Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (91 page)

Don’t be put off by the strange way to prepare this liqueur, for it is easier than it seems, and the liqueur will turn out clear as water and delightful to the taste.

500 grams (about 17-2/3 fluid ounces) of the best wine spirits

500 grams (about 1 pound) of white confectioners’ sugar

1/2 a liter (about 1/2 a quart) of milk

1 garden lemon

1/2 of a vanilla bean

Mince the whole lemon, removing the seeds and adding the peel, which you have grated in advance. Break the vanilla bean into tiny pieces, and combine everything together in a glass jar; the milk will curdle immediately. Shake the jar once a day; after eight days, strain the liquid through a cloth and then filter through paper.

Nocino is a liqueur that should be made toward the middle of June, when the walnuts have not yet fully ripened. It has a pleasant taste, aids digestion, and has a tonic effect.

30 walnuts (with the husk
)

1-1/2 liters (about 1-1/2 quarts) of spirits

750 grams (about 1-2/3 pounds) of powdered sugar

2 grams (about 1/10 of an ounce) of minced “queen” cinnamon

10 whole cloves

4 deciliters (about 1 -2/3 cups) of water

the peel of 1 garden lemon, cut into small pieces

Cut the walnuts into four sections and infuse them with the other ingredients in a demijohn or a 4- to 5-liter (4 to 5 quarts) flask. Seal it tightly and keep in a warm place for forty days, shaking it every now and then.

After the forty days have gone by, strain the liquid through a cloth and then, to clarify it completely, filter it through cotton or paper. Make sure to taste it a day or two in advance, however, to see if it is too strong, in which case you can add a cup of water.

I do not offer to the public every recipe that I test; many I omit because they do not seem worthwhile. However, I will describe this elixir which I found very satisfying.

50 grams (about 1-2/3 ounces) of bruised Peruvian cinchona bark

5grams (about 1/6 of an ounce) of bruised dried bitter orange peel

700 grams (about 24-2/3 fluid ounces) of wine spirits

700 grams (about 24-2/3 fluid ounces) of water

700 grams (about 1 1/2 pounds) of white sugar

First combine 250 grams (about 8-4/5 fluid ounces) of spirits with 150 grams (about 5-1/4 fluid ounces) of water, and with this mixture make an infusion of the cinchona bark and orange peel, keeping it in a warm place for ten days, and shaking the jar at least once a day. Then strain it through a cloth, squeezing hard to get all the essences out, and then filter through paper. Next dissolve the sugar on the fire in the remaining 550 grams (about 19-1/3 fluid ounces) of water without bringing it to a boil. Then pass the syrup through a sieve, or better through a cloth, to remove any possible impurity. Add the remaining 450 grams (about 15-4/5 fluid ounces) of spirits
and mix everything together. Your elixir is done. Before filtering it, taste it and, if it seems too strong, add more water.

1-1/2 liters (about 1-1/2 quarts) of rum

1 liter (about 1 quart) of spirits

1 liter (about 1 quart) of water

1 kilogram (about 2 pounds) of fine white sugar

the juice of 3 oranges

the grated peel of one garden lemon, steeped in 1 deciliter (about 3-1/2 fluid ounces) of the spirits for 3 days

Combine the water and the sugar and boil for five or six minutes. After it has cooled, add the rum, the orange juice and the spirits, including the infusion which you have first passed through a cloth.

Filter it as for other liqueurs and then bottle the punch. Serve it
flambé
in liqueur glasses.

I read in an Italian newspaper that the art of making ice cream belongs preeminently to Italy, that the origin of ice cream is ancient, and that the first ice creams in Paris were served to Catherine de’ Medici in 1533. This article added that the Florentine pastry makers, chefs, and icers of the royal palace would not share knowledge of their art. As a result the secret recipe for making ice cream remained within the confines of the Louvre, and Parisians had to wait another century to taste ice cream.

All my research to verify this story has been in vain. One thing that is sure on the subject of ice cream is this: the use of snow and stored ice to produce iced drinks is of oriental origin and goes all the way back to remote antiquity. Ice creams came into fashion in France around 1660, when a certain Procopio Coltelli from Palermo opened a shop in Paris under his own name:
Café Procope
. The establishment was across from the
Comédie Française
, which was then the meeting place of all the Parisian
beaux esprits
. The immediate success of this place, which was the first to serve ice cream in the shape of an egg in stemmed cups, drove the vendors of lemonade and other drinks to imitate it. Among these should be remembered Tortoni, whose delicious ice creams were so in vogue that his cafe acquired a European reputation, and made him his fortune.

