Isn't it Odd? (about the Pancake Contest)
Isn't it odd that not one of us submitted a recipe for a noodles pancake? I wanted to do a Chinese noodle cake but because 52 had some technical system glitches, i had to re-enter a number of recipes, so i didn't have time. But it's surprising, yes? I am thinking that perhaps 52 does not have many Chinese members? (Of course it's also possible that Chinese members wanted to focus on other recipes for this contest.)
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"The cooks who develop and style the food for today's movies equate their cinematic cooking with the curvy glamour girls of the 1940's. Both are larger than life. Deborah Di-Sabatino, the food stylist who developed the food and the climactic timpano (Italian for kettledrum) for ''Big Night,'' says that movie cuisine is not everyday fare but grand and complicated fantasy, far beyond the ken of the run-of-the-mill cook."
Guess that's why I never made one. But I'm getting sorely tempted! Thanks for a fun discussion.
great photos and stepby step here:
http://www.thefoodinmybeard.com/2011/05/lasagna-timpano.html
This foodinmybeard guy is great!
best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/
Voted the Best Reply!
Here's the NY Times recipe from the movie version using pasta: http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/5668/Big-Night-Timpano.html
And here's an adaptation from Saveur, using puff pastry: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Baked-Macaroni-in-Pastry
And to make it even more confusing here's a recipe for a Timpano-inspired Timballo from BA: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Timballo-230467
Stanley Tucci learned all the cooking he used in the flim from his mother, Joan Tucchi She and some co-authors have published a book, "Cucina & Famiglia: Two Italian Families Share Their Stories, Recipes, And Traditions," that details the recipe, including specifying the pan in which it should be cooked. The book is pretty much out of print, I think judging from the price, but still available, along with the pan, from Amazon.
There's a 2007 blog post about following the recipe from the book at http://prouditaliancook.blogspot.com/search/label/Cucina%20and%20Famiglia%20cookbook
It's definitely pasta dough.
Meanwhile, you've got me pretty intrigued, and I'm going to do a lot more timpano research!
If i were defining 'pancake', i would say it must be:
How it's cooked: a) almost always griddled/fried (unless it is called a 'baked pancake', in which case it is still capable of being griddled/fried)
and
What it looks like: b)almost always round and usually flat
and
What it is made of: c) its main ingredient or significant ingredient is almost always a starch or a starch and protein together
I'm not saying the above is a fool-proof definition of "Pancake" but don't all the CPs and winners meet the above criteria- EXCEPT the gyoza Wildcard?
best,
mindy
(
does it say "Question Authority" ?> :-}
best,
mindy
http://www.food.com/recipe/timpano-di-maccheroni-the-mythic-pasta-dome-85372
best,
mindy
wwwcottonarboretum.com/
http://www.thefoodinmybeard.com/2011/05/lasagna-timpano.html
If you try it, please take a photo for us - quite an undertaking!
yours in savory pancakeness!,
mindy
However, I sometimes make a big 'pancake' of pasta (usually spaghetti) bound with beaten eggs, to use up scraps of vegetables, cheeses and such from the fridge. Sort of a frittata crossed with a pancake crossed with no time to get to the grocery store before dinner.
mrsl, basically you cook noodles to al dente and press them into a small bottomed hot oil pan with a weight, flip and brown other side. incorporate things into the noodles themselves or do a topping for the noodles cake. the italians, iirc, do that cooked pasta tossed with egg- as the 'shell' that is filled- on that domed dish that was featured in the film Big Night. Just can't think of the name of the dish. Not a pancake though, rather a domed casserole, baked.
Hmmm, i just visualized an Italian Easter egg made of 2 of those domed dishes put together!! Cut it open and out flow the goodles!! I want an oozy carbonara filling in mine, please!
best,
mindy