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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine
grapes also make a rich dessert
custard (recipe)
October 10, 2013. 12:01 am • Section: Omnivore's Ottawa
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New Taste of Italian Harvest showcases great eats
beyond the neighbourhood of Little Italy
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Deceptively simple grape ‘custard’ is a show-stopper
anyone can do at home
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
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OCT 10 13 -12:01 AM — I’m always taken by food that’s inspiring and palpably rich, yet — and this part is key — it defies the
simplicity of humble provenance and creation.
Among myriad examples is the lowly cheese soufflé, indescribably
robust yet light in deft hands, or classic French cassoulet, a traditional
bean casserole elevated to lofty gastronomic heights with layered
infusions of confit, Toulouse sausage, goose and seasoned pork,
lovingly capped with just the right measure of fresh breadcrumbs
periodically punched to crispen.
Often, simplicity really is best.
And so I caught myself pausing, tasting, then tasting again a delightful grape-based dessert served Sunday at what was billed as
A Taste of the Italian Harvest: A Food & Wine Show at Sala San Marco on Preston Street, where owner Tony Zacconi
corralled some 30-plus restaurants, caterers, wineries and brewers to showcase the season’s best — and then some — for the allinclusive price of $50 at the door ($45 advance).
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
Above left, Vincenza Pagani demonstrates pasta-making technique, her specialty at Sala San Marco for
more than a decade. Left, top, Claudio Pagani, four-year president of Italian Week held in the spring.
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
In earlier years, exhibitions of food and drink with local
purveyors were held at Sala San Marco on Preston
Street as part of the annual grape harvest a.k.a. La
Vendemmia celebrations, but in more recent times the
event fell by the wayside. Zacconi says he resurrected
and expanded it this year to include Italian-theme
purveyors beyond the traditional Little Italy or Preston
Street area (who, in truth, still represent most of the
merchants present).
(Photo above left, chicken marsala with baked rigitonni rosé from de Santino on Merivale Road.)
“Previously, the Preston Street B.I.A. put on a similar event solely with Preston Street merchants during La Vendemmia,” Zacconi
says.
“It was always a popular and fun event, but they stopped putting it on a few years back. We thought it was a great seasonal event
featuring Italian gastronomy that was missed by the community, so we decided to host our own with the major difference being
that we opened it up to other Italian restaurants beyond Preston Street.
“We expect this will definitely be an annual event. We had 35 exhibitors with attendance of just over 300 visitors. All the positive
feedback leads us to believe we could easily grow to more than 400 people next year,” Zacconi says.
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
Clockwise from top left: Tuna tartare from Sala San Marco; eggplant stuffed with Italian ham, ricotta, diced
tomato, red pepper, with mushroom white wine sauce and parmesan from Mezzanotte on Murray Street;
pizza crust roulade-style with capicollo from Cabotto’s Ristorante Italiano on Hazeldean Road; mussels on
rapini and leek in white wine cream from Vetta Osteria & Bar on Bank Street.
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
Top, from Fratelli’s L-R Caitlin Doan, Renée Savage and Tanya Aramouni, serving (bottom photo) Italian
salumi plate with prosciutto, capicollo, fontana cheese, sopresatta, and mini caprese salad.
As I mentioned, of special note to me was the wine-grape “pudding” served by Joe Calabro of Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana, an
acclaimed pastry chef whose execution of traditional Italian desserts and wedding cakes is textbook and flawless.
In this instance, the grape “pudding,” for lack of a better description, is a riff on a dessert his mother served in Italy. Anyone who
has made grape jelly at home can replicate this masterpiece using grape juice from fresh fruit (not concentrate). As wine grapes
may still be available, I’d suggest juice pressed from a red vinifera variety like cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir or cabernet franc —
but in a pinch, you may find fresh Warren’s Grape Juice still available at the Sunday Ottawa Farmers’ Market.
