10326 Italian Terracotta Cookware And Cooking

[quote=Gala Placidia;95985]
Before using these pots and pans you should immerse them in very hot water for half an hour.
[/quote]

Per quale ragione?

The reason? I am not quite sure. Originally, they used to say that it was to eliminate any lead that it could contain. Apparently, the glaze contains some lead.... I am not quite sure that it would be the case nowadays. Anyway, I have always done it and I have not had any pot or saucepan cracked.
There are two other methods as well:
1) To boil some water in the pan before using it with food
2) To rub with garlic and allow to dry overnight. (I have never done this as I feel it would live some garlic taste and I may not want to use garlic in the recipe.
To bake cakes or pastry it is possible to do it, but you have to immerse the baking dish for 15 minutes in cold water before using it.
This is also recommended for the Römmertopf bakeware.
Another important thing is to always use wooden utensils. No metal.
And be careful about changes in temperature. Never put a hot terracotta pan on top of a cold surface.

Oh Gala I am just thinking about that poor little piglet. Hope you didn't cook him with his head and tail on..... and what about his trotters.......:eerr:

Traditionally, it is cooked with head, tail, etc... butterly opened... But I must confess that I cannot see the head and tail if I have to cook it, so I ask the butcher to remove them. It is delicious, though.....
I have the same problem with fish.... I cannot see the heads.
As for throwing a live crab or lobster in a large pot of boiling water.... I'd rather die of starvation. Some things, I can't simply do. I may have to become a vegetarian if I keep on going like this.

I feel exactly the same. We had chickens and turkeys etc when I was a child but my parents had to tell me they bought the meat on the table.... it wasn't the one that had gone missing......
I am quite happy to go to the butcher or supermarket and buy a lump of whatever in a pack..... they couldn't possibly have lived, running about in fields etc. :no:

Terracotta cookware is ideal to cook some Italian classics such as "Ossobucco" or veal shanks Italian style. Just use your favourite recipe. Or perhaps someone would like to give it to us. I have a few, but I am always giving recipes so it would be nice to get something different.
Also, I don't know if you are keen on using a slow cooker or crockpot. Actually, the insert is the basic glazed terracotta pot. Ideal for certain dishes and you can cook a great whole chicken in it. Put it in the pot in the morning after cleaning and pat drying it with kitchen towels. Add plenty of salt and pepper. Fill up the cavity of the chicken with some herbs and two half lemons. Add a bit of lemon juice on top. Switch it on Low.... and it will be ready to eat 8 hours later. For a crispy chicken, after cooking cut it into serving pieces. Put them in a baking tray basting the pieces with some of the juices from the crockpot and a bit more of lemon juice and bake them for a few minutes in a hot oven or under the grill.

Gala you are excelling yourself these days - Thank you.

I have one large terracotta casserole dish with lid (not seen in the photo) which I bought from a small pottery on the Isola D'Elba some 15 years ago. I was given strict instructions by the owner of the pottery to be sure to immerse it in cold water for [I]at least 24 hours[/I] before using it for the first time. I obviously asked him why, and was told that it ensured that it's earthy smell would then never penetrate any food cooked in it. I did as instructed and it has never had a strange smell when being used in the oven.

I also bought an 'Etruscan' design enamelled terracotta 'pasta set' at the same time, and never soaked this in water at the outset. I do occaisionally heat things in the microwave in the smaller dishes and a couple of them [I]have[/I] developed cracks...

It is always advisable to follow manufacturer's instructions for each individual piece. They know what is best. I have a "tajine" purchased in Morocco and this one had to soak for 24 hours in soapy water!!!! As for microwaves, I have also that it is not advisable to use terracotta to cook in them and I have never done it. Some say that it is OK if you soad the pot or casserole for 15 minutes prior to using them.... I do not dare doing it. Also, as I said before, soak the container for 15 minutes prior to use it for baking.
For stove top/microwave/baking I find that the best casseroles and pots are made in France under the Corning brand in France. They are generally white, sometimes with a small pattern. Some of the pieces I have are over 20 years old and they are in perfect condition.
Carole, I love your set, the one with the birds, it's gorgeous.

