Ciao Italia (1989) - full transcript

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I'I'm Today oa
Mary Ann Eosito.

Sebadas
from Sardinia.

USIC]
ao,

I'm Mary A Esposito.

Welcome to Italy

and let's cook
real Italian.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Swiss chard.

I knew you
said that.

I'm in heaven.

Think about how
healthy this is.



That's for you.

Sunday sauce.

All 20 regions of
Italy are fabulous.

And every time
I do this,

I think of my
Nonna Galasso

causshe waysmadet th way

You want a Goldilocks
dough; just right.

Who doesn't like basil,
especially in the summer?

Obviously,
you have to have

pesto sauce at
some point, right?

I mean, I'm a cook,

why can't I try it?

You're the best.

>> No, you're the best.
[LAUGHTER]



>> Fding for Co Italia
was de po[MUSIC]by:

>> Sardinia.

Sardegna.

Home to really dear
friends of mine

and today
I think I really

wanna dedicate
this program to them,

Mario and Julia Cockle,

because they were
the first ones who

introduced me
to Sardinia.

And when I went there,

I found a
culture that was

so different from
mainland Italy

and also
from Sicily,

and today,
I'm going to make

a classic recipe
from Sardinia

that Mario and Julia
taught me how to make.

So what is it?

Well,
it's called Seba.

Yes, Sebadas.
And what are they?

Well, they're a pastry.

A pastry that's
made with a dough

that encases pecorino
cheese and then it's

fried and then it's
topped with honey.

So, this is for you,

Mario and Julia, and I
hope I get this right.

So, you have to start with

some pecorino cheese
because in Sardinia,

there's a lot of
pecorino cheese and

this is a pastry that was

usually eaten by
the shepherds as they

were taking their herds
from place to place.

So they would take the sheep
and they would move them to

higher pasture grounds and
when they were done with that,

they'd go
somewhere else

and this was called the
transumanza and

this is what they
would have to eat

because there was a lot
of cheese, obviously.

So, here we have

.
You can see how easy

this slices and whenever
you're slicing cheese,

a soft cheese,

use a cheese knife.

This is
a cheese knife.

Sometimes it's called

an angel food cake knife

but it's good
for very soft foods.

Tomatoes too.
It's often called

a tomato knife.

And I'm just going
to cut this cheese

up into small pieces.

You need about
a pound of cheese

for this recipe.

, once it's cut up,

then we have to melt

this cheese because this
becomes the filling.

So, we have
to start in a pan

and let me get
this going here.

So, let me get that up to
speed before I put that in.

So we're gonna melt
the cheese with

some water, about,
I would say

two tablespoons
of water in a pan.

Thithen you havege
thisito allow it to

chill and oh
before I forget,

do you like my necklace?

Isn't it pretty?

This is
from Sardinia.

This was given to me
by Mario and Julia and

this intricate design
is what reminds me so

much of the type of
culture that you find in

Sardinia with very fine crafts
that are made by hand,

lace things,
beautiful things.

So I'm wearing this
in honor of them and

you can admire that.

Pretty, huh?

OK so we have
the water in the pan.

We're going to
add the cheese

and we allow
this to melt.

So while
it's melting,

we want to grate up
some orange zest.

Now, some
people like to use

lemon zest for t,

but m nna e th
angeest caus

that's what Julia

would have used

and when I,

talked to her,

about doing this recipe,

she was-

Sulmade.

She was on the high seas
with her husband Mario,

because they have a boat
and they go around

in Sardinia
and other places

during the
summer months.

So grate up the zest
of two oranges.

I don't know,

this isn't
working very well.

Let me see
what we got here.

Ze of o orges orf-- you

want to use lemons,
you can use lemons.

So how did I meet
Mario and Julia?

Well let me tell you that story.

Mariand liahaenedo ben n

in Spain.

Yeah.

We do get out of
Italy once in a .

So they were on
a train in Spain.

I was on the
same train.

