As Vito Caffato sets sail on his mission to peddle British culinary classics to the incredulous Italians, I’ve developed a plan that’ll blow their pasta-loving socks off. Forget nuggets of gnocchi and forkfuls of fettuccine, let’s wow the grappa-guzzling gourmands with the glorious Yorkshire pud.
I know it might take a while before they’re mopping up gravy with Aunt Bessie’s finest batter, so to get the ball rolling I’ve given a few Italian classics a little Yorkshire blush.
Move over, dough boy
While the Italians will probably be sceptical about tinkering with their trademark design, I think the pizza could be improved by giving it a Yorkshire pudding base. It’s a common complaint of the Sunday cook: you open the oven too early and your puddings refuse to rise. Using this logic I took an ultimate Yorkshire recipe and poured the mixture into a large pudding tin – and allowing air into the oven ensured my pud stayed firm but flat. A few classic Italian toppings later and a stint under the grill and I was left with a lusciously light pizza that tasted fluffy and fab. No dough belly for me, just plenty of room to justify that second slice.
The jewel in the vol-au-vent crown
I’ve long been convinced by the Yorkshire pudding’s vessel credentials and am amazed it’s not utilised more often as an edible, crispy cup. The South Africans have bunny chow so why can’t we have the batter bowl? Putting my crockery design skills to the test I cooked up a classic Italian stew and served it up Yorkshire-style. No seepage, no mess – just a scrumptious and hearty snack.
Stick a spork in it
Whet it comes to traditional Italian desserts tiramisu is a bit of a Don. Coffee-soaked sponge fingers topped with mascarpone and cream – devilishly delicious it may be, but surely it can only benefit by getting the Yorkshire look? After slipping a teaspoon of cold coffee into my batter mix I popped the lot in a large pudding tin and baked in a similar way to the pizza base above. As it started to brown I sprinkled over some sugar crystals to give it an extra sweet edge, then followed the steps for a classic tiramisu. The pudding substitute worked a treat, like a cross between a pancake and choux pastry. The only downside – it was tricky to eat. Spork anyone?
Comments
This is a dissapointing program and tonights effort with the roast beef teels me that Vito knows little about English food or cooking. No English cook worth his salt would have served (overcooked!) beef fillet as roast beef, surely sirloin or fore rib would be used, (medium rare). As for saying that the oven timer was wrong, when he should have been watching and occasionally and feeling the meat for ‘doneness.’ Well, – sacked!
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