S3 E25 Tiramisu

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Hello and welcome to Perfectly Seasoned, the podcast about all things culinary. I'm your personal chef, Greg Strom, and today on Perfectly Seasoned, save room for dessert. Stay tuned! Okay, here's a question. What is Terramasu? Where does it come from, and who created it? Are you ready for a little history lesson? Terramasu is a classic no-bake Italian dessert. Now it hasn't been 100% proven, but according to historical records, it was created in Treviso, Italy around the 1800s by a matress, or otherwise known as a madam. And she was the madam of a local, as they say, Cassa di Piacere, which means bordello. She developed this aphrodisiac dessert to offer to her customers at the end of the evening and their visit in order to re-invigorate the men. So when they got home, it would solve the problems they would have with their wives during their conjugal duties. Well, today's recipe uh comes from the Taste of Europe digital cookbook by our friend Lauren Allen, and she's from Tastes Better from Scratch. And she does say that this recipe it's not the off it's not 100% authentic because she doesn't use raw eggs. This would be a nice alternative for anyone who prefers not to use raw eggs or are allergic to eggs. There is a way to get around having the raw eggs. If you ever made Hollandaise, you know you whip the eggs in a bowl over a steaming hot water without touching the bowl to the water. And that actually will cook the eggs. It just has to you can reach a temperature of 150 and you should be fine. And it it actually helps thicken in the eggs and make it creamy. The thing is, if you use pasteurized eggs, you should be okay. But I understand the reason for the trepidation of using raw eggs. We have our good friend Andrea Nair back on the line again. She just keeps coming back. Welcome back, Andrea.

SPEAKER_03 3:13

Thank you. Let's discuss go.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Go. It's all yours.

SPEAKER_03 3:19

Okay. This recipe didn't do it for me. It was too tasty, but it just seemed to lack. A lot of body. There was so much cream and not enough marshmallows. There was so much cream and not enough cookies. I would double the cookie layers, or I would add another cookie layer. Taste-wise, it was good, but but the whole texture of it, the whole body of it, I did not really love.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

Go ahead, Kristen.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Andrea, agree with you 100%. The flavor was there, but what was missing, or what was off, maybe, was the texture. And I think what Greg said earlier about the eggs, and maybe that's part of what was kind of missing from it when you said you can do it safely over the hot water and it it makes it creamy. There was there was a custardy texture that I usually associate with terramisu that was missing. It felt like the flavors were there, but they were all separate. They didn't meld together. Does that make sense? Yeah. Well, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

I would actually call this terramisu-ish. Because it's missing the two main ingredients, egg yolks and egg whites. And those two ingredients are what make the classic terramisu and give it its distinctive richness and what's the key word here? Texture. Yeah. And uh technically speaking, there are only four essential ingredients in classic terramisu, and that's the marscapone, the fresh eggs, the ladyfingers, and strong coffee. Now in in a number of the traditional recipes, there are a couple of tablespoons of marsala to give it um a little bit more of a um uh not a kick, but just a little more flavor, because you don't use vanilla in classic terramisu. There are no recipes for classic teramasu that use uh vanilla. I also felt as though it was lacking that creamy, uh silky texture. And the other thing is I felt as though there was too much whipping cream because I think the whipping cream was supposed to mimic the eggs, and it didn't. It there's just no way it can.

SPEAKER_03 6:26

What what would you would you oh we are all in agreement?

SPEAKER_00 6:30

I thought the taste was good. The taste had the it had the taste of a terramisu, it just didn't have that special that terramisu gives you.

SPEAKER_03 6:44

You know what? And my my other problem was I didn't know how to serve it. I had it in the in a beautiful glass rectangular dish, but there was no way I could like take it out of the dish and put it on a plate and make and present it nicely.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Oh, no.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

All I could do was scoop it out and throw it in a bowl.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Ah now, you know what? That sounds to me like possibly it might not have been set up enough because I cut it and it was perfectly square. I'm I was able to scoop it out on put it on a plate and it it stood up fine. Well, I and I think it's because it depends on how much you whip the cream. If the if you used soft peaks on the whipping cream, I don't think it would have set up as much as it would if you use stiffer peaks. Mine were just slightly stiffer. And in fact, I might have over whipped it just a bit because I was afraid there was nothing in there to there was nothing in there to thicken other than the whipping cream.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

So would you would you prepare it again?

SPEAKER_03 7:57

Not that recipe, no.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

No. Okay. Yeah. I I feel the same. What how would you rate this recipe on a scale? What about you, Kristen?

SPEAKER_01 8:05

How would you How would I rate it? Yeah. Or how would I I I would liken it to when my brother went through a phase where he was making drinks with with like daiquiries and things, and he brought me a strawberry daiquiry, and I said, Oh, this is interesting. What is and he said, Well, I had to use strawberry slim fast. It was the same greeny grit kind of a gritty texture to it. So this particular recipe, no.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

And I I I think it I think it was the ladyfingers that just the way they Well, the Ladyfingers, you've had my you've had my terramisu, and I use those same Saviardi uh ladyfingers. Uh so it it there was nothing different about that.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

There was nothing to bind it.

SPEAKER_00 8:53

There was nothing, yes. Everything uh you you kind of hit it on the head when you said every ingredient was individual and there was nothing to come to bind it together. I like the classic teramisu. I really um have to have the eggs in it. I I would have to give this a two, a two out of five for it.