Happened to be in
the ladies room,

and all of a sudden
this elegant woman

comes in who is
Danish by the way.

Julia is not-- she's
not Sardinian.

She's married-- she's
married to a Sardinian.

So, she came in

and I happened
to be doing

a television program
on the train called,

Dinner on the Diner.

So she came in
and she said,

"Are you the
woman who's

doing the cooking
on the train"?

I said, ''Yes I am.''

So, from that
moment on,

we started
to hang out,

having dinner on the train,
that kind of thing.

We kept in touch

after leaving-

Spain

and we started to
just communicate

with one another.

Here's the cheese. I'll
tell you the rest of

the story in a minute
but look at how

That's why you wanna
nicuse a young cheese.

This would not work
with an aged cheese.

I'm gonna turn
the heat down a

little bit on that
as I continue on.

Anyw,

long story short,

eventually,

Mario and Julia came to
visit me here in my home

and-

then I went to
visit them in Sa.

And you know
what I remember

best about
Sardinia?

The color of
the water,

was absolutely
fantastic.

This aquamarine
blue color.

It was fantastic,
and the sand

was very,
very coarse.

So, when you walked
bare foot in the sand,

it gave you
kind of like a,

you know,
kind of cleaned your feet,

little pedicure,
that kind of thing.

Your feet were
very soft afterwards.

And the food of Sardinia
is really special.

I especially love
the grilled eels.

They're absolutely
delicious serv

over fire with
myrtle leaves,

delicious and they
make fabulous breads.

You probably know

one of the famous
breads of Sardinia

is the Carta da .

Thin, thin sheets
of bread

that are as thin as
a sheet of music paper,

and that's why it's
called Carta da musica.

All right.
This is looking good.

We need to still melt
a few pieces there,

so I'm gonna keep
an eye on that.

There's my orange zest.

Now we need with
this some fresh mint.

So in my travels, I find
these neat little gadgets.

Nobody pays me to
advertise this stuff but,

in here we have
some mint leaves

so I gon put a w inhere
and see how
well this works

cause this saves me
having to do it by hand.

OK. So there's
our mint leaves

and then we just-

isn't that cool?

Hey,

love it,

and it smells
very minty.

So we have finely
minced mint.

We've got orange
zest and we've

got cheese that
is almost melted.

I'm not ing add any
salt to this because of

course the cheese
is salty enough.

at wre gna dwithhis,

cso, we have tose
spread this out onto

a bake sheet and we
have to allow it to

get cold because we are
gonna have to cut this out

into circles

to go into
our pastry.

All right. Now the cheese
is fully melted.

Doesn't that look good?

OK. I'm gonna
turn this off

and

add my mint.

I'gonnadMix this around.

So pretty just to
look at it and of

course the heat
is just exuding

that flavor and
smell of mint.

OK. That's looking good.

Anthiss gog
righon this tray.

I would do this on a non-stick
sheet or you could put

a piece of parchment paper
over a baking sheet.

You just wanna
spread that out

it's even.

OK.

All that's looking g,

and that now goes
in the refrigerator

to chill for about 35-45 minute.

You could actually do
this part the day before.

Now that we have the filling
that's chilling,

we can work on the dough.

So traditionally,
the doh stts wh

durum semolina flour

and that's what
we have here.

And this is a
finer grind

of semolina flour as you can
see by the color itself.

It'there's a yellowular
ftint to it.

Soit ia fi gri
So, we have three cups
ofur flo.

here and we're
going to give it

just a little tad of salt.

A little salt.

And then, we're going
to add some

water and olive .

That's all that goes
into the dough.

So, let'start with

about a hal-
and about three tablespoons

of extra virgin olive oil.

Traditionally though,

they didn't use ,

they used lard.

But you know what
a no, no that is.

So,

now, you mix
this together and

add engh wer
to cate doug

SoI'm st
ing addhis

a little bit at a time

until I get
something that

is a ball of dough
that we're gonna let rest

for about 30 minutes.

