La Dispensa- Baking
Lievito, in Italian, means yeast or does it?
When I first came to study Italian in Florence in 1984, I took classes to give myself something to do for the month I was here. I had spent a month in France, looking for an apprenticeship at a pastry shop or cooking school. Coming to Italy was an idea from my roommate Cathy, who had spent time in both France and Italy herself; she told me:
You will love Italy and Italy will love you!
It was love at first sight. I had studied art history in college, and it came alive on this trip. However, as a beginner, I wasn’t learning practical Italian in the classes. To learn more about the culinary Italian words I would need, I bought cooking magazines.
I also bought a cookbook about traditional Florentine recipes.
I always had my dictionary in hand, but the words for food and cooking are often not in the dictionary. Fun times. I was a pastry chef, so baking words were important to me. One of the essential words was lievito, in Italian, which means yeast. one word for all types of products used in baking: yeast, baking powder, and baking soda.
This week’s post for paid subscribers is one of my favorite recipes: Schiacciata con L’Uva a seasonal specialty made during the grape harvest.
It includes a video lesson and recipe pdf.
I have to try one everywhere that sells it. This is a single-layer one at the local bread bakery, where we grab breakfast. I make the old-school classic double-layered version.
Even for me, it’s not always the same. Much depends on the grape.
