Double, Double, Toil and Trouble
Was flipping through a cookbook and came across a photo of what I thought was a scrumptious-looking chocolate tart; scanned over to the recipe, found that the first ingredient is pig blood. So I'm translating the recipe for y'all and the first person to make me a pig blood chocolate tart wins. The three black circles next to "difficolta" indicate that this will be no easy feat, but then probably 2.5 of those circles represent the task of procuring pig blood. Or maybe I'm a total ignoramus and pig blood is really out there, outside of pigs, in abundance? Like, maybe at Whole Foods, next to the molasses? Anyway, here you go. Get on it. You might have to go make friends with a butcher.
Migliaccio alla romagnola
(a traditional dessert made for Carnival, according to the internet; migliaccio actually means pudding)
Time: 3 hours
Oven temperature: 180 C
Ingredients: 300 gr pig blood - 200 gr honey - 100 gr almonds - 100 gr chocolate - 100 gr sugar - 50 gr butter - 50 gr breadcrumbs - 50 gr candied fruit - flour - 1 lemon - 1 clove - a good pinch of nutmeg and of cinnamon - 7 dl milk - oil - salt
Execution: Blanch the almonds, peel them, toast them in the oven, let cool and chop them (or buy almonds already so treated?), put them in a mortar and crush together with the candied fruit, occasionally adding a tablespoon of milk, then pass the mixture through a sieve with a large mesh. Pour the remaining milk into a saucepan, combine the sugar and the lemon zest cut into ribbons, bring to a boil, remove the zest, add the grated chocolate, remove from heat and add, stirring with a wooden spoon: blood, breadcrumbs, honey, butter, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Cook in a water bath, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to harden. Grease a baking dish of about 22 cm in diameter, pour in the mixture and cover with a sheet prepared by mixing the flour with water and a pinch of salt, drill a small hole in the center of the pastry and place a "chimney" (small cylinder of cardboard) to allow the steam to escape. Bake until the dough is well-cooked and golden. Allow to cool and serve the pudding cut into pieces. If you want to make it even more tasty, sweet, and have a better presentation, replace the mixture of flour and water with a short pastry dough.
Okay, I take it back. Only one of the stars represents finding pig blood. Jeez. I'm not converting the measurements because I know nobody's going to make this because it is clearly impossible unless you are a Roman grandmother. Dammit. Well the challenge stands regardless, even if it takes you decades and you come out of it with a vacant look in your eyes. Succeed and I might even marry you, or at least make out with you a little, pre-pigblood-consumption, unless you're into that.
Moving on: I did always understand that you keep fertile dogs of the opposite sex away from each other because if not someone will probably get pregnant, but now I understand that it's also because they will have sex all. the. time. The evolution of my reaction to this has been as follows: mild amusement/embarrassment --> total indifference --> okay there are only so many high-pitched dog squeals I can tolerate in a day --> JESUS GOD WILL IT NEVER END. Also in the category of things I somehow never knew in 22 years of life: when they are successful, they remain fused together at the crotch for 10 minutes afterward--a two-headed, directionally-confused, exhausted beast. Like dragonflies, but without the levitation.
My stay has reminded me that families with young children are never without daily strife. It's been an exercise in stoicism, keeping a straight face while the tears flow and yells of "THEY'RE NOT YOUR CABBAGES" ("it's none of your business") echo through the apartment. But kids do have their moments, I'll admit. Last night after dinner Ginni cuddled up against me and commanded me to play a game on the iPad, which consisted of parking a car in various difficult, though virtual, situations. Then she started punching me in the arm, hard, because I was kicking ass at parking that car, and things should never be too easy, right?
Migliaccio alla romagnola
(a traditional dessert made for Carnival, according to the internet; migliaccio actually means pudding)
Time: 3 hours
Oven temperature: 180 C
Ingredients: 300 gr pig blood - 200 gr honey - 100 gr almonds - 100 gr chocolate - 100 gr sugar - 50 gr butter - 50 gr breadcrumbs - 50 gr candied fruit - flour - 1 lemon - 1 clove - a good pinch of nutmeg and of cinnamon - 7 dl milk - oil - salt
Execution: Blanch the almonds, peel them, toast them in the oven, let cool and chop them (or buy almonds already so treated?), put them in a mortar and crush together with the candied fruit, occasionally adding a tablespoon of milk, then pass the mixture through a sieve with a large mesh. Pour the remaining milk into a saucepan, combine the sugar and the lemon zest cut into ribbons, bring to a boil, remove the zest, add the grated chocolate, remove from heat and add, stirring with a wooden spoon: blood, breadcrumbs, honey, butter, clove, nutmeg, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Cook in a water bath, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to harden. Grease a baking dish of about 22 cm in diameter, pour in the mixture and cover with a sheet prepared by mixing the flour with water and a pinch of salt, drill a small hole in the center of the pastry and place a "chimney" (small cylinder of cardboard) to allow the steam to escape. Bake until the dough is well-cooked and golden. Allow to cool and serve the pudding cut into pieces. If you want to make it even more tasty, sweet, and have a better presentation, replace the mixture of flour and water with a short pastry dough.
Okay, I take it back. Only one of the stars represents finding pig blood. Jeez. I'm not converting the measurements because I know nobody's going to make this because it is clearly impossible unless you are a Roman grandmother. Dammit. Well the challenge stands regardless, even if it takes you decades and you come out of it with a vacant look in your eyes. Succeed and I might even marry you, or at least make out with you a little, pre-pigblood-consumption, unless you're into that.
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| This is probably where pig blood happens. |
My stay has reminded me that families with young children are never without daily strife. It's been an exercise in stoicism, keeping a straight face while the tears flow and yells of "THEY'RE NOT YOUR CABBAGES" ("it's none of your business") echo through the apartment. But kids do have their moments, I'll admit. Last night after dinner Ginni cuddled up against me and commanded me to play a game on the iPad, which consisted of parking a car in various difficult, though virtual, situations. Then she started punching me in the arm, hard, because I was kicking ass at parking that car, and things should never be too easy, right?
Love you.
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