楽しいクッキング:シャブオット・チーズ編
すみません、面倒なので訳しません。Haaretz 社にちょっと楽しいシャブオットのチーズを食べる由来が書かれていました。それに関連してチーズ料理が載っていましたから紹介します。Dishing it up / A Sicilian Shavuot 09年05月27日 / By Haim Cohen and Eli Landau "What are you doing?" asks Giacomo, who unexpectedly came for a visit because this year their Easter came out exactly at the end of our Passover and he felt a need to get away from the depression of the earthquake and then simply stayed for a month. "Just cheese dishes for Shavuot," replied the doctor in his own language and immediately went into an exhausting explanation about the meaning of the holiday, its history and the connection to tradition and to cheese. Giacomo listened with interest to the stories about the giving of the Torah and the Book of Ruth. He had a very hard time understanding the origin of the tradition of eating cheese. The chef and the doctor couldn't remember the reason for the custom, because all they remembered from school were bizarre explanations, patchworks of scriptural acrostics and gematria. Giacomo provided an explanation of his own, perhaps because he is from Sicily, where every food and custom has a historical explanation. Sicily is a stronghold of culinary culture with deep roots, originating in the cuisines of its successive rulers: Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Spaniards, the French and finally the Italians."Maybe," he says, "maybe because as with us in Sicily, here too it's the end of the calving season and the most plentiful product in the market is very rich milk, and for our forefathers the easiest and cheapest thing was to use the natural, seasonal product." The chef seized the opportunity and asked what dishes were traditional for the season. "My grandmother," Giacomo related, "usually combines cheese - because it's available - with eggplant - because it's common on the island, where it was grown for the first time in Western history, along with tomatoes and pasta - because we like them." The chef hears "eggplant" and his eyes light up. The three of us storm the kitchen, and Giacomo conducts the orchestra. "You," he says to the chef, "cut an eggplant into cubes and fry them in a skillet with olive oil, together with two garlic cloves, and when the eggplant begins to brown, turn off the heat." "And you," the Sicilian orders the doctor, "take a large pot, put in three tablespoons of olive oil, heat it, add half a kilo of coarsely chopped cherry tomatoes, two tablespoons of tomato paste and cook for five minutes." "And then?" asks the doctor. "And then add two chopped garlic cloves, the contents of the skillet that the chef prepared, a bunch of chopped basil and a little salt and then bring to a boil, turn down the flame and continue to simmer for 15 minutes, while stirring, and turn off the flame." Giacomo meanwhile cuts the mozzarella into cubes and cooks the pasta very al dente, in other words, a minute less than the package says. He strains the pasta, puts it in a large bowl and pours in the tomato and eggplant sauce. He mixes it all and puts it aside. "Now we wait for the business to cool off," he says, and goes to call his grandmother for further instructions. "Now," he says when he returns, "you add the mozzarella and 50 grams of grated Parmesan and mix." Giacomo asks the chef for a deep baking dish, greases the bottom and sides with butter, sprinkles on bread crumbs and shakes the dish back and forth to coat the inside uniformly with crumbs. He places the pasta-cheese-eggplant mixture in the dish, smoothes it out and sprinkles another 50 grams of Parmesan on top. "Take this to the oven," he orders the chef, "and bake it for about 15 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius until the Parmesan begins to brown." When they tasted it they all agreed that Sicilian cuisine should immediately be added to the Jewish tradition. ☆ ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞ ☆Baked mozzarella and eggplant One package (about 500g) short-cut pasta (such as penne or macaroni) 300g fresh mozarella cut into cubes of about 2cm. (place the cubes in a strainer for half an hour) 1 kg unpeeled eggplant, cut into 2cm. cubes 1/2 kg cherry tomatoes, quartered 4g cloves 1 small can tomato paste 12 basil leaves, coarsely chopped olive oil for sauteeing butter for greasing the dish bread crumbs salt to taste Spaghetti with goat cheese After the wonderful adventure with Giacomo, the chef and the doctor took their coworkers at the newspaper and went to visit the sheep and goat cheeses at the original stall in the meadow, where the following recipe was born. Ingredients (for six):One package (about 500g) of thick spaghetti (if unavailable, substitute extra-thick tagliatelle noodles) 2 small logs of goat cheese or about 300g of the freshest Saint Maure cheese (check the expiration date), grated coarsely or simply crumbled by hand 1 fresh green chili, seeded and chopped finely 1/2 bunch of chives, chopped olive oil coarse salt Cook the pasta according to package directions. Strain and place in a serving bowl. Generously pour on olive oil and mix. Add the chili and the chives. Season with a little coarse salt and mix again. Add the cheese, then mix gently and serve. Ricotta pastry A kind of salty cake, perfect for antipasti. A thin slice (or a hefty one, why not?) with a glass of chilled white wine would be a great starter for the Shavuot holiday meal. The recipe calls for Pecorino cheese, but you can also get Israeli-made, Spanish-style Manchego, which is essentially the same thing. about 700g ricotta cheese 200g grated Pecorino cheese (or Parmesan or Manchego) 3 eggs, separated 12 basil leaves, chopped 2 tbsp. chopped parsley grated nutmeg butter for greasing salt and pepper bread crumbs In a deep bowl, mash the ricotta with a fork. Stir in the Pecorino, then add the egg yolks, basil, parsley, salt, pepper and a little grated nutmeg. Stir. Whip the egg whites until stiff and "fold" gently into the cheese mixture. Butter the bottom and sides of a round, deep pan (26 cm. in diameter), and coat with bread crumbs. (A rectangular or square pan is fine, too.) Place the cheese mixture in the pan, smooth. Flatten and bake in a preheated, 180 degree Centigrade oven for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned. Open the oven door and let the pan cool. Serve at room temperature. Ricotta-pear cheesecake This is a very special cheesecake. Although summer has not really begun, here you use pears from last year - or hard, sweet, juicy apples. The recipe seems complicated but isn't, and can be made by even the most inexperienced cook. Peel, core and dice two nice pears (or more, for a combined weight of about 300g). Place in a medium-sized pot. Sprinkle one teaspoonful of brown sugar and a little fresh lemon juice on top and cook over a low flame, stirring occasionally, until the pears are soft. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: 250g ricotta, strained 2 tbsp. sugar 1 cup heavy cream Mash the ricotta and the sugar in a large bowl with a fork. Whip the cream until stiff and fold into the ricotta, mixing gently to blend. Gently stir in the cooked pears, cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate while you make the crust. 3 separated eggs and 1 whole egg 1/2 cup sugar 1 tbsp. confectioner's sugar 150g very finely ground hazelnuts 1 heaping tbsp. butter, melted 2 tbsp. flour confectioner's sugar for decoration Using a mixer or food processor, blend the egg yolks, the whole egg and the 1/2 cup sugar until light and foamy. Add, blending after each addition, the nuts, the melted butter and the flour. In another bowl, whip the egg whites into a stable foam, then add 1 tablespoon confectioner's sugar until the whites are stiff and shiny. Mix into the egg yolk mixture. The batter will be quite thin. Line a round, springform baking pan (26cm. in diameter) with baking paper. Pour half the batter in and bake for 10 minutes in a preheated, 200 degree Centigrade oven. Remove and place the crust on a plate with plenty of space around the edges and allow to cool. Repeat the process with the rest of the mixture (if you have two baking pans, even better) to make a second crust, and cool. Pile the pear filling mixture onto the first crust, smoothing out the filling. Using a knife with a wide blade, even out the filling. Make sure not to get any of the filling on the plate. Put the second crust on top and press gently. Sprinkle a lot of confectioner's sugar on top. Refrigerate for at least three hours before serving.