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23 February 2016

Ancient grains of Sicily: timilia and majorca

Sicily is a rich land that for millennia has distinguished itself for the fertility of the soil, for the generosity of the sun that warms it and fills it with light and for the wide valleys suitable for hosting large expanses of golden wheat.

Until 1927 there were 52 indigenous varieties of wheat on the island which over time, however, left room for seeds with a better yield per hectare that allowed more abundant productions at lower prices.

Although set aside for a long time, these ancient grains have never been completely abandoned and in recent years the cultivation has started to grow again in almost all the Sicilian provinces.

Given the precious characteristics of these historic wheat originating in Sicily, including the timilia (or tumminia) and majorca (or mjorca) varieties, they are grown and processed organically, keeping all the nutritional and organoleptic characteristics intact.

In addition to the absence of GMOs, these grains are also stone ground. This allows to preserve the germ of the grains, the vitamins, the mineral salts and the proteins that make the product not only healthier, but also more digestible.

Timilia durum wheat, formerly widespread also in Portugal, Spain, France and North Africa, has a short cycle and is sown at the beginning of the year, generally in March and reaches full ripeness in summer. It resists drought very well, is rich in trace elements, low in gluten and high in protein. Thanks to its qualities it is also very suitable for the preparation of bread with the addition of a little water.

Among the ancient soft grains, one of the most popular is Mallorca , a quadrangular spike that reaches 180cm in height, suitable for arid soils and characterized by rapid ripening.
Its flour, soft and impalpable, is particularly suitable for the preparation of desserts, but also of white breads, bread sticks and above all biscuits; moreover it is often used in the making of royal pasta and, according to some researchers, it would have been the basis of the first recipes of the Sicilian cannoli rind.

This grain also has a low gluten content (about 50% less than modern grains) and is rich in protein, so it is very digestible and nutritious.

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18 February 2016

Comfort food, food for the soul

“This dish reminds me of when I was little …”, “This makes me think of when I lived in the old house …”. How many times has it happened to you to say a similar phrase after having eaten a certain dish or having smelled a particular perfume coming from the kitchen? Here, this phenomenon takes the name of comfort food , an English expression that refers to the consoling effects of food.

Comfort food indicates precisely those foods that are able to give rise to strong emotions in those who consume them, arousing a great sense of pleasure and satisfaction. In most cases, these are foods that recall periods and episodes related to childhood or adolescence and, precisely for this reason, they are often healthy, genuine, homemade and traditional foods such as grandma’s cookies, mother’s cake, the hot bread Grandpa bought, aunt’s fried bread, and so on. Obviously there is no comfort food list, everyone has their own and no food is excluded.

Eating a “comfort” food means nourishing oneself with emotions, memories, feelings that can fill inner voids, feelings of loneliness and nostalgia for a few moments.

Eating is not a simple daily action that only serves our body to survive but it is a way to pamper our soul. In fact, food can in some cases become a memory, offer us a journey into the past, make us relive distant moments, situations with people who are no longer there. It is the search for a lost moment, in which we want to take refuge to get better.
Often people are looking for comfort foods because they are stressed or live far from home or feel alone and lost.

Comfort food can be considered the highest stage that food can reach, it is the perfect combination of food and emotions. To use the terms of Ilaria Mazzarotta, who writes a book on the subject, comfort food is “that comfortable sofa that you can’t throw away, on which you can spend time alone, snuggle up with those you love, sitting chatting with friends for share a pleasant moment “.

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17 February 2016

Tea and biscuits: a unique combination

A winter afternoon, a colorful, steaming cup, a hot drink, its perfume, a little sugar or half a teaspoon of honey, a few drops of lemon or a little milk, a saucer of crumbly biscuits, perhaps some different that smell of butter: happiness.

Tea time , previously considered a gentleman’s thing, has now become trendy even in Italy and the number of places where it is possible to take refuge in winter to drink tea, chocolates, infusions or herbal teas and spend an hour is growing more and more pleasant relaxing with friends and colleagues.

There is also an increasing number of business appointments in coffee shops at tea time rather than for the classic aperitif or brunch, in fact tea time can represent a perfect time to talk about business and projects in a more relaxed and relaxed atmosphere.

Tea is also good for health, there are various types: green, black, red, white, each of which boasts beneficial properties. Green tea, for example, is an excellent antioxidant, is good for the stomach and prevents tooth decay; the white one is rich in vitamins; the red one helps to decrease bad cholesterol and stimulates the metabolism.

Even biscuits , especially if prepared with quality ingredients, can help make us feel better, they are in fact among the foods of a good mood . Their scent, the sweet taste that contrasts with that of tea gives our mind and our palate a moment of joy and relaxation.
We can therefore say that the historical couple of tea and biscuits represents a unique combination, the first is good for the body, the second for the mood: a perfect combination to say the least!

Our lives are increasingly hectic and full of commitments, so much so that it is difficult to find a moment to be with ourselves or in peace with friends, boyfriends or colleagues. Allowing ourselves an hour of our day in front of a cup of tea and biscuits means loving yourself, giving yourself a little respite and well-being for the mind and body.

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8 February 2016

Testa di Turco, our revisited recipe

rustic turkish head of tumminelloCarnival is one of those moments of the year in which the exquisite delicacies of the regional tradition are tasted.

Every region, every city and every small town handed down from generation to generation a typical dessert with ancient origins. In Castelbuono, a medieval town in the province of Palermo and the place where the production of Tumminello biscuits was born, a particularly delicious dessert is eaten which takes the curious name of Testa di Turco. It is a spoon dessert consisting of thin layers of fried puff pastry, accompanied by a cream of milk flavored with cinnamon and lemon.
Traditionally this dessert was already prepared during the Christmas holidays and was consumed until Carnival.
Its curious name already gives us some clues about its origins that would seem Arab, even if the story that circulates around its birth traces it back to a particular episode.

Popular legend has it that the Turk’s Head was elaborated precisely on the occasion of the defeat of the Arabs by the Normans. The dessert was therefore created to celebrate the liberation from Arab domination.

We want to offer you our particular variant of this magnificent spoon dessert by preparing it, rather than with the pastry, with our ” Rustici ” biscuits.

Ingrediants:

Rustic biscuits q. b.
For the cream:
• 500 ml of milk
• 100 g of sugar
• 50 g of starch for sweets
• Zest of one lemon
To garnish:
• Cinnamon powder
• Chocolate chips / sugared sprinkles / sugar tails

Preparation of the cream
Pour almost all the milk into a saucepan (keep a glass aside) together with the lemon zest, sugar and ground cinnamon and cook over low heat.

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While the milk is heating, pour the starch into a bowl and dissolve it with the remaining cold milk, to be poured slowly. Then add the starch to the milk in the saucepan and mix continuously with a whisk. Once the mixture begins to thicken, remove it from the heat.

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Packaging of the dessert

Spread a layer of coarsely crumbled biscuits on the bottom of a baking dish, pour part of the cream evenly, then repeat the operation alternating layers of biscuits and cream until garnished with powdered cinnamon, chocolate flakes and colored sugar tails at your leisure.

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