Le Nonne
In kitchens across the world she is a staple and without her special touch dinners would be dire indeed. It seems collective truth but held within the palm of her hand are the memories of your childhood and the very same cooking paths you have developed in your own kitchen. She is no mystery: she is your grandmother.
Le Nonne: who are they and where are they
We begin this odyssey of home cooking in the highlands of the Italian Alps, in the region of Valtellina, Italy’s northernmost region, an idyllic landscape of terraced vineyards, grassy pastures, & flowing River Adda. In a region famed for its buckwheat & its wine, for its distinctive mountain cheeses & bresaola we find our prima nonna: Nonna Tullia.
Nonna Tullia is no other then the grandmother of Bar Palladio’s very own Barbara Miolini. It was through plates of homemade pizzoccheri (a buckwheat tagliatelle with melted cheese and savoy cabbage) and torta di mele in her grandmother’s restaurant Crotto Valtellinese where Barbara discovered her love of good food.
In honor of the Nonna who started it all we introduce her favorite recipe and a signature dish of the Valtellina region: Sciatt (a pillowy buckwheat fritter bursting with sharp melted cheese).
SCIATT
- 300g (10 oz) buckwheat flour
- 150g (5 oz) all purpose flour
- About 2 bottles of beer or 700ml (24 fl oz) mineral water
- A pinch of salt
- 200g (7 oz) casera or other semi-soft Alpine cheese (see Notes)
- A drizzle of grappa
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
Mix the flours and salt together in a large bowl. Add beer or mineral water in a steady stream, mixing as you go, until you get a smooth but rather thick batter. (The amounts given above worked well for me, but let the consistency be your guide.) Cover and let the batter rest for at least an hour.
Cut the cheese into 2cm (1/2 inch) cubes. Drizzle with a bit of grappa. When you are ready to cook, heat the oil until it is quite hot but not smoking. Toss a few cheese cubes into the batter, turn them around until they are well covered in the batter. Then using a spoon, take one cheese cube at a time along with a good helping of batter. Drop it into the hot oil with the help of a second spoon.
Make sure you keep your fritters well spaced as they fry; you will probably need to proceed in batches. Turn them in the oil so they cook well on both sides, for no more than a few minutes total. Remove them as they cook with a slotted spoon and let them drain well on a platter lined with paper towels, or a baking rack. When ready serve on a bed of dressed greens (Nonna Tullia prefers chicory).
And look! This Valtellinese favorite has even made its way to Australia! Check out the video with chef Alessandro Pavoni from Australia’s Gourmet Traveller.