#EasterFood | Valentina Expressions

An Easter Speciality

Today talking with my high school friends in Italy about what kind of food they are preparing for Easter, I realized that for a long time, I missed preparing a typical speciality from my native Puglia. It’s called “Il Benedetto”. It is a dish full of fresh sheep ricotta on a bed of arugula or cooked spinach, boiled eggs, slices of soppressata sausage, pecorino cheese, and slices of oranges. The plate is placed in the centre of the dining table, accompanied by fried artichokes, olives and fresh raw fava beans. Some people put everything on one plate as shown in the second photo.

Before eating Il Benedetto, the food receives the benediction with a branch from an olive tree dipped in holy water. Basically, it is an appetizer served an hour or two before dinner.

(Photo by La Cucina Pugliese)

(Photo by my sister Cristina)

Italian holiday dinners are nothing like you have seen before. Italian dinners have no end. Italians know when dinner starts, but don’t know when they will get up and call it finished. It seems this speciality would be enough for dinner but not for the Italians who love to dine at leisure.

Dinner is never served with all food together on one plate or the guests helping each other by passing this and that until their plates are full of ingredients. Italian people eat dinner one course at a time. Between one dish and another, they talk politics, love, family, soccer game, money and all kind of interesting subjects, smoke, drink wines, or get up to dance to make space in the stomach for the next dish, with a time-lapse of 20-30 minutes between each course. Often a holiday dinner last 5-7 hours.
Women sit at the table as well, but they are the ones to prepare and serve. I helped my mom in the kitchen when I lived with my parents, however, I never understood the reason why men couldn’t get up and help.

For years I couldn’t prepare any Italian speciality here in America as the ingredients were not available in any market, now there is nothing I can’t find and I will prepare Il Benedetto from now on. I wish all of you a peaceful Easter Day. Ciao.
Valentina

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Valentina Cirasola is an interior-fashion consultant, author of 6 published books, a storyteller, and a blogger of many years. Her books are non-fictional practical ideas to apply in the home, fashion, cooking and travel.
Get a copy of her books here: Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Easter Breads | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

Two more days to Easter Sunday and in Puglia, my land in Southern Italy everyone will eat “Scarcella”, typical Easter bread. Scarcella is a slightly sweet bread type, just enough to give a sweet taste but not enough to make anybody fat. Usually in Puglia, we make it in a round shape, as we all know the round shape is the most harmonious of all the shapes and in most cultures is regarded as the shape of fortune. Many shapes and designs also characterize the Scarcella to please the eyes of the receiver. If it is made for kids, the shape might be a small doll, a purse, a car, or an animal shape, just to be playful.

Scarcella goes back to a very remote past, in fact, it originated in the Roman Empire, enclosing in itself all the pagan and Christian symbols of Easter.

The raw eggs on top of the bread dough symbolize rebirth and the return to life. The eggs might fill the dough up to 21. Odd numbers are considered propitiatory, thus it’s important to place the eggs in an odd number. Bake the bread full of colorful confetti on top and lemon zest mixed in with the dough to aromatize it. Powdered sugar will cover the Scarcella after the baking to give it a veil of sweetness.

The tradition says that any daughter-in-law will give one Scarcella as a gift to the mother-in-law. The more eggs the Scarcella has on it, the more are the things the daughter-in-law is asking to be forgiven for. Well, that was in the old days, I am not even sure the new generations of Italians even know what Scarcella is, or if they care to ask for forgiveness through food symbolism. If anybody out there wants to try it here is the recipe, and it is also in my second published book:
©Sins Of A Queen – Italian Appetizers and Desserts

Scarcella
Mix with 10.5 oz. 00 flour (super-soft flour used for pizza dough) 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3.5 oz. of sugar, a little milk (use a little at a time to make the dough pliable).
Add a pinch of salt and grated lemon peel while working on the dough.
Spread the dough thus prepared to ½ inch in height.
Cut out the shapes you want, keeping the scraps of dough.
On one end of the Scarcella place 1 egg raw with the shell on, or you can spread an odd number of eggs around on the dough.
Cut the scraps of dough into strips and place them in a cross fashion over each egg to help them staying on the dough during baking.
Sprinkle the colored confetti and bake on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake it until golden brown.
If you like, add powder sugar after the bread has cooled down.

This Easter specialty is in my book Sins Of A Queen, on Amazon: http://goo.gl/JA4WMO
Another fun Easter bread and typical in the South of Italy made for this occasion is the “Casatiello”. The procedure of making this bread is the same as any other bread, the only difference is the stuffing.
Mixed in the raw dough there are chopped hard-boiled eggs, various chopped cold cuts meats and cheeses of many types. The quantities for the stuffing are up to your taste.
The taste will improve accordingly, I make mine very happy.

A Pink Moon will characterize this Easter. I just learned about it this morning when I read this article.

http://news.yahoo.com/moon-affects-date-easter-131202555.html

I am here to help you with your kitchen design and all the challenges that come with it, but I am here also to design your palate.
Remember that designing a table with colorful food is necessary for the soul and for the eyes just as much as a beautifully designed kitchen.
My next book on the subject of colors: RED-A Voyage Into Colors is in the printing and will be out on the market very soon. Stay tuned for the launch.

If you celebrate it, have fun and rejuvenating Easter. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking.
She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms, and entertainment rooms.
Check out her books on this site on the BOOKS page and on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w