NAVARRA GOURMET

Pulses from central Italy

Valeria Piccini “Caino”, in Montemerano

“Ever-experimental cuisine”

Pulses are an exceedingly healthy foodstuff and, as such, are widely used in recipes. However, their slow cooking times and the difficulty involved in peeling pulses has led some chefs to devise methods directed at making this task easier. Chefs such as Valeria Piccini, the "greatest woman chef in Italian cuisine" who, with two Michelin stars, represents a cuisine that is in constant technical evolution.

“To remove the skins and reduce the cooking time, we use carbonate of sodium, a natural substance which is hyper soluble and easily removed with water. This is a process which was used to wash clothes many years ago", she explained. This system, which is used for chickpeas, cannot be used for beans.

As a result, the chickpea cooking time is reduced by an hour. In this way, the cold ashes are placed in a kitchen cloth and over the pulses. Boiling water is added and, half an hour later, the sodium carbonate is filtered and the chickpeas are separated from their skins.

In addition to this innovative system, the chef prepared a dish of "Snails with Colonnata bacon and Sorano bean purée". "In the kitchens, we're forever experimenting", she stated as she explained how to prepare bread made from bean and chickpea flour.

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