism, performing ‘automatic experience The movement promulgated a new aes- writing’ known as ‘le parole in libertà’ thetic and a new conception of life, both (‘words set free’; Palazzeschi, Govoni, rooted in dynamism and inspired - this Soffici). was at the beginning of the last century Soffici, with Prezzolini, founded the Flor- - by the ‘machine civilisation’. Futurism entine cultural magazine La Voce (The Fortunato Depero, The Drinker, 1923, private collection embraced various fields: from literature Voice, 1908), to which the anti-conformist futurist magazine Lacerba (1913) assumed a contrary stance: ‘qui non si canta al modo delle rane’ (‘one does not sing here as frogs do’), cited from the incomplete anti-Dan- tesque encyclopaedic poem L’Acerba by Francesco Stabili (1269-1327), known as Cecco d’Ascoli, a poet, physician and as- trologer/astronomer tried for heresy and burnt at the stake in Florence. Futurism entered culinary art (which Marinetti more elegantly defined ‘cucinar- ia’ rather than the standard ‘culinaria’) approximately 20 years after the Manifes- to’s publication, when Marinetti and Fillìa (co-signatory of the Manifesto dell’Aeropit- tura or Aeropainting Manifesto) published La Cucina Futurista (Futurist Cooking, 1930), wherein the banquet becomes theatre, art, action, exciting sensory sur- prise.

The diner is a protagonist, an actor and not a spectator

The diner is a protagonist, an actor and not a spectator; diners indeed must par- ticipate with all five senses, using neither fork nor knife, to experience new sensa- tions. A prime example of this interpreta-

Page 6 Umberto Boccioni, Under the Pergola, Civico Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Milan tion is the description of the New Year’s Eve Dinner, where, as the diners are eat- ing turkey, traditionally prepared, a living turkey suddenly erupts into the room, flapping around on the table and thrash- ing in alarm among the plates and guests: the futurists intended this as representing a sort of ‘resurrection of ingested food’! Marinetti himself wrote: “The distinction between the five senses is arbitrary; we can discover other, new senses and sen- sations... a visual sense is born on the fin- gertips... vision, hearing, smell, touch and taste are modifications of just one, su- premely active sense: touch, partitioned in various ways and localised in different points”. And again: “futurist cuisine will free us from the old obsession with volume and weight; pasta, that absurd Italian gas- tronomic religion which renders us ugly, tary Alphabet’), Carneplastico (‘MeatSculp- types of transformation: chemical sluggish and pessimistic, will be abolished; ture’) and, to finish, the sweet named (transformation from one type of molecule better to replace it with the more ‘patriot- Per-alzarsi (‘Getter-Upper’): Sorbetto esila- to another, as occurs in broth) and phys- ic’ rice!”. rante (‘Exhilarating Sorbet’). ical (the same molecules being rearranged In terms of implementation, the first res- in different structures or ‘alimentary archi- taurants promulgating the Futurist good tectures’ resulting from collaboration be- Brief cooking, raw fish and meat, news were, early on, the Santopalato tween cooks, physicists and chemists). Just unusual aromas, (‘Sainted Palate’) in Turin and the Penna as cooking may be performed without unprecedented combinations d’oca (‘Goose Feather’) in Milan, where flame or smoke, so ice creams can instan- particular attention was lavished on orna- taneously be created using liquid nitro- mentation (harmony) and the originality gen (at -196°C), obtaining perfect cream- In essence, Marinetti wanted to emphasise of the dishes’ flavours and colours (imag- iness and a distinctive taste. “the importance of nutrition in the crea- ination). A final observation: today’s growing eco- tive, fertilising and aggressive capacities Another aim of futurist cuisine was to pre- logical awareness must entail, even in of races”. Hence our ‘race’s’ fare must be pare diners for the forthcoming ‘dynam- the kitchen, the correct use of daily neces- radically modified by fortifying and spirit- ic and sculptural foods’, and probably sities, avoiding waste throughout the food ualising it with new foods, with intelli- also, thanks to emerging uses of radio chain. gence and imagination replacing quan- waves, to ‘nutritional waves’! In conclusion, on the one hand we have tity and bland repetition. Skimming the Manifesto of Futurist Cook- inexorable ‘progress’, with its inventiveness One can say, therefore, that Marinetti in- ing, one can even find ideas revisited by and originality; on the other stands the tuited and anticipated French nouvelle today’s molecular cuisine. Throughout risk of the manipulation, mass production cuisine and ‘innovative cooking’, champi- their evolution, humans advanced from and monoculture of industrial foods. Con- oning brief cooking times, raw fish and raw to cooked food (using various tech- sequently, while acknowledging Futur- meat, unusual aromas, unprecedented niques from grilling to microwaving). Mo- ism’s culinary merits, only judicious ‘reas- combinations, and presentation of every lecular cuisine investigates the processes sessment’ of our country’s bountiful dish as visual art, as well as flavour con- which molecules undergo in food, analys- traditional food heritage, that is, improv- trasts: sweet-salty, sweet-spicy, sweet-sour. ing the physical and chemical principles ing digestibility and quality of foods by, The recipes of futurist cuisine must reflect underlying cooking and other preparation inter alia, lightening condiments, is the the speed of machines and especially air- techniques (a mayonnaise is in fact an high road of gastronomic progress in cu- craft. Hence their names: Decollapalato emulsion; an aspic is a gel; roasting is a linary culture. (‘Palate Takeoff’), Timballo d’Avviamento technical modification of meat proteins), I shall end with a quip by the eminent (‘Ignition Timbale’), Atterraggio e Am- and thus we embark on a new mode of French chef Paul Bocuse about nouvelle maraggio digestivo (‘Digestive Landing cooking by analysis, deconstructing and cuisine: “split a pea four ways and multiply and Splashdown’), Dolceplastico (‘Sweet- reconstructing constituent elements. the bill by six”. Sculpture’), Alfabeto alimentare (‘Alimen- When cooked, molecules undergo two Nicola Barbera

