The bible of Italian cooking, 'The Silver Spoon', is a remarkable book that is easy to follow, writes Tom Doorley
The Silver Spoon is the Italian Mrs Beeton. As Il Cucchiao d'Argento it first appeared in 1950 and is still in print. The 2,000 recipes were collected by cookery writers from every region in the country, and the book has been updated constantly.
Now available in an English translation for the first time as The Silver Spoon, it has been adapted slightly for its new audience. As it states in the introduction, "English-language cookbooks tend to contain far more detailed explanations than their Italian counterparts." This is doubtless because, as it says elsewhere in the book, "it sometimes seems that Italians learn to cook before they learn to talk". The result is a remarkable book, very easy to follow and covering vast areas of cooking. There is even a recipe for spezzatino all'Irlandese or Irish stew.
The Bolognese sauce is suggested to accompany tagliatelle, and very good it is too, largely due to the long cooking time. Personally, I find the addition of a glass of white wine and some crushed garlic makes it even better.
The rocket and taleggio tart is a revelation. Vegetarian food rarely tastes so good, and the combination of marjoram and poppy seeds in the pastry produces a superb crust.
Tirami Su in the Silver Spoon version is rich, cool and not particularly sweet. Note the absence of alcohol, and the fact that when Italians indicate strong coffee they mean the stuff you can stand a spoon in - silver or otherwise.
COOK LIKE AN ITALIAN
RAGÙ ALLA BOLOGNESE Serves 4
40g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
250g minced steak
1 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
salt and pepper
Heat the butter and olive oil in a small saucepan and add the onion, celery, carrot and minced steak. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and cook over a low heat for a few minutes until the vegetables have softened and the meat starts to brown.
Mix the tomato puree with a little water to dilute it, and add to the saucepan. Cover and cook over a very low heat for one and a half hours, adding a little water if the sauce seems to be drying out.
TORTA ALLA RUCOLA E TALEGGIO Serves 6
200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp chopped fresh marjoram
100g butter, chilled and diced, plus extra for greasing
For the filling
200g rocket
300g cream cheese
200g Taleggio cheese, diced
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
2 eggs
salt and pepper
Sift the flour with a pinch of salt into a mound on a work-surface, sprinkle with poppy seeds and marjoram, and rub in the butter with your fingertips. Add enough cold water to make a soft pastry, then shape into a ball, cover with cling film and leave to rest for one hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas four. Grease a tart or quiche tin with butter. Parboil the rocket for a few minutes in salted water, then drain, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Put the rocket in a food processor with both cheeses, the breadcrumbs and eggs. Process at a low speed, then season with salt and pepper. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and line the prepared tin. Trim the edges and reserve the trimmings. Fill with the rocket and cheese mixture and roll the pastry edges over slightly. Roll out the trimmings, cut into strips, brush the edges with water and arrange in a lattice over the top of the pie. Bake for about 40 minutes.
TIRAMI SU Serves 6
2 egg whites,
4 egg yolks
150g icing sugar
400g mascarpone cheese
200g sponge fingers
175ml freshly brewed extra strong coffee, cooled
200g plain chocolate, grated
cocoa powder, for dusting
Stiffly whisk the egg whites in a grease-free bowl. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar in another bowl until they are pale and fluffy. Gently fold in the mascarpone, then the egg whites. Make a layer of sponge fingers on the base of a deep, rectangular serving dish and brush them evenly with coffee. Cover with a layer of the mascarpone cream and sprinkle with a little grated chocolate. Continue making layers until all the ingredients are used, ending with a layer of mascarpone cream. Dust with cocoa and chill in the refrigerator for about three hours.