Talking about terracotta cookware, a fabulous Italian recipe is "Pollo al mattone". It is a very old recipe that goes back to Etruscan times and leaves the chicken juicy and crispy.
The ideal is to have a "mattone", not the ordinary brick but a special terracotta pan with a heavy lid, but you can improvise one by using a font skillet and just a brick to put on top of the chicken while you cook it. No need to wrap the brick in alfoil as you could see in some recipes. If you have a clean brick and you only use it for this particular purpose, it is fine.
I could give you my basic recipe, which is just a whole chicken, butterfly open, salt, pepper, lemon juice and herbs, put it on the hot "mattone" or skillet, cover with the lid or brick, allow it to cook for some 10 minutes, carefully turn it, put again the lid or brick on and cook for a further 10 minutes; however, this web page is useful as you could see the real "mattone".
If you are interested in this cooking method do a google search under "Pollo al mattone" and you also get videos showing the technique using an average skillet or two, as you can replace the "mattone" lid by another skillet which fits into the base one and a heavy weight on top.
Anyway, have a look at this and if you have any questions, just ask....

[url=http://cucinone.com/?p=266]pollo al mattone - chicken cooked between terra cotta | CUCINONE[/url]

Some other dishes which cook very well in an terracotta pot are any kind of "soffritto" and "ragú". We had an excellent discussion in the past about "duck ragú" so it is better for me to give you the reference:
[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/food-drink/7599-duck-ragu-2.html[/url]
A crockpot is also excellent for this type of dishes as the secret is to cook them slowly.

Another good use for terracotta pots and mainly the slow cookers also known as crockpots is preserving. The best example is quince paste, which is widely known and commercialised in Spain and Latin America as [B][I]"membrillo", [/I][/B]but there is also an Italian version called [B]"cotognata[/B]". The same recipe can also be used to prepare [B][I]"persicata"[/I][/B] (or yellow peach paste). This paste is also known in Brazil, using goavas and there is a French version, a very old traditional sweet going back to Renaissance times called [B][I]"Cotignac d'Orléans".[/I][/B]
Here is the recipe using a crockpot:
You will need

5-6 whole quinces, depending on size, unpeeled and rubbed with a cloth or kitchen towel to remove down
1/2 cup of water
white sugar (amount will vary)

Put the quinces into earthenware container of the slow cooker, add the wate, cover and cook on low for 12 hours or overnight. You will notice the change of colour and they would become soft.
Drain and allow to cool until you can handle them. Slice them leaving the peel on but discard cores and any hard pieces.
Purée the fruit using a food processor.
Weigh the pulp and mix it with exactly the same amount of sugar.
Using a heavy pan, boil the mixture, stirring all the time. Wear some protection and a long-handled wooden spoon as it tends to splatter, and it burns!!!!. When the paste begins to candy and it comes away from the bottom as well as the sides of the pan, it is ready and you can turn of the heat, but continue stirring until it stops boiling.
Using a shallow rectangular earthenware dish (or a tin or aluminium dish) pour the paste and allow to cool completely (overnight is best).
Next day, you can dry the paste out completely by leaving it in the sun or in a very low oven for some 2-3 hours.
After the paste cools, you can remove it from the tin and wrap in greaseproof paper or foil. If you are going to store it, do it in a dry place. It keeps very well.
Serve cut into thin slices with cheese.
You can also cut into squares or oblongs and roll them into balls. Toss in castor sugar and serve as a sweet.
You can also prepare the fruit in a terracotta pot, over the stove, but be very careful to immerse the pot for 15 minutes in hot water before putting the quinces in.
If you have a look at the "Recipes" group, there is a conventional recipe published by Pilchard. But I think that using terracotta pots and dishes gives better results. Don't ask me why.
You can also use sweet potatoes instead of quinces, but I would add some vanilla to the preparation. It tastes better.
In my opinion, quinces do not need any flavouring to taste great.

And this is the last one, as obviously very few use terracotta cookware or slow cookers with ceramic inserts, but I had to include possibly one of the oldest known dishes, the originator of the omelette, which is a Roman dish called [B][I]Ova Mellita[/I][/B].
You simply beat 4 eggs with 1/4 cup of milk, 4 tablespoons of honey and a bit of oil, salt and pepper. Cook it in a flat earhenware dish as you would do with an omelette.
Enjoy!

