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BROVADA
By Gina DePalma
Behold
the lowly turnip, a truly underappreciated vegetable. What
exactly comes to mind when one thinks of a turnip? A pile
of white, boiled roots, maybe with a some melting butter on
top, sitting serenely next to a pot roast on the Sunday dinner
table? Personally, I think of a little boy in my third grade
class who used to eat paste (we called him, affectionately
I might add, “turnip.”). I have even met people
who have never encountered a turnip in their lifetime and,
unless driven by an unusual desire to actively seek them out,
likely never will. What must the poor turnip, a perfectly
respectable and viable vegetable, do to get some respect?
Get pickled, that’s what.
This brings us to our ingredient of the month, brovada,
a context in which the turnip can truly shine. Brovada is
a fine example of a unique preparation specific to a particular
region of Italy – in this case, Friuli-Venezia Giulia,
where it is enjoyed with roasted or grilled meats, alongside
sausages or in shredded into soups.
In Friuli,
brovada is made by marinating the turnips in vinaccia,
which is the local term for the marc or pomace of red, wine-making
grapes. (The “marc” of the grapes refers to the
grape skins and other matter leftover after they have been
pressed). The production of brovada is therefore seasonal,
beginning in the fall when grapes are harvested and ending
in the spring, after the turnips have been perfectly fermented.
The turnips are tightly packed into wooden barrels, in alternating
layers with the marc of the grapes. Water is added until the
entire mass is submerged, and the top layer is covered with
the marc. The turnips are weighed down, and the process of
fermentation begins, during which time the temperature is
maintained within a range of 15º to 17ºC. After a minimum
of 30 days, the turnips are extracted and tested for proper
taste and texture. If the fermentation is complete, they are
cleaned, peeled, cut into slices and packed into jars.
On this
side of the Atlantic, we can make a perfectly fine brovada
using red wine vinegar instead of grape marc. Though brovada
is most commonly enjoyed in Friuli with pork or pork sausages,
we think it is the ideal partner for our wonderful duck, featuring
pan-seared duck breast and confiture of duck leg. You may
be tempted to serve the brovada cold, as with other pickled
vegetables, but take our advice and try it alla Friuliana
--served warm.
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| TURNIPS/Brassica
rapa |
by
Pamela Lewy
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Turnips
have been around a long time: they were first noted to have
been enjoyed by Greek epicures (who favored those from Thebes)
and by Roman gourmets. In one Roman dish, turnips were presented
in sixteen different colors, though the favorite, by far, was
purple. In the Orient, tender strips of turnip make a quick
and delicious stir-fry. But no discussion of turnips is complete
without paying homage to the man they called "Turnip" Townshend,
who, in the early 1700s, introduced a bevy of unknown Dutch
turnip varieties to England. Although his efforts had beneficial
effects on people’s notion of turnips, they also changed the
way people referred to the man who brought them. He had been
known previously as "Lord" Townshend.
A versatile root vegetable, turnips can be enjoyed boiled, steamed,
mashes, pureed, stir-fried, or used raw. They are members of
the Cruciferae or mustard family. In our
brovada, featured recipe of the month, we first mix them
with a mixture of vinegar, sugar, salt and crushed grapes, then
sauté them until tender, but still intact.
Good-quality turnips should be very firm, smooth-skinned and
heavy for their size. The coloring will be light-purple on the
top fading to bright-white at the bottom. But don’t necessarily
let their color fool you…another amazement in the turnip world
is the array of available colors: red-skinned, purple-tipped,
pearl-white, and golden-yellow.
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