Sicilian folklore: “Il festino di Santa Rusulia”
luglio 15, 2012
Olimpic Games 2012 & Sicilian food, all in the heart of London
agosto 3, 2012
Do you know what does “soffritto” mean? This word is one of the most common in cooking Sicilian or Italian style. It actually is both a noun and a past participle for us, referred to the verb “to brown” or “to sautee”.
In our cuisine we usually distinguish three different types of soffritto: the principal ingredient of the three is obviously the excellent extra virgin oil of olive. Then we can have (according to the dish we have to prepare) a soffritto made with garlic or a soffritto made with onions.
The garlic can be normal or “in camicia“, (literally with shirt). It means you can use the clove without removing its skin. This happens usually when it’s really late and you don’t have a minute to spend for peeling the cloves.
We have some pasta condiments that need garlic, some other onions so it really depends on the recipes, normally we tend to use more garlic for fish and onion for meat.
Now, it is very important to understand a couple of secrets for the best result of this elementary recipe: (which technically is not a proper recipe but just the first phase of lots of recipes!)
So from now on, whenever you find the word “soffritto” you know what you have to do. Have fun! 🙂
2 Comments
This is a great way to add nutrition to your recipes, too! 🙂 I use soffitti a lot when I cook! Thanks for talking about this!
You're very welcome!