When would you serve this Gala??? I remember my mother's Polish cousin making a sweet pasta dish many years ago which was gnummy but alas cannot recall the ingredients.

Nowadays, I would serve it as a dessert, perhaps with a bit of mascarpone on the side. At the time of the Romans, tastes were different and they would have eaten it as part of their savouries.

lead was a traditional glaze on european pottery particulary terracotta as it results in that lovely honey coloured finish.

Its use was banned in europe at least 3o years ago so potters have found alternative glaze recipies.

Hello, I recently picked up a nice Italian terra cotta pan but I don't know how it is meant to be used. I hope you can help me identify it and suggest some recipes to use. Looking forward to reading this forum!
Kris
[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3099/2916918470_1fc735c95d.jpg?v=0[/IMG]
[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3135/2916922646_c95ac9158b.jpg?v=0[/IMG]

Hi Kris and welcome,
Could it be a frittata (omelette) pan?
I'm sure some of the other members have one stuck at the back of a cupboard and can tell you exactly what it's for.
Enjoy using it and if we do discover what it is it might be just the thing missing from my Italian kitchen as well. :bigergrin:

I had a similar pan, but in metal, many years ago. It was like this [IMG]http://www.lakeland.co.uk/content/products/1/0/0/10071_thumb.jpg[/IMG]. (this is not my photo...).

Mine was for omelettes and crepes and it was wonderful - no mess when trying to 'flip' the omelette! I think it got lost during one of my many 'moves'!

Can I ask where you purchased yours?

Lovely picture, thanks. I'm besotted already, and I echo CaroleB's enquiry ...

It may indeed be a fritatta pan - though I'm not sure it would be so neccessary for a traditional frittata, as they are usually shallow enough to be teased with a fork and flipped with the aid of a spatula or "a la pancake" without too much stress ...

I suspect it's intended for spanish tortilla (i.e. a "cake" of omlette & potato). Tortilla is deep, dense and (ideally) served slightly runny in the centre - and therefore a pain in the proverbial to flip manually, normally requiring use of a plate as an intermediate part of the turning procedure.

You can get a similar hinged omelette/crepe pan here [url=http://www.lakeland.co.uk/F/product/10071]Omelette and Crêpe Pan- Lakeland, the home of creative kitchenware[/url] but it is simply no comparison on looks, depth or curvature of the base (again, this suggsts tortilla to me). A purpose designed hinged tortilla pan is here [url=http://www.tienda.com/table/products/cw-02.html]LaTienda.com - 2-Piece Tortilla Espanola Pan - Heavy Duty & Non-stick[/url] - but again, the terracotta just looks sooo much nicer!

I want the terracotta one! tell me where I can buy it & what it costs!!

Great looking double fritatta pan - but sorry to say - totally impractical. You will only ever attempt to use it once and then it will be shoved into the back of a cupboard or if you want the world to see how useless it is, put it on display somwhere and let it gather dust.

These pans will cook one side of the fritatta beautifully - and indeed would cook the other side beautifully if you could only flip them over without the egg mixture oozing out and running all over the place!

The only way to do it with these type of pans is to cook the first side until the mixture is "set" and then flip it over - but this means the first side is too well done and becomes rubbery.

Use an ordinary frying pan and a large plate placed over the pan - flip onto the plate and then slide the uncooked side back into the pan. Use a plate large enough to contain spillage - or just place the fritatta under the grill when the first side is cooked. Easy.

Edit. Another disadvantage about these pans is that if you do manage not to spill the mixture - you are putting the uncooked side into a COLD pan.

booo!!! stop spoiling my pan porn :-)

I take your point on the "flip side" (larrson, anyone?) being cold - though I don't think that would unduly trouble a half set egg mix, would just slightly increase the time to cook.

But I don't see the problem with leakage during the flip manouver itself - under cooking the first half slightly and then doing a quick 180 degree rotation shouldn't cause significant leakage if the design & construction are fit for purpose (i.e. symmetrical, with a decent lip to seal the inside during the rotation, and the closed handles applying some pressure to the join, as the one pictured seems to).

Also, assumng the pan facing side of the omelette releases OK from the surface after the flip (which it would do given sufficient initial oil) then gravity will cause the whole thing to drop, leaving the original half kept warm but no longer in direct contact with the heat (therefore avoiding ruberriness).

