International food blog: October 2015

ITALIAN:

Battuto, Soffritto, Trito, Crudo

Recipes below photos

A battuto usually a very finely chopped mixture of lardo (cured pork back fat), salt pork, pork fat, or pancetta with garlic and onions. It can also contain celery, carrots, chilies, and/or other chopped ingredients.

Lardo battuto is cured pork fat pounded to a cream with herbs and garlic, used for stuffing or added to a broth or stew at the beginning or end of cooking.

It becomes a soffritto when it is gently sautéed in olive oil usually a mixture of vegetables: usually onion, celery,

carrot, garlic, herbs,and sometimes lardo or pancetta – sautéed in olive oil or butter until they become soft and caramelized, imparting their flavors to any ingredient that follows.

A trito is the same as a battuto but doesn’t contain pork. It’s very finely chopped onions, celery, garlic, carrot, and parsley.

Crudo is a trito of raw vegetables and herbs or other ingredients that are added to a dish or sauce, and then cooked. It can also be a mixture of raw herbs and vegetables that is put directly on (or mixed with) cooked food just before serving, as in Venetian risi e bisi (rice and peas) or pasta primavera.

Italians take their battuti and soffritti very seriously.

BATTUTO

SOFFRITTO

TRITO

CRUDO

Saturday, October 17, 2015

FRENCH MIREPOIX:

mire·poix meerˈpwä/

noun: a mixture of sautéed chopped vegetables used in various sauces.

Origin - French,named after the Duc de Mirepoix (1699–1757), French general.

A mirepoix is a roughly chopped vegetable cut, usually a mixture of onions, carrots, and celery. Mirepoix, raw, roasted or sautéed with butter or olive oil, is the flavor base for a wide variety of dishes, such as stocks, soups, stews and sauces. Wikipedia

RECIPES USING MIREPOIX:

FROM EPICURIOUS

FROM BBC (Click on "link" on BBC page to see all three recipes)

FIVE SOUPS FROM THE QUEEN'S TABLE (Great pics)

FROM THE CIVILIZEDCAVEMANCOOKING - CROCK POT RECIPE

Video below photo of mirepoix.