Panna cotta
Template:Short description Template:Infobox food
Panna cotta ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Langx {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; Template:Lit) is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
The name panna cotta is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before the 1960s,<ref name="carnacina">Luigi Carnacina, Luigi Veronelli, "Panna Cotta," La Cucina Rustica Regionale 1:156, 1977, based on La Buona Vera Cucina Italiana (not seen), 1966</ref><ref name="saulsbury">Camilla V. Saulsbury, Panna Cotta: Italy's Elegant Custard Made Easy, p. 14</ref> yet it is often cited as a traditional dessert of the northern Italian region of Piedmont.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One unverified story says that it was invented by a Hungarian woman in the Langhe in the early 19th century.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> An 1879 dictionary mentions a dish called latte inglese (Template:Literally), made of cream cooked with gelatin and molded,<ref>P. Fornari, Il nuovo Carena : la casa, o Vocabolario metodico domestico : compilato sui più recenti lavori di lingua parlata, con raffronti dei principali dialetti : ad uso delle scuole, 1879, p. 498</ref> although other sources say that latte inglese is made with egg yolks, such as crème anglaise;<ref>Pietro Fanfani, Vocabolario della lingua italiana: per uso delle scuole, 2nda edizione, 1865, p. 848</ref> perhaps the name covered any thickened custard-like preparation.
The dish might also come from the French recipe of fromage bavarois from Marie-Antoine Carême in le pâtissier royal parisien, which is the same as the modern panna cotta, except that one part of the cream is whipped to make chantilly and included in the preparation before adding the gelatin.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Piedmont region includes panna cotta in its 2001 list of traditional food products.<ref>Riccardo Brocardo, "I prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali del Piemonte a quota 370", full text Template:Webarchive</ref> Its recipe includes cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, gelatin, rum, and marsala poured into a mold with caramel.<ref>"Prodotto n. 69", Bollettino Ufficiale Regione Piemonte 33:23 (supplement) p. 532</ref> Another author considers the traditional flavoring to be peach eau de vie, and the traditional presentation not to have sauce or other garnishes.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Panna cotta became fashionable in the United States in the 1990s.<ref>Amanda Hesser, The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century, p. 441: "1990's: ... Panna Cotta replaces crème brûlée, excising the egg yolks and using gelatin for a wobbly texture"</ref><ref>Greg Atkinson, West Coast Cooking, 2006, Template:ISBN, s.v. 'panna cotta': "panna cotta took us by storm in the '90s"</ref>
PreparationEdit
Sugar is dissolved in warm cream. The cream may be flavored by infusing spices and the like in it or by adding rum, coffee, vanilla, and so on. Gelatin is dissolved in a cold liquid (usually water), then added to the warm cream mixture. This is poured into molds and allowed to set.<ref name="carnacina" /> The molds may have caramel in the bottoms, giving a result similar to a crème caramel.<ref>Accademia Italiana della Cucina, La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy, Template:ISBN, p. 832, 2009, translation of La Cucina del Bel Paese</ref><ref name=":0"/> After it solidifies, the panna cotta is usually unmolded onto a serving plate.
Although the name means 'cooked cream',<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the ingredients are only warm enough to dissolve the gelatin and sugar.<ref name="saulsbury" /> Italian recipes sometimes call for colla di pesce ('fish glue'), which may literally be isinglass or, more probably, simply a name for common gelatin.
GarnishesEdit
Panna cotta is often served with a coulis of berries or a sauce of caramel or chocolate. It may be covered with other fruits<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or liqueurs.<ref name="carnacina" />
Related dishesEdit
Bavarian cream is similar to panna cotta but usually includes eggs as well as gelatin and is mixed with whipped cream before setting.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Blancmange is sometimes thickened with gelatin or isinglass, and sometimes with cornstarch.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Panna cotta is sometimes called a custard,<ref name="saulsbury"/> but true custard is thickened with egg yolks, not gelatin. A lighter version substitutes cream with Greek yogurt.<ref name=":0" />
See alsoEdit
Template:Commons category-inline Template:Cookbook-inline Template:Portal