Anyway, when I
consulted with Julia

about this recipe,

she was very helpful,

gave me all
that history about

the sheprdswho ok

this on their Transumanza
journeys with them

to eat as they moved

their herds of sheep
from place to place.

So, I went to visit them,

as I said, in Sardinia.

They lived in Cagliari
at that time,

which is a
big port city

in Sardinia,

and it's very rural.

So many different
cultures came there

because of the
location of

Sardinia in
Mediterranean waters.

So, you can imagine
how many cultures

influenced their cooking.

The people are very friendly.

We spent a lot of
time at the beach

and also at a confirmation
for Julia's nephew,

and that was a lot of
fun because I got to try

a lot of very interesting
Sardinian dishes.

This is looking pretty good.

I don't think I need
any more water.

I'm going to take that
out of the bowl now

and just knead
that on the board.

Get rid of that.

OK.

So, that was about
a cup of water

thate add

to the durum semolina.

So, get it into a
nice ball of dough

and then you want
to allow this to rest.

You could also do this

in a food processor
[LAUGHTER]

ifou dn't
want to go through

the trouble of
doing it by hand.

But you know,
when you do things

by hand like this,

it puts you in
touch again.

It brings
back memories

and think about all those
good times that you had.

So, for me, doing it by
hand is much more fun.

So, that looks good.

Now,

we let this rest
for about 30 min.

Dough.
We have dough,

and we have dough that's
ready, nice and soft.

Look at that, two fingers,

two eyes. It stays
where it is, good.

OKNow,hat neeto d
worwithma pieces.

You never
want to use

make things too tough, you
you know.

You see how soft that is?

So, I'm going to just give it

a few quick
passes here.

Look at how nice
rol out

And

you can put this
through a pasta .

So, I have my trusty pasta
machine set up right

here with my trusty motor.

That's not traditional,
but you know what?

It really helps in
a kitchen when you're,

when you're pressed for
time and you don't wanna

spend a lot of time.
But guess what?

I set it up.

Now, I'm not even gonna use it.

So, and then
you have to have

some kind
of a round cutter.

I li to e
threinch one

because that's what Mar- ah,

Mario and Julia said
was the right size.

OK, it'skingorges.

Look at how pretty
that dough is.

Just going to
give a little bit

re flour on
the base h

just to prevent
this from sticking.

OK,

that's loong good
because I can always--

almost see the
board behind it.

All right. Now,

weeed cutt.

So, you just-

start cutting circles.

You're going to need

two per sebadas

cause remember,

this is going to be
filled with-

cheese,
that beautiful

fresh,

young pecorino cheese

that we flavored
with orange zest

and fresh
mint leaves.

So, I just put them on
some parchment paper

asLike that.g.

Let's make a
couple more

just so you
get the idea.

Beautiful dough.

You can do it.

OK.

All right.

So, then we can roll more

later on but I think
you get the idea.

OK, now,

what we
need to do

is fill them.

So, how does that go?
Let me get the cheese.

Here, we have

cold solidified .

Now obviously, we don't
want to use that,

we want to use something,

excuse me,
a little smaller

like that.

So, you do the same thing
to the cheese.

Yojustut o cires.
It's a very unusual pastry.

Once you
have it like that

and you take those
circles of cheese

anyoputthemighthere

Pretty to look at, right?

Just like that.

Right in the cen.

There's another one.
How manyo I have?

One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight.

OK, I can do one more.

Once you to
havet li tha

then you top it

with
another circle.

Like that.

Then,

we're not done.

Once you have
them like that,

then you want to use

a little crimper

and just go around
the outside,

okay?
Like that,

to seal them.

You ta away that
excess dough

just like that.

And now, that's sealed
because we need

e se becse wre
gonna fry these.

So let me do that again.

Go round the outside with
a little pasta wheel.