Note: Joe tested this recipe using fresh grapes pressed by Musca Wine Pressing & Supply at 969 Somerset St. W. He also
tested it using Warren’s juice from the farmers’ market, and discovered he needed only 1/2 cup (80 grams/125 mL) of corn starch
with the Warren’s juice, possibly due to different levels of acidity. In any event, Joe says home cooks may substitute semolina fine
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
cornmeal instead of corn starch, which also thickens the custard to set. Finally, for most accurate results it is always better to
measure ingredients by grams, not cups.
From The Bootleg Porchetta Co. top, L-R Giuia Nicastro, Michael Boselli, Anthony Boselli, Romina Boselli;
bottom photos are of the Bootleg in-house charcuterie featuring local pork.
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
Left, top, from ARC.the hotel duck meatballs with smoked red pepper duck jus on a bed of mint and ricotta.
Middle, tempting dessert fruit display from Simply Biscotti on Preston Street. Bottom left, Italian wedding
soup from the Soup Guy a.k.a. Claudio Fracassi (also shown right with manager Anna Lemos) at World
Exchange Plaza.
The idea is to gently boil the juice to reduce its liquid volume by half, thereby concentrating the flavours and natural sweetness,
supplemented with cane sugar. After that, it’s a simple matter of thickening it with corn starch and embellishing it with cinnamon,
cloves, then pouring into ramekins to set in the refrigerator.
Hey, didn’t I say it was simple?
Joe’s recipe makes 10 to 12 ramekins, each about 3 ounces (85 mL) and garnished with a shot of whipped cream. At the Italian
Harvest event, his portions came to slightly less — 1/4 cup or 2 ounces or 50 mL, which I found a perfect serving size because the
dessert is so incredibly rich.
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
Pastry chef Joe Calabro of Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana, right, with his award-winning sweets, including
the memorable “Mustarda” made with fresh wine-grape juice. His recipe appears below, thank you!
As for next year, Zacconi says part of the charm lies in the limited size. “We will never over-crowd this event — we want to keep
the high quality of vendors and best enjoyment by all guests.
“We’re very pleased how it turned out this year, it was everything we hoped it would be and exceeded expectations as an
inaugural event. We’re already getting calls from vendors who would like to participate next year,” Zacconi says.
“It’s important to the Ottawa Italian food scene and there are a lot more modern and creative enterprises in the area with more
focus on local ingredients, more inventive and adventurous approached to Italian cuisine.”
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
Twitter: @roneade
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Here’s the recipe:
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Mustarda (Wine Pudding)
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From: Pastry chef Joe Calabro, owner Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana
Makes 10 to 12 3-ounce ramekins (or about 20, 1/4-cup/50-mL ramekins)
– 3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
– 1 cup (140 grams) corn starch*
– 1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cinnamon
– 1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) ground cloves
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Sure you can stomp on them — but wine grapes also make a rich dessert custard (recipe) | Ottawa Citizen
– 8 cups (2 litres) red-wine juice (not concentrate)
– Whipped cream, to garnish
* Note: This recipe was made using fresh juice pressed from red wine grapes from a winemakers supply shop, not bottled in a
supermarket. Joe also tried Warren’s red Grape Juice from Ottawa Farmers’ Market, and found it required only 80 grams or 1/2
cup (125 mL) of corn starch possibly due to different levels of acidity than the wine grape variety. He says home cooks may
substitute fine semonila corn meal instead of corn starch to thicken the custard. For best results, it is always best to measure in
grams, not cups.
1. In a small mixing bowl, combine sugar, corn starch, cinnamon, cloves; set aside.
2. In a large stainless-steel saucepan with a heavy bottom, bring wine to a boil and briskly simmer to reduce liquid volume by half,
to 4 cups (1 L), stirring occasionally to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and add sugar mixture, whisking continuously until
the custard thickens to the consistency of pudding.
3. Pour custard into ramekins; refrigerate to set completely (best overnight). Just before serving, garnish with a spoonful of
whipped cream.
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