Spice (70 page)

For the Soup

1 cup loose chamomile tea

2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ¼ lemon)

1 strip lemon zest taken off with a peeler; zest only and no pith (see page 72)

Ice cubes

2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and cut in half, or frozen cherries

1 cup blueberries, washed and dried well

1 cup blackberries, washed and dried well

1 cup raspberries, washed and dried well

1 cup fresh red currants, washed and dried well

2 teaspoons Paolo Marolo’s chamomile grappa or regular grappa

For the Sabayon

Ice cubes

¾ cup heavy cream

6 egg yolks

¼ cup sugar

1 cup strongly brewed chamomile tea

To Make the Soup

1.
In a medium saucepan, bring 4 ½ cups of water to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the loose tea. Let the tea steep for 30 minutes, and then strain it through a fine sieve.

2.
Place the tea in a medium saucepan and add the sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Bring this to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to low, simmering for 5 minutes to sweeten and concentrate mixture into a light syrup.

3.
Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice and place another smaller bowl inside it.

4.
Pour the hot syrup into the bowl over ice to cool.

5.
Add the fruits in stages from the strongest to the most fragile, so that they stay intact. If you don’t follow these instructions, your soup will be too mushy. Start with the cherries. After you’ve added them, stir the mixture for a few minutes and then let it sit for 5 minutes. Add the blueberries, stir for 1 minute, and rest for 5 minutes. Add the blackberries, stir for 1 minute, and rest for 5 minutes. You will add the raspberries and red currants to the soup just before serving.

6.
Stir in the grappa.

7.
Taste the soup for sweetness. The fruit should have sweetened up the syrup. Place the fruit in syrup in the refrigerator to chill completely, about 45 minutes.

To Make the Sabayon

1.
Meanwhile, make the sabayon by bringing a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat to low.

2.
Prepare a large bowl of ice and set it aside.

3.
Using a handheld mixer or KitchenAid, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks and set it aside.

4.
In a medium stainless steel mixing bowl that will fit on top of the pan of simmering water, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and strongly brewed tea.

5.
Set the bowl on top of the pot of simmering water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it’s thick, 5 to 6 minutes. The sabayon should have tripled in volume and it should hold its shape when it falls from the whisk.

6.
Remove the bowl from the pot and place it in the big bowl of ice. Whisk until the mixture is cool, about 5 minutes.

7.
Fold the cream (see Folding, page 135) into the sabayon and refrigerate it until serving time.

8.
Just before serving, carefully stir the raspberries and currants into the bowl of syrup soaked berries.

9.
Ladle a cup of berry soup into each bowl and top it with 1/3 cup of soft sabayon over the center of each bowl.

Palace Bread: Syrup-Soaked Bread Pudding with Thick Cream and Pistachios

This sweet, sticky dessert, called
ekmek kadayifi
in Turkish, is based on an Ottoman recipe that was passed along the trade routes from Egypt to Syria. I tasted many versions of palace bread in the Arabic markets in Watertown, Massachusetts, and then I enlisted Maura Kilpatrick’s help in perfecting a version for Oleana. Maura’s palace bread is more caramely than the traditional Ottoman recipe, and it’s the best I’ve ever tasted.

Be sure to serve your palace bread with plenty of mascarpone cheese, giving your guests enough to taste a little with every bite. Although it’s rich, the tart quality of the cheese will offset the intense syrup of the soaked bread.

Palace bread is one of Oleana’s signature desserts, and when it reappears on the menu, regular customers come in just for its return.

S
ERVES
8

3¾ cups sugar

1¼ cups mild honey

1 tablespoon rosewater

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (about ½ lemon)

1 large baguette (about 12 ounces) cut into four 6-inch pieces, crusts trimmed and removed

1 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature

½ cup finely chopped, lightly toasted pistachios (see page 91)

1.
In a large, shallow saucepan or sauté pan big enough to hold the loaf of bread, combine the sugar and 1 cup of water. Bring this to a boil over medium-high heat.

2.
Stir in the honey, bring to a simmer, and reduce heat to medium-low. Continue cooking until the honey-syrup darkens to light amber. This will take about 18 minutes.

3.
Add the rosewater and lemon. At this point, the syrup should be quite thick.

4.
Put the bread in the pan and carefully push it down into the syrup with the back of a ladle. Ladle the syrup on top. Slowly simmer the bread in the syrup for 30 to 40 minutes, continuing to submerge and baste the bread with syrup. From time to time, carefully add small amounts of water to thin the syrup and prevent it from becoming too dark and sticky.

5.
When the bread has turned a translucent amber color all over, remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to let the bread cool slightly and absorb most of the remaining syrup.

6.
Transfer the bread to a cutting board and, with a serrated knife, cut it into 8 squares and then again into 16 small triangles.

7.
Serve 2 pieces of bread on each plate, topped with 2 tablespoons of mascarpone cheese and a generous tablespoon of chopped pistachios over the mascarpone.

Poached Nectarine Stuffed with Nougat Glacé

Nougat glacé, or frozen nougat, is a traditional dessert in the south of France that shows Arabic origins in the use of honey and nuts. I’ve eaten dozens of nougat glacés in Nice, but I always find the texture to be too dry and crumbly to resemble ice cream. Oleana’s pastry chef Maura Kilpatrick has created a delightfully light and fluffy twist on the French original, spiking the meringue with bits of candied orange and pistachio and using just a touch of orange-blossom water to enhance its Arabic flavors.

This recipe makes an amazingly light ice cream at home, and you don’t even need an ice cream maker. You can stuff it into poached nectarines or peaches when they are in season. It’s important to wait for good, ripe fruit. Or you can simply serve the nougat on its own with fresh fruit on top.

The pistachio praline and candied orange can be made up to week in advance, stored in an airtight container.

If you like sweet wine, try pairing this dessert with a delicious orange muscat from California.

S
ERVES
8