SPEAKER_03 9:12

Yes, yes, and a two just because the flavor was good.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Yes, that was the saving grace because if I was allergic to eggs, honestly, I wouldn't really probably be concerned about it. It's just that once you have a uh real classic terramisu, there's no going back. You know what I mean? Yep. So did you uh so I'm assuming you served this to guests.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

I brought it as as a dessert to Betsy, my my other uh master chef, who makes a killer terramisu. That was yes, yes, because I wanted her opinion, and she agreed with me, and no, I would not serve it to anyone.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Yeah, it's unfortunate, but there again, as I say, it's uh it is if you have an allergy to or you just don't like using raw eggs, it it's it it's it's okay. But did you serve it with any kind of what did you serve with it as far as any kind of a wine or beverage?

SPEAKER_03 10:24

Oh, we had we had had a great deal of wine at dinner, so we didn't serve anymore.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

We usually serve sweet Italian dessert wine. It's called Vincent, and it it's really uh it's very nice. It's very it kind of has a hazelnut sort of overtones, and but uh since we also have our resident Somalier on the line here, I want to hear what she has to say because now it's time for wine o'clock. Hello, Cynthia.

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Hello, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

So you heard all of the uh the critique here. What are your thoughts? Because I uh I send you all the recipes, and I know you've had terramasu.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

Yes. I have had terramisu, and you know, I might be rubbing off on you a little bit because my pairing for this is in fact vinto. Oh so you know, you can do proseco, you can, you can do espresso martini, you can do some coffee letting. I thought Vincent would be really interesting, you know, because it's made, it's the holy wine, it's a traditional dessert wine from Tuscany. Most classic Vincentos are made from the Treviano grape, malvasia, as well. It's made in the apasimiento process, the grape drying process, which does give that nutty evil nut flavor.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

Could you explain that? Could you what does that mean? That when you it the the dry dried fruiting, what does that mean?

SPEAKER_02 12:08

So there's an apasimiento process, which is grape drying. So grapes are harvested and they're laid out on mats, or they can be hung from wrappers. They usually dry three to six months, the water evaporates, the sugars and the flavors in the grapes concentrate, and the grapes each raisinly. So then they take the grapes' grapes and they press them gently, and the fermentation happens slowly because of the high sugar. Some sugar remains that gives that natural sweetness, and then they're aged in small women barrels called. And the barrels are often stored like in attics where the temperature fluctuates virtually, and aging can last three to ten half years.

SPEAKER_04 12:52

Holy shit.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

And then oxidation occurs in the barrels because the oxygen can enter the barrels, and that creates a nutty caramel nose.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Ah. So that's how I was always curious because it's it it it is uh very sweet, but it's not it's not nauseatingly sweet. There's a there's a certain no no no there's a certain I can't put my finger on what it is, but there's a certain flavor that comes through that is kind of hazelnutty to me. And I I like that. I like that. And you don't have to drink a whole lot of it. And I actually had it the first time when we went to Tuscany, and we would dunk biscotti in it.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Yep, that's the traditional way. So now if you don't want Vin Santo, but you want a red to drink with your terminal here, you can absolutely do that. So I was going to also recommend the orcciotto della volopolicella. From the Veneto region. Yeah, I'm sure maybe you've had it. That's a blend of indigenous grapes for vina, roninella, some from molara, some the same grapes use for an emeroni. Some full-bodied, it's still higher alcohol. And that's also made using the epistemia and famethods where the grapes are dry to concentrate the flavors. And you're gonna get more black cherry fig, raisin, dark chocolate, spice, moderate tannins, balanced sweetness, and I you know that goes with a rich caramiscu or a flourless chocolate cake, dark chocolate, things like that.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Well, interesting that you say it's made the same process because it it we used I heard you say val Policello, is that correct?

SPEAKER_04 14:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Well, because I've never really considered that to be sweet, that sweet. It's more rich. There's a richness, and first of all, it's beautiful to look at. It's a stunning color. But I didn't re that doesn't seem to be as sweet as the Vinsanto. I I I'm not sure why that is, but uh but Well, it's different, it's just completely different grapes.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

The aging process is a bit different. It comes down to the wine style. And so, you know, if you're comparing, I'm talking about the retriotto della volipolocella, which uses the drying method. So regular vollipella, you know, has a lower alcohol, a different structure. The retrioso della volopolocella is the sweet made in the Apasimanza method.

SPEAKER_00 15:37

Well those are both excellent, excellent suggestions. And I I'm glad I didn't get shot down.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

But because sometimes I mean uh I I have some very peculiar choices, but then again, I uh I drink what I like.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

I think the choice of an espresso martini is brilliant because I drink that one.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

Yes, likewise.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Yeah, that was interesting. I I I I might have to go for that one myself. But well, listen, thank th thank you so much, Cynthia. And thank you, Andrea. So thank you. If you have any questions about today's recipe or if you would like to be a guest home cook on Perfectly Season, please email me at info at the silverchef.net. And I'd like to thank Andrea once again. And of course, Cynthia, I love it when you're able to be be on the other end of the phone live because it it's really good to have you involved in the conversation. So you can listen to perfectly seasoned on my website, thesilverchef.net, my Facebook page, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. And this is Greg Strom. Until next time, remember eat fresh, may the fork be with you, and may all your days be perfectly seasoned.