AboutDavide Giovanni Papa Expertise For professional chefs and home cooks-questions relating to the Authentic Classical recipes of Italy;No desserts questions at this stage:No homestyle cookery questions:Italian classical cuisine is on the verge of vanishing;I would like to establish a Classical International Recipe base so that no matter where you eat,the right recipe is served."Mums" cooking is fine..but I get angry when a classical recipe is implied which it`s not.
Being italian does not automatically make you a good Italian chef..on the contrary it only means that the food you have been served has been done so by a person of Italian origins-Classical Italian recipes are clealy defined by history as well as research-and by the entity known by Academy of Italian cookery Rome-anything else is unacceptable. The French have converted from regional recipes to an established uniform protocol for hundreds of years..it`s time the Italian cuisine did the same-and applaud the Italian government in establishing laws to protect such recipes from any further corruption.Customer have the right to know exactly what they`re eating...Regards Chef Davide:
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Question We were just in Tuscany and Rome in March 2007 and had the opportunity to taste an incredibly prepared whole artichoke. It seems as though it was steamed or boiled with herbs and olive oil plus other spices. One was supposed to eat the whole artichoke including the stem and thistle. I've never experienced any food as delicious as this but have bene unable to find a recipe that sounds like what I have described above. YOur help would be greatly appreciated. Hope your holiday was fun - I know mine certainly was in your wonderful country. ciao, Donna
Answer Dear Donna-
It's tricky because the key element were not defined- except you thought maybe they were "steamed"-
There are at least officially 6 very definate classical Italian Artichoke recipes-and I love them all- The 100's of other are simply non classical home style applications-(which we do not repy to)
So I will have a guess- The two Classically "Stewed" methods using water or stock are as defined- It would not be steamed unless small baby artichokes hearts were used-and in any case steaming is not defiend as a classical application for Artichoke cooking - Perhaps, as i have seen many times- Steamed baby artichokes could apply in "Modern italian Cookery" as found in some resturants around the world-
Which is simply the Italian application done the "French" way- Why would someone practice French applications to a superior Italian classical application that allowed the French applications to prevail in the firt place- It seems the art and science of classical Italian cookery is dissapearing quickly for lack of uniform intructions and for the sake of being "Trendy"- being an expert in also the french classicl cookery applications allows me to make such a statement- The Italian taught the French how to cook and eat- and now the French want to apply their methods to instruct how to cook italian classical recipes- The Base (The soul) of classical French cusine is Italian- including all its famouse sauces
The french have a great cusine- and do so as eaquals to the Italians-But the schools around thw world are adopting the "Modern italian application" only-alas;
Italy has many Laws protecting its classical recipes now, which is a great start- and it's even illegal to teach dialect language in all schools across italy- Which is also a good start- but they have failed to force teachers to apply a uniform classical application in intructing apprentices-in their own state run cooking schools is a big mistake (Except for the very best and expensive schools)
Anyway back to the Artichokes- (I am very passionate about preserving the classical italian art form as you can see)
I think it's "Fondi di Carciofo Trifolati" (Stewed Artichokes hearts with garlic and parsely-) Is what you are looking for-
MASTER CHEF APPLICATION: CLASSICAL ITALIAN COOKERY:
The white pages " look what they've done to my Pasta ma!"
Author Chef Davide: Release date late 2006:
3/4 people-
8 plus Artichokes
Juice of One Lemon
Half a cup of good Olive oil
2 Cloves of garlic
2 Tbsp Plain flour
Fresh cracked pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chopped flat leaf parsely-(Curly O.K)
Water is acceptable- but a home made chicken of Vegetable stock better( Fondo Bianco)- or if good commerical stock is available then O.K - You'll need at least half a litre-
NO ADDED SALT-
(1) Cut off stemm and stalk of Artichokes
(2) Rip away a few layer of the tough outer leaves-
(3) Scrape centre of artichokes of its fine hairy follicles
(4) Place all the hearts in a bowl of cold water for a few hours or until required- Make sure half a lemon is squeezed in the water - this stops them from going brown-(aways apply this to all articholke recipes)
(5) WHEN READY FOR COOKING:(Meduim /large frying pan) On meduim heat cut garlic in half and fry gently in Oilve oil, take out garlic (always ) when it begins to change color.(Burnt garlic equals bitter taste)
(6) Take artichokes out of the water pat dry , coat each artichoke with flour -(Flour will only lightly stick)
(7) lightly fry both sides, now add water or stock into the artichokes away from the heat source as it may initially flair up- watch it, as the hot oil splatters- Make sure artichokes are just covered- Apply low heat- move them around and turn them every few minutes until liquid evaporates and Artichokes become tender- with a thickish type of clear pale sauce being apparent -
NOTE; THE ART AND SCIENCE OF COATING ANYTHING WITH FLOUR WILL ALLOW A SAUCE TO EVENTUATE FROM THAT DISH WHEN LIQUID IS APPLIED AND REDUCED-
If still too firm add more water a little at a time- as needed
Sprinkle Chopped parsely all over, place in serving dish and serve at table-
NEVER ADD SALT WHEN COOKING ARTICKOKES in this manner as THEY WILL TURN DARK- AND CHANGE IN TASTE- SO AT THE TABLE JUST BEFORE SERVERING LIGHTLY SPRINKLE SALT-
The one below is similar is design except the oven in used to stew the artichokes-
CARCIOFI AL TEGAME:
SMALL BAKING TRAY; PLACE all ARTICHOKES STANDING UP.
PREPERATION DO THE SAME AS ABOVE -EXCEPT NO PARSELY,NO FRYING,USE WATER INSTEAD OF STOCK-
HAVE READY: FINELY CHOP MINT LEAVES, GARLIC , ADD A LITTLE PEPPER AND TOUCH OF SALT. MIX WELL AND ADD INTO THE CENTRE OF EACH ARTICHOKE WITH A TEASPOON, NOW DRIZZLE THE HALF A CUP OF OLIVE OIL GENTLY ALL OVER THE TOP, ADD WATER UNTIL IT REACHES THE SIDE OF THE ARTICHOKES- COVER WITH LID. COOK IT SLOW in oven FOR around ONE HOUR ON Medium heat or slightly less. TAKE LID OFF, set oven temp to high AND REDUCE LIQUID- When you see a little brown on the artichokes as the tips begin to roast, stop- SERVE AT TABLE-
IF PART OF THE STEM IS LEFT ON, ITS ONLY DONE SO FOR DECORATION APPLICATION WHEN SERVING THE VEGTABLE IN TOP RESTAURANTS- OTHERWISE STEM IS REMOVED IS THE CORRECT CLASSICAL APPLICATION-
I hope the above is what you are looking for-
All the Best
Happy Easter-
Davide Giovanni Papa
Chef Davide
www.chefdavide.freeservers.com