Out of interest, have you tried this or simillar pans and know that the seal is usually flawed, or are you just speculating based on the look of it?

If the latter, we need KrisBhatti to rustle up a tortilla/frittata and post pic's/review so we can decide for ourselves.

[quote=pigro;98544]booo!!! stop spoiling my pan porn :-)

(therefore avoiding ruberriness).

[/quote]

What is a ruberry? :bigergrin:

ruberry is a venerable old English surname, hailing from Cornwall or London. A little known fact (sadly missing from their online genealogy [url=http://www.rowberry.org/ruberry.html]The RUBERRY Surname[/url] - but understandable in the circumstances) is that their faces all loosly resemble an overcooked omelette. :eerr:

I got the pan at a thrift store. I always find the most amazing cookware there. This was one of those times where I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew I needed it. I can usually figure it out with some web searching, but sometimes I have to ask for extra help. If this is an omelet pan, would I soak the pan in water first? Preheat both sides? I have a lovely French marmite (also from the thrift store) but that is glazed on the inside, so I haven't cooked in an unglazed pot. I figure there must be some specific advantage or feature of cooking on the unglazed surface but it probably requires some specific procedures. Since this pan is hinged at the end instead of the side like other folding omelet pans I've seen, it doesn't seem like you actually cook the contents in both sides since it won't fit on a burner. I'm guessing you would preheat, turning several times to get both sides hot, put contents in one side, close it up, flip during cooking, making more of a frittata. Aha! I think I am getting close now - that must be what it's for. Now I'll focus my research on frittata and cooking on unglazed terra cotta.

Kris

I somehow suspect that you would not need to flip the pan. Terracotta holds heat and I think that will remove the need to turn what must be a heavy pan.

As suggested, it might also be ideal to cook the thick vegetable filled fritatte (omelettes) without breaking them OR turning the pan. The base would need to be well greased/oiled and it should be cooked slowly to avoid burning...

What is written on the top? I can't make it out!

It says "LA SALUTE E NELLA COTTA, LA COTTA, MADE IN ITALY" Sorry, I should have put that in the original post! Do you think I should soak it in water like other terra cotta cooking instructions I've seen? I believe you're right about not necessarily needing to flip - if I have the whole thing properly heated, the retained heat bake from the top. I always figure there must be some specific advantage to unique pieces like this and this would certainly be a help. Before, I always just had a second skillet heated for cooking the flip side. I'm heading to my cookbooks now to find a good frittata recipe and will give it a try. I'll post pictures of the results.

Thanks for all the replies!
Kris

ah - hadn't noticed that the pans were unglazed. conventional wisdom is that such pots shouldn't be put on a burner (or any other direct heat), and that they shold be soaked in water for a while before each use & then brought up to temp slowly, thereby effectively steaming the food (there's a good summary of do's & don'ts here [url=http://cookingwithshirley.com/cooking_in_clay_pots.htm]Cooking in Clay Pots[/url]).

I'm now confused, as "steaming" an egg based dish sounds (literally) like a recipe for disaster, even if you could do it on a burner ... though the website linked to above does suggest that food will "crisp/brown" in unglazed clay, so I suppose it's worth a try.

ps. - irrelevant now (if you are not putting the unglazed pan on a burner) but I don't see why the hinge being on the long axis would prevent the pan being so used? simply put the pan on a burner at either left or right edge of the hob & position it such that the handles extend outward to the same extremity, i.e. away from the other burners??

I'm pretty sure this pan is meant to be used on the stovetop - I wouldn't want to put the plastic (Bakelite) handles in the oven. The reason I can't cook in both sides at the same time is simple logistics - the pans are too big to be opened up and fit on two burners of the stove. I think that would defeat the purpose of having it hinged in the first place and you would lose the baking effect.

I decided to just go for it and try it out with the info I have gathered so far. I didn't soak it, but it did absorb a bit of water when I washed it just before using it. I put it on the lowest flame to preheat. I flipped it after 7 minutes; after another 10 minutes I coated the bottom pan with olive oil and flipped it again, raising the flame to the middle setting.