Page 7 Cuisine l Products l Food Technology What’s cooking in the… dishwasher?

by Anita Rubera Syracuse Academician

A culinary technique his is no typo, but a new trend, tal sustainability. Dishwashers are found increasingly popular in the USA in most homes; using them fully loaded ‘outside the box’, T in recent years, which made lan- can consume less water and energy than dfall in Italy some time ago. Armed with hand-washing. This is truly a useful con- with vast potential: various ovens - using microwaves, forced traption in the kitchen, offering many vapour produced by the air, electricity or gas - why should we en- possibilities: the steam released by the trust our food to an appliance which has washing cycle can also be used for co- washing cycle can nothing to do with cooking? oking. Dishwasher cooking benefits In choosing this topic I was inspired by the environment, our health and our also cook food. reading Lisa Casali’s Cucinare in lavasto- pocketbooks, as it requires no additional viglie (Dishwasher Cooking, published energy and preserves ingredients’ nutri- by Gribaudo). As the author’s introduction tional value. exhorts: “However strange this idea may According to Altroconsumo magazine, seem to you, strive to overcome your which tested almost 30 dishwasher mo- initial prejudice”. This cooking technique, dels, we use approximately 60 litres of positioned firmly ‘outside the box’, is easy water if we hand-wash dishes under run- and offers many advantages, including ning water; 20 by hand using a basin or increased energy saving and environmen- plugging the sink; and 16, on average, using the eco-friendly setting on a class A dishwasher. For meaningful waste re- duction it is crucial to use the dishwasher fully loaded, favouring low-temperature cycles and plant-based, completely bio- degradable detergents.

Why and how to cook with dishwashers

Why cook using dishwashers? Because the vapour which they produce while operating is similar to that used in steam cooking. Cooking temperatures are cho- sen based on the dish-washing program- me: eco-friendly wash = low-tempera- ture cooking (50°-55°); normal wash = medium temperature (60°-65°); high-in- tensity wash = medium-high tempera- ture cooking (70°-75°). Dishwashers allow low-temperature cooking without spe- cialised equipment.

Page 8 How to cook with dishwashers? To avoid food making contact with detergent and washing water, waterproof packing in sealed glass containers or vacuum co- oking pouches is crucial. In terms of glassware, jam jars or similar containers are adequate. Vacuum-packing machines exist in two variants. Restaurants use the internal ex- traction chamber type, the bulkier, more professional and more expensive option which, however, ensures the best perfor- mance in removing air. Better suited for domestic use, being smaller and more affordable, is the bar-type machine with external extraction. To avoid nullifying the ecological bene- fits of dishwasher cooking, it is important that glassware and vacuum packs be re-used after thorough washing and air drying.

