SC - The siege cook challenge.

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Michael Macchione wrote:

> Uhm,  I think I should describe the pasta maker.  It doesn't really
> extrude the pasta like a meat grinder extrudes ground beef.  It cannot be
> used to make macaroni, or any other hollow pasta.  It can be used to
> "roll" the pasta dough to the desired thickness, and can then be fed
> through some "cutters" to slice the pasta to the desired width (either
> fettucine or spaghetti widths).  It doesn't appear that hard to use.  It
> definitely could be used to make the pasta for ravioli which you could
> then fill and fold by hand.
> 
> Kael

Another thing such machines are good for (that I don't think the
instructions mention to any great extent) is kneading the dough.
Developing a decent amount of gluten is essential for most pastas, and
the more gluten there is, the harder it is to knead effectively. So, you
can pat your firm dough by hand into a flat rectangle the right size to
fit through your rollers at the thickest setting, run it through several
times, each time taking your sheet, folding it into three like a letter,
and rotating it 90 degrees. In some respects not unlike making puff
pastry or Damascus steel. You keep doing this until your dough is
smooth, elastic, slightly shiny, and not sticky. Then you roll it and
cut it whatever way you want.

I have a pasta machine of the Mia Cucina brand (which means, more or
less, that it is of an unspecified brand imported from Italy by Macy's)
which has a ravioli-stuffing widget. Trouble is, it comes with a couple
of filling recipes, and the gadget only seems to work with those
fillings. You need to have just the right texture for your filling or
the whole project ends up in the trash.

As regards the period pasta recipe issue, there are numerous variations
on the pasta/butter/cheese theme (real fettucine Alfredo being the
direct linear descendant), and the various filled pastas. Several people
have gone into this subject already, and I don't really have anything to
add. However, in the Wild Undocumentable Rumor Department, I recall
reading (In the New York Times, so it MUST be true ;  )  ) about a
Southern Italian Renaissance pasta dish, consisting of pasta of an
unspecified shape, sauced with sauteed orange segments, butter,
caramelized sugar and toasted almonds. Can't say whether this bears any
relation to reality, though.

Adamantius

______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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