Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [287]
1. Peel the mangoes (or peaches), and slice the flesh off the pits. If using peaches, split them in half and remove the pit. Cut the fruit into bite-size pieces of about 1 inch, and put them in a serving bowl.
2. Wash the strawberries in cold water, remove stems and leaves, and slice them lengthwise in half, unless they happen to very small. Add them to the bowl.
3. Add the sugar, lemon peel, and wine to the bowl, and toss the fruit thoroughly, but gently to avoid bruising it. Refrigerate and let steep for 1 to 2 hours. Serve chilled, tossing the fruit once or twice before bringing it to the table.
Black and White Macerated Grapes
THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL bowl of fruit. The purple spheres of the black grapes are divided in half and seeded, and the seedless elongated ovals of the white grapes are left whole. Macerated with orange juice and lemon peel, their fragrance and freshness are irresistible.
For 6 to 8 servings
1 pound seedless white grapes
1 pound large black grapes, not the pale purple seedless ones
The peel of 1 lemon grated without digging into the white pith beneath
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
The freshly squeezed juice of 3 oranges
1. Detach all the grape berries from their stems and wash them in cold water. Put only the white ones into a serving bowl.
2. You must halve the black grapes to extract their seeds. (Seedless red grapes are very bland and are not recommended for this dish.) Hold each berry with the stem end facing up. Use a sharp paring knife, or preferably a small vegetable knife with a serrated blade, to cut the berry horizontally around its middle, cutting it all around, but not all the way through. With your fingertips, hold the upper half of the grape, and with your other hand twist off the bottom half. From the exposed center of one of the halves seeds will protrude; pick them out, and add both halves of the seeded berry to the bowl. Repeat the procedure until all the black grapes are done.
3. Add the lemon peel, sugar, and orange juice to the bowl. If the juice is insufficient to cover the grapes, squeeze some more. Toss thoroughly, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours before serving. Do not keep overnight because the grapes may begin to ferment.
Frullati—Fresh Fruit Whips
A frullato could be described as an adult milk shake, laced with just enough liqueur to make it not merely refreshing, but interesting as well. In summer in Italy, it is something that one orders at an espresso bar, but there is no reason one shouldn’t have it at home, and enjoy it at any time of day. You can make frullati in a food processor, but if you have a blender, it will do a better job.
For 2 servings
1 banana OR an equivalent amount of fresh peaches OR strawberries OR raspberries
⅔ cup milk
1½ teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons crushed ice
2 tablespoons Maraschino liqueur (see note)
All fruit must be washed in cold water, except for the banana. Bananas or peaches must be peeled, the latter pitted, and cut into pieces. Put the fruit and the other ingredients into the bowl of the blender or processor, and whip—at high speed if using the blender—until the ice has completely dissolved, and the fruit has been liquefied. Serve immediately.
GELATO
The most widely accepted explanation for the difference between ice cream and gelato is that there is less air in gelato; hence it is denser. Whether there is less air or not I don’t really know, but it seems beside the point. I started consuming gelato the moment I learned to walk and hold a cone at the same time, and to me it is hardly density that characterizes it, but lightness and freshness of flavor. There is far less fat, less cream, fewer eggs, and no butter in gelato. It is never oversweet or overrich. Mrs. Marshall in a nineteenth-century gem of a book, Ices Plain and Fancy, may not have been thinking