Don’t cook rice or pulses otherwise mostly required. One practically of the menus offered in my book and set in dishwashers, as they require incurs no additional cost and ecological the dishwasher. Now you have two hours higher temperatures impact if using steam which would have all to yourself while the dinner cooks by been produced anyway through the di- itself, producing no heat or smells. You shwasher cycle. Obviously these benefits need not oversee the cooking, but me- What can be cooked in dishwashers? are lost if we run the dishwasher specifical- rely await the end of the wash cycle. Best results at low temperatures are obtai- ly for cooking. Lisa Casali suggests: “Imagi- Wouldn’t that be a dream? Yet this is just ned with meat, fish, molluscs, crusta- ne the following scene: though exhausted, how dishwasher cooking works”. ceans, eggs, fruit, and some vege- you have dinner guests; you prepare one Anita Rubera tables. Try employing the dishwasher for all the low-temperature cooking stages of a recipe. TIPS FOR LIGHT AND DELICIOUS MEALS Advice for dishwasher cooking. Some A RECIPE FOR EACH WASH PROGRAMME vegetables, including courgettes and car- rots, need high temperatures to cook; it Rapid wash (30 minutes) - This programme, perfect for lightly soiled ware, is is therefore advisable to cook them enti- also the most suitable for small or filleted fish. Excellent results will also be rely by dishwasher only when using the obtained for tuna steaks (using little tunny or albacore), which will be well-co- normal or intense washing programmes. oked on the outside and very tender inside. Alternatively, they can be pre-cooked Eco-friendly wash - The programme for everyday dishwashing and cooking. using the eco-friendly setting, and then It performs best with lightly soiled ware and is ideal for cooking meats, which briefly sautéed in a pan or wok (for exam- remain tender and succulent through long, low-temperature cooking. ple, when making a vegetable curry). Dishwasher cooking cannot replace tra- Normal wash - It is called ‘automatic’ or ‘basic’ wash in some dishwasher ditional cuisine entirely, but only its models: it usually employs temperatures between 60°C and 65°C and adapts low-temperature cooking phases. Hence, to the number of dishes to wash in more advanced models. It is an all-purpose for instance, avoid it for preparing rice or wash which can be used for many culinary preparations and suits both meat pulses, which require longer and hi- and fish. gher-temperature cooking. High-intensity wash - This tackles the most stubborn dirt, and can also be used Dishwasher cooking allows us to use less for the largest variety of recipes, especially with white meats: lamb, pork, water, energy and cooking fat than tradi- chicken or turkey. tional cooking techniques would have

Page 9 Cuisine l Products l Food Technology Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano

by Flavio Dusio Novara Academician

Two distinct stars formaggio, seems to derive from the Gre- cheeses, such as, indeed, grana or par- ek formos, the wicker basket which gave mesan. of the table. the curds their shape. Its chronology is How do parmesan and grana differ? uncertain; the earliest known cheese re- Parmesan protocol requires milk from ference is a Sumerian bas-relief dating cows exclusively fed green forage, field from the 3rd millennium BC, depicting hay and dried fodder; alongside these, priests processing milk. A widespread grana also allows silage, meaning hi- legend narrates how an Arab merchant gh-moisture fodder made from the enti- crossed the desert bearing various food- re plant, minced, fermented and stored stuffs including milk, stored in a dried in silos. sheep stomach. During the journey, sha- For grana, this dietary regime necessita- king, temperature and enzymes from the tes the addition of lysozyme, a strongly stomach’s lining caused the milk to cur- bactericidal protein found in egg white dle, with delicious results. And so, curds but also human tears and saliva. Why is were born. this required for grana, not parmesan? Rennet is extracted from the aboma- Milk destined for grana padano (‘grana sum of lactating ruminants: bovines, from the Po river valley’) derives from hese two products from our culi- ovines and caprines. Liquid rennet, satu- cows fed silage, especially maize: this nary heritage have uncertain ori- rated with salt, consists of 95% chymosin, permits reliably high product quality T gins. Cistercian monks acquired particularly suitable for producing hard with limited costs. However, silage con- particular cheese-making skills and ap- plied them in their monasteries, produ- cing a cheese called caseus vetus (‘old cheese’) in special boilers.