According to Atheneus and Seneca, the ancients built ice boxes to
store snow and ice using a technique not so different from ours today, namely: digging deep into the earth and, after compacting the ice and snow, covering them with oak branches and straw. But the ancients did not yet know the properties of salt, which when added to ice accelerates the freezing process, making it much easier to make sherbet with liqueurs of every kind.

You will almost surely please all your dinner guests, especially in the summer, if at the end of the meal you offer them sherbet or ice cream. These desserts, in addition to satisfying one’s palate, also aid digestion by recalling heat to the stomach. And today, thanks to the American ice cream makers, which have triple action and need no spatula, making ice cream has become so much easier and faster that it would be a shame not to enjoy much more frequently the sensual pleasure of this delicious food.

To save money you can re-use the salt by drying it out on the fire, thus evaporating the water that had resulted from the freezing process.

Make a custard with:

140 grams (about 5 fluid ounces) of water

50 grams (about 1-2/3 ounces) of sugar

4 egg yolks

a dash of vanilla

Put the custard on the fire, stirring constantly, and when it begins to coat the spoon, remove it from the flame and whip it with a whisk. If it takes too long to fluff up, put the basin on ice, then pour in little by little two sheets of isinglass dissolved on the fire in a little of water. Once it has fluffed up, fold in 150 grams (about 5-1/4 ounces) of whipped cream and pour the mixture into a mold made especially
for ice cream or in a saucepan or a copper bowl, provided that it has a lid. Freeze for at least three hours between thick layers of ice and salt. This recipe serves seven to eight people and is a dessert sure to please.

300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of fine white sugar

1/2 a liter (about 1/2 a quart) of water

3 lemons

If possible, it is better to use garden lemons because they are more fragrant and better tasting than imported lemons, which often taste a little off.

Put the sugar and some pieces of lemon peel in the water, and boil for ten minutes in an uncovered saucepan. When the syrup has cooled, squeeze in the lemons, one at a time, tasting the mixture to be sure that it is not too sour; strain it and pour it into the ice cream maker.

This recipe serves six people.

300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of very ripe strawberries

300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of fine white sugar

1/2 a liter (about “2 a quart) of water

1 large garden lemon

1 orange

Boil the sugar in the water for ten minutes in an uncovered saucepan. Pass the strawberries through a sieve, and strain the lemon juice and the orange juice. Strain the syrup as well, and then add it to the other ingredients. Blend everything together and pour the mixture into the ice cream maker.

This recipe serves eight people.

Except for their unique flavor, raspberries are almost identical to strawberries; therefore prepare according to the strawberry ice recipe, but omit the orange juice.

400 grams (about 14 ounces) of very ripe soft peaches, weighed with the stones

250 grams (about 8-4/5 ounces) of sugar

1/2 a liter (about 1/2 a quart) of water

1 garden lemon

3 lemon seed kernels

Crush the seed kernels with the sugar and boil the mixture in water for ten minutes. Puree the peach pulp, squeeze in the lemon and after mixing everything together, pass the mixture through a very fine sieve.

This recipe serves six people.

300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of very ripe, flavorful apricots, weighed with their stones

200 grams (about 7 ounces) of fine white sugar

1/2 a liter (about 1/2 a quart) of water

1 garden lemon

Boil the sugar in the water for ten minutes. When it has cooled, add the apricots, which you have passed through a sieve, and the juice from the lemon. Pass the mixture through a sieve once again before pouring it into the ice cream maker.

These amounts make four generous servings.

Follow recipe 685 to make a custard with:

1 liter (about 1 quart) of milk

200 grams (about 7 ounces) of sugar

8 egg yolks

a dash of vanilla

You will have a delicious ice cream, creamy and firm, if you know how to make it correctly.

This recipe serves ten people.

Instead of vanilla you can use coriander or toasted coffee or toasted almonds. If you use the coriander see recipe 693 for milk Portuguese style; if you use coffee, boil several ground coffee beans in the milk separately. If you use toasted almonds, make a little almond brittle as described in recipe 617 (cooking it a bit longer) with 100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of almonds and 80 grams (about 2-2/3 ounces) of sugar; crush it finely, boil it separately in a little milk, pass it through a sieve and add it to the custard.

1 liter (about 1 quart) of milk

200 grams (about 7 ounces) of sugar

100 grams (about 3-1/2 ounces) of macaroons

6 egg yolks