After 20 minutes of preheating, I brushed the pan with oil again and poured in the eggs.
[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/2919399164_f8612e88be.jpg?v=0[/IMG]
After the eggs cooked for 6 minutes, they were mostly set up except for the far end - I guess I didn't have the pan centered well.
[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3228/2919399566_a16e5e2775.jpg?v=0[/IMG]
I flipped the pan and let it cook for another 3 minutes.
[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2299/2918553773_2518593f6f.jpg?v=1223315294[/IMG]
The eggs did not release when I flipped it so that was probably unnecessary. I used a stiff plastic spatula to loosen the eggs. I lost a nice crust, but it did come out in one piece just fine.
[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3187/2919400486_0a5cbd489a.jpg?v=0[/IMG]
Next try will be with more eggs and probably more oil. I'm guessing the pan will become seasoned over time and hopefully release better, giving a nice crispy crust. I'll raise the heat sooner next time and preheat a little less time. I'll also start looking at some tortilla recipes to try.

The frittata would have looked nicer with the other side up on the plate, but that didn't stop me from eating it!

Thanks,
Kris

I'd have pre-heated both sides, then put in the oil (BTW I doubt pre-soak in water would help much if you then put a layer of oil on top?) then the frittata mix, and I'd then have swung the second pan shut on top, and kept them in the closed position during the cooking process thereafter.

Halfway through (3-4 min's max I'm guessing from the depth that your finished article looks to have), while the mix was just starting to coalesce on the top, I'd have lifted the top pan by its handle just enough to run a spatula round the cooked base to free it up, then I'd have sprinkled a few drops of oil onto the coalescing top part, and finally I'd have closed the pans again and turned them 180 degrees about the long axis (i.e. lift the handles and spin it like you would a tennis raquet) so that the top pan ended up on the bottom - in thory, the frittata would have dropped via gravity, and the other side would then cook in the same way.

If I understand what yu did, you left the two pans open throughout ... now I see why you reckoned that placing them on a burner would be difficult (not to mention dangerous ... ) - I think that also explains why your egg mix sloped to one side and therefroe cooked a bit unevenly.

caveat - I haven't used one of these, so I don't really know wht I'm talking about!!

No point heating both sides - the one not being used would cool down by the time you flipped anyway and the 'other side' is used to flip - otherwise it would just be acting as a lid and that would be pointless - wouldn't it?

I can see that I'm going to have to make a fritatta using my plate flip method and post some photos to show how it's done - all this talk of pan porn has made me hungry. :bigergrin:

Sorry I didn't include photos of the pan when it was closed - I had one, but found I was only allowed to have 4 photos per post and figured a closed pan wasn't very informative. However, I neglected to say in my description that I did close it during cooking. I don't think the top half cooled so much as to be useless - much more useful than just a regular lid on a skillet since it does retain the heat nicely. If I were camping, I'd put some hot coals on the top to really make it bake!

I preheated both sides, flipping twice during the preheat time. I closed it up as soon as I added the eggs. When I opened it after 6 minutes, they were nicely set, except for one end because I didn't have the pan centered on the burner.

I have made frittata the usual way, though I prefer to have a second skillet heating on the stove and flip from one to the other, skipping the whole plate business. Since this pan is made in Italy and I'm guessing it wasn't made too recently, I know there must be some really good advantage to using it. I'm still hoping that someone who has actually used one like this will turn up.

Thanks again,
Kris

Fabulous photos of your frittata efforts, and it certainly looked more than good enough to eat! But, if I read your post correctly, this frittata took more than 26 minutes to prepare from start to edible. That seems to me to be taking sloow foood a bit too far - I can knock up a fabulous beef curry in that time (okay, using a fiorentina)!

You have been really busy with this thread while I was away in Italy! Just catching up with all the fun I missed.... Well, in my opinion, this is just another version of the traditional "mattone" to cook a small butterflied chicken or steak. You do not use fat as they cook in their own juices, hence the reference concerning healthy cooking which has been engraved.
Although the Romans would have been proud of your efforts to cook a "fritatta" in the same manner that they used to cook their "Ova mellita", I feel that a traditional skillet would be easier and faster to use. And I would not dare using it for a Spanish "tortilla".
You can also use it to cook some vegetables such as capsicum, aubergine, leeks, etc. in their own juices and you will be surprised by the results. I would love to have one of those utensils, I'm thoroughly green with envy.....