The name ‘grana’ derives from the cheese’s distinctive graininess

The general public, unfamiliar with Latin, gave it another name, derived from its distinctively compact, grainy texture: hence it is known as ‘grana cheese’ or simply ‘grana’. We find references to gra- na subtypes under varying names: lode- sano or lodigiano (‘from Lodi), considered the oldest; and milanese, parmigiano, piacentino and mantovano (from, re- spectively, Milan, Parma, Piacenza and Mantova). The Italian word for cheese,

Page 10 Photo by Gloria Novi tains bacteria: some species of Clostridium (sporogenes, butyricum) and Propionibacter, coliforms, and heterofermentative lactic acid bacteria. Spores and bacteria can enter stables and milk, though the natural separation of milk fat would considerably reduce bacterial bur- den. Lysozyme prevents the ger- mination of spores which would release butyric acid and gas. The first would cause offensive tastes and smells, and the second would produce irregular bubbles and swellings, rupturing the cheeses. Lysozyme can guarantee product safety. Trentingrana (produced in the province of Trento) is the only variant med (2.4%) milk, poured into boilers with amino acids (leucine, isoleucine, valine), without lysozyme, because its protocol calf rennet. Parmesan is therefore slight- useful for strenuous muscular activity includes no silage to feed the animals ly fattier than grana. during sports. Served with white rice in from whose milk it is made. In other cases, PDO certification requires differing vegetable broth, without added fats, they 20-25 grammes of lysozyme are added ageing times: nine months for grana, are also helpful against intestinal troubles, for every 1000 litres of treated milk. Inste- twelve for parmesan; there are also more such as diarrhoea, viral or otherwise. ad, cows producing milk for parmigiano aged versions of 24 and 36 months re- Let us conclude this overview by descri- reggiano (‘parmesan from Reggio Emilia’) spectively. Grana padano is produced bing lysozyme not as a pernicious che- are fed only forage, of which at least half by a consortium of only 130 associates, mical additive, but as what it really is, must be hay and 75% must be sourced distributed in 33 provinces within five biologically. It is an enzymatic protein in the cheese’s place of origin and pro- regions: , Veneto, Emilia, Tren- consisting of 129 amino acids, found in cessing. This explains why grana padano tino, Piedmont. Parmigiano reggiano many bodily secretions (saliva, semen, labelling includes the phrase ‘with added has a far smaller territory, within the tears, nasal mucus, human milk etc). It lysozyme E 1105’ while parmesan labels provinces of Parma, Reggio, Modena and was discovered by Alexander Fleming in only enumerate milk, rennet and salt. Bologna (to the left of the Reno river) and 1922, and its name derives from the Gre- Mantova on the right side of the Po river. ek lysis (‘loosening’) and zymi (‘ferment’). Historically, grana padano was characte- This protein can hydrolyse (dissolve) the Grana comes from two milkings; rised by its three seasonal variants: ver- peptidoglycans of cell walls, making parmesan from evening milk only nengo, produced from December to bacteria literally explode. Such is its na- March; di testa (literally ‘of the head’), from tural antibacterial function that newborns April to June (considered the best); and fed artificially without lysozyme have a Another difference lies in curd prepa- tardivo (‘late’) or terzolo (‘third’), produced threefold risk of diarrhoea compared with ration. PDO-certified grana padano is from October to November. This distin- babies fed human milk, which contains produced from raw cow’s milk deriving ction has almost vanished, because the lysozyme. from two milkings (evening and mor- cows’ feed remains practically identical What, then, is the problem? Lysozyme is ning), partially skimmed through natural throughout the year. extracted from hens’ eggs. To obtain a fat separation. From stable to processing One kilogramme of grana requires ap- litre, approximately 2000 eggs are nee- plant, this milk must undergo no heat proximately 15 litres of milk, and consi- ded, and 1 kg of cheese needs the lysozy- treatment, whether physical or mecha- dering that whole cheeses can weigh me of 3-4 eggs. Because contamination nical, which alters its natural raw milk between 24 and 40 kilogrammes, each by the protein albumin cannot be alto- status. requires 360 to 600 litres of milk. Wheels gether excluded, the possibility of deve- Parmigiano reggiano comes from evening of parmigiano reggiano, weighing ap- loping egg protein allergies, though re- milk, which rests in broad vats until mor- proximately 40 kilogrammes, each requi- mote, is theoretically present and would ning, its cream, destined for butter pro- re around 550 litres of milk. preclude consumption of grana. Once duction, rising to the surface. Skimmed Both cheeses are excellent protein children test negative for such allergies, evening milk (1.5% fat) is mixed with sources in a meal, accompanied by ve- they can safely consume grana. full-fat (3%) milk, obtaining partially skim- getables, and provide branched-chain Flavio Dusio

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