It's a very pastoral
kind of pastry

because who
would think of putting

pecorino cheese into
a pastry dough?

I think this is
really very classic.

Oops, make sure that,
that is sealed.

OK.

Orif y didt
havene of those,

you coulgorod
is iless traditional

with a little fork and seal
the edges this way.

I'm sure cooks in Sardinia
do it however they want to,

and you know what
the-- the sad thing

is that if it
wasn't for Mario

and Julia
teaching me

this recipe and now me
passing it on to you,

I think this is a type of
recipe that will be lost to

time because young people
don't do this anymore.

It's too time consuming
and they're too busy.

But, if you really cherish
your heritage as they do,

Julia and Mario,
you would love to do

and keep
this tradition alive.

So, there are
our little Sebadas,

one done with the wheel,

the other three with a fork.

So, now, we have to fry.

In this pan, I have
got olive oil.

So, you need
enough olive oil to

do as many of the Sebadas
that you're going to cook.

So, you want to get that to
about 375 degrees and

we're gonna now put them
in a couple at a time.

So, I like to,

you know, really watch this.

So, I wanna put them in
just a few at a time

and allow them to
get golden brown.

So we can do-- we can
do three in there.

And it's really
important that you

have sealed those
correctly otherwise

they're all gonna open up.

I've had that happen to me.

They're all gonna open up and
all that beautiful cheese

is going to escape into
the oil and you see how

they're just lifting
up to the top here

in the oil and
they're very light tasting.

So, you know, we
have to wait until

they're golden brown and
then we'll take them out.

[MUSIC]

Now we have fried

the Sebadas and you see
they're just golden brown.

They're very warm and that's
when you wanna eat them.

They really should be
eaten while they're warm.

And how do they eat
them in Sardinia?

Well, with a little
drizzle of honey

over the top

just like that

because Sardinian
honey is really,

really delicious and there
are many, many types.

So, you drizzle honey over it,
warm honey

andn

you sprinkle on
some more of that

orange zest over.

And I suggest that you eat
this with a fork and a knife.

And when you doe
been transpk

to Sardinia
and to

a really classic and
old-fashioned dessert.

So, there you have it,
Sebadas.

Thank you,
Mario and Julia.

[MUSIC]

Sometimes, it's good
to keep traditions

alive and respect them

because they have
a history and a story.

And today,
we made a classic dish

from Sardinia. Sardinia
called Sebadas.

And remember, that was that

pastry dough that we made with
the durum semolina flour,

a little bit of
olive oil and salt,

rolled out into
circles and then

filled with a young
pecorino cheese.

We friedd
then we drim

with a f
honey and or.

And until I see you
Nella Cucina again,

m Ma Ann Esposito.
Ciao.

[MUSIC]

>>ary Ann
ares the secrets

W ss at Italiafood i?

That's a misnomer

because here
we are in Rome

and I'm just
looking at

the g
for this .

And look what
they're offering.

You've got tomatoes,
grilled eggplant,

grilled zucchini,
grilled peppers,

radicchio,
beautiful,

you've got pasta
of course with

mushrooms this one
is in the back,

you've got a mixed
vegetable dish,

and you've got
stuffed peppers.

And there,
you have

one of the classic
vegetables of Rome.

You can't come to
Rome and not

ha carofi, archokes.

See them?

Those are the artichokes
that are marinated.

But if you're in
the Jewish section of Rome,

then you wanna have the--

you wanna have those artichokes
done Judea style,

which means that the whole
artichoke is fried and it

looks like a beautiful
crispy flower

and you eat
the whole thing.

So, when I saw those I
said, "Yes, definitely."

A very Roman dish and
beautiful vegetable dishes.

Don't let anyone
ever tell you that

Italian regional food
is fattening.

Look at the wall
of chili peppers.

First used in a lot of

different recipes here
in, uh, southern Italy.

I'm not even gonna
translate the sign.

[MUSIC]

>> Funding for Ciao Italia
was made possible by: