If you are dining in Italy, you probably have a list of certain dishes that you want to try and you should do while you have the chance! Italian cuisine has travelled all over the world and is readily accessible almost everywhere and, yet, there is a difference between Italian food in Italy and abroad. Of course, sometimes, you can find highly authentic and excellent Italian restaurants abroad but there is nothing quite like enjoying Italian classics in Italy and you'll often find that they taste entirely different – if not much better!
One classic Italian dish that you will, most likely, be familiar with is panna cotta. Panna cotta, meaning literally, “cooked cream”, is a dessert made of sweetened cream that is thickened with gelatin, molded into shape and flavoured with the likes of rum, coffee and vanilla. It is often served with a coulis of berries, or a sauce of caramel or chocolate and may be covered with fruit or with liqueurs.
One classic Italian dish that you will, most likely, be familiar with is panna cotta. Panna cotta, meaning literally, “cooked cream”, is a dessert made of sweetened cream that is thickened with gelatin, molded into shape and flavoured with the likes of rum, coffee and vanilla. It is often served with a coulis of berries, or a sauce of caramel or chocolate and may be covered with fruit or with liqueurs.
The dish is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before the 1960s but is often cited as a traditional dessert of the northern Italian region of Piedmont. One, suggested and unverified, origin story says that it was invented by a Hungarian woman in the Langhe in the early 1900s. An 1879 dictionary mentions a similar, and possibly predating, dish called latte inglese (“English milk”), which was made of cream cooked with gelatin and molded - though other sources say that it was made with egg yolks. Whatever the case may be, the Region of Piedmont has officially claimed the dish and included it in its 2001 list of traditional food products of the region. Why not find a vacation rental in Piedmont and try the dish there for yourself? Who knows, maybe you might even be able to solve the mystery of its origins?
If you're not quite that ambitious about being a food detective, just plan a fun holiday and, maybe, even try out the dish for yourself. Here is an easy recipe to get you excited for your vacation!
Ingredients:
15g of gelatin
500ml of heavy cream
200g of sugar
500ml of milk
Coulis to serve on top
100g of berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)
100g of sugar
(Or use whatever fruit you desire in the same quantity for other flavours)
Method:
1. Dissolve the gelatin in 500ml of cold water for around 5 minutes.
2. In a pot, place the milk, cream, sugar and the gelatin that you just prepared in cold water. Heat the pot to a gentle boil, stirring regularly to prevent burns, then remove from heat.
3. Pour the mixture into molds that would be suitable for a small portion for dessert, and leave aside to cool for 2 or 3 hours in the refrigerator.
4. While waiting, liquidise the berries and combine with the sugar. Serve drizzled across the plated panna cotta.
If you're not quite that ambitious about being a food detective, just plan a fun holiday and, maybe, even try out the dish for yourself. Here is an easy recipe to get you excited for your vacation!
Ingredients:
15g of gelatin
500ml of heavy cream
200g of sugar
500ml of milk
Coulis to serve on top
100g of berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)
100g of sugar
(Or use whatever fruit you desire in the same quantity for other flavours)
Method:
1. Dissolve the gelatin in 500ml of cold water for around 5 minutes.
2. In a pot, place the milk, cream, sugar and the gelatin that you just prepared in cold water. Heat the pot to a gentle boil, stirring regularly to prevent burns, then remove from heat.
3. Pour the mixture into molds that would be suitable for a small portion for dessert, and leave aside to cool for 2 or 3 hours in the refrigerator.
4. While waiting, liquidise the berries and combine with the sugar. Serve drizzled across the plated panna cotta.