britaly00

not for Jaffa cakes

man cannot live on Jaffa cakes alone- heaven knows I've tried...

Lorna at Vicenza

Shop called 'Prix' sells boxes of Jaffa Cakes except they're called 'orange cakes'.

Pica

I spent ages today making 28 little puff pastry parcels of camembert and all I ended up with were bags of pastry and melted cheese all over the baking tray

ononno

I so feel for you. My attempts at baking usually end up like that. I had thought of trying to make hot x buns today, but chickened out and am going to do some gardening instead. Unfortunately 'a nonna has been visted by Dr. Alzheimer so can no longer do these things. I did make a successful cauliflower cheese yesterday though. Might try the hot x buns later. Have a nice Easter.
'o nonno

Lorna at Vicenza

Oh dear, better luck next time ..... if there will be a next time.

Lorna at Vicenza

Forgot about hot cross buns. I've got an English friend here for Easter Sunday and I was going to make scones and apple pie. Might have to make hot cross buns instead now. Would be nice to get a big, fat leg of lamb but I've only seen little chops here and other small bits.
Sorry to hear that Mrs Nonno is unwell again.

Pica

No problems with cauliflower cheese-if there's any cheddar left.
Happy Easter to you both also-although for us it's the same as any other day because we don't have a religiously inclined bone in our bodies.

Pica

There won't

Lorna at Vicenza

BRIAN 1

hi,i posted this reply onto this thread as it is more on topic.we tried the self raising flour that lorna recommended in dumplings last night and they turned out better than back home.cheers lorna, 1 less item in ryanair suitcase.next question, where do i get suet? we prefer vegetable kind so any italian alternatives,cheers brian.

BRIAN 1

hi,ok forget the suet obviously everyone is healthy on a med diet here.next unhealthy question,why the hell is it so hard to get kidneys here? we order them from md and sinopoli but it takes 2 weeks to get them sometimes.we love our steak and kidney pies and puddings now and then.a woman behind me the other week said oh i dont like them,when in the cabinet in front of me was a half of sheeps head,cows lungs,heart,spinal cord and tripe all lovely delicacies here.just curious or is this just a southern thing?cheers,brian.

Lorna at Vicenza

I looked for veg suet for you and found zilch. I've seen plenty of kidneys though. What I'd like is a bit of belly pork and crackling, oxtail or other cheaper cuts of meat for very slow cooking with some fat left on it. I had a discussion with the butcher here about how everything is "lean" and "magro" and sometimes you need a bit of fat to keep the meat from drying out and to add to the flavour.

jonwel

Ah, belly pork! The only way you find it here is slices of "pancetta fresca", never a whole piece. Still, if you make friends with you butcher I'm sure he'll give you what you want. The same applies to oxtail: I've only ever seen a few vertebrae in a supermarket package, never a whole tail. Just as I've never seen fresh ox-tongue in the UK! What do they do with it??? Probably make catfood...
The Italians don't generally like kidneys because they're not used to that urine tang! You have to boil them a bit first, I think, to get rid of it. And never pig's kidneys! They really do smell too much.
One thing I do like here is "frittura d'agnello": lungs, liver, heart, spleen kidneys, you just chop it up, keeping the organs separate. Lightly fry an onion, then add the chopped organs, tougher bits first - it's all cooked in about 20 minutes and then you add some chopped garlic and parlsey. It's sold quite cheaply because a lot of people don't know how to prepare it any more. Goes nicely with polenta.

37100

True, you need to get friendly with a butcher. Our one in Turin will get you anything. OH'S uncle buys belly of pork Asti way to make his own copatta.

There used to be a place in Turin that anything pig including kidneys. Boy, the whole place stanch of urine!

Coming from Piemonte OH's love fritto misto piemontese. Breaded and fried, liver, heart, brains, frog legs, dried apricots, amaretto.

BRIAN 1

hi,sorry lorna i didnt realise you had been working behind the scenes for me,thanks i,ll get by with a couple of packets of atora a year.cheers,brian.