[Sca-cooks] Help! Fried Ricotta Cheese Balls

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

On Fri, 6 Sep 2002 10:17:56 -0700 lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> Help! I'm worried! I'm still wondering quite
> what to do with this and
> i have to cook it tomorrow night...
>
[snip]
> Toronjas de Xativa que Son Almojavanas
> Oranges of Xativa which are Cheesecakes
[snip]
> Do i add yeast? Do i add sourdough? where it
> asks for leaven...
[snip]
> [here's my question: a bit of leaven (non-sour
> "sourdough"? yeast?
> what should i use?]

I have not redacted this recipe myself.  I can tell you that Spain, like other
Mediterranean countries, used sourdough rather than a beer yeast.  However,
they seemed not to care for a sour taste in their baked goods.  In Platina's
recipe for bread, he cautions not to let the dough turn sour.  Nola's only use
for sour leavening is as a "sponge" to absorb smoky/scorched taste from stews
and pottages (see recipes # 168, 240, and 241).

I would *not* use dry yeast for this recipe -- or at least, not directly.  The
balls are formed and fried not long after the yeast is added.  Dry yeast
wouldn't have much time to get going before the frying killed it.  I would use
either a non-sour sourdough starter, or a sponge made with dry yeast that had
been allowed to sit and mature for a while.

Brighid ni Chiarain