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Corti Brothers Newsletter for February 2006 Page 2 Schüttelbrot is one of the many breads made in Italy’s autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige. Before World War I, this area belonged to Austria and was ceded to Italy as war reparations. It is a bilingual region, where German and Tyrolese are spoken preferentially to Italian. It is also a Region of great natural beauty, with a delicious cuisine, unknown to most Americans. All good Schüttelbrot is handmade. Its name comes from the unusual handling of the dough: it is shaken flat. Made from a blend of rye and whole wheat flour, caraway, coriander, and fennel seeds, in a soft sourdough, the dough is formed into balls and rises. When it is just a little over an inch high, it is “shaken” on a round flour dusted wooden board. The baker tosses and rotates the board and the dough becomes round and falls to about ½ inch high. It is then baked in a hot oven for 20-40 minutes, is left to cool and then dry. It could be made by machine but then schüttelbrot would not have its uneven surface and the dark center called “herzerl.” Schüttelbrot is crunchy and round. It is not used for making sandwiches, but you must put what accompanies the bread on top of it. Imagine a friable, thick cracker with a brownish golden surface. In Italian, schüttelbrot is called “schiacciata di Fiè.” Fiè, a spa site, is just on the edge of the Sciliar Natural Park to the east of Bolzano, in German known as Völs am Schlern. I enjoyed schüttelbrot in my visits to the Alto Adige and was told that unless it could be had from some one who could make, package and ship it, I would have to come to the Alto Adige to enjoy it. Well, I found a producer, Helmut Profanter, in Bolzano who makes schüttelbrot and a smaller form with sesame seeds called Krokys, just slightly different from schüttelbrot. The Krokys are wonderful crackers, and schüttelbrot is exquisite. One should be careful, however, since both are dry and very crunchy. If you have delicate teeth, be careful.
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The best accompaniment to schüttelbrot is Speck, the typical smoked ham from the Alto Adige. This ham is the delicious marriage of the pungent scents of the high Alpine forests with the delicate softness of Mediterranean Italy. Speck is the version of prosciutto produced in the Alto Adige, an area of two worlds, two languages, two gastronomic points of view. The great German poet Goethe defined this area as the imaginary border between wine and beer. Speck is produced from the top round of a fresh pork leg. It has the skin on one side and the other has been boned out. Since 1996, SPECK also has a protected geographical indication of origin (IGP). Both Speck and Schüttelbrot are branded with the Südtirol brand, instituted in 1976 by the Bolzano provincial government to guarantee the quality of food products of the Alto Adige. Speck is a word common in northern Europe for “pork fat.” It appears in 1400 for the first time in a document regulating pork butchers and is the translation of the Latin “lardum.” In northern Europe, speck just means a hunk of cured pork fat. Speck from the Alto Adige is the cured adipose muscle of a hog. When looking at whole pieces of Speck, the name given to them is “baffe,” mustaches, since when laid on the rind side, they have a mustache shaped outline. A noted firm, Recla, making speck for over 50 years, now ships Speck to the U.S. Corti Brothers is offering it in 5.5 pound pieces which we will quarter cut and cryovac on order. We must have your order to send to you the entire piece, cut into smaller pieces at your request. Speck is eaten sliced like prosciutto. But typically it is cut into 1/8 inch slices, having removed both the hard rind and trimming the crusty side carefully so as to reach the softer interior. Its fat must be left on more or less thick according to taste and the slices of speck are cut into squares to be put on top of a piece of schüttelbrot. Both should be small enough to fit into your mouth at one go.
In mid summer of 1999, we introduced our customers to Piment d’ Espelette, the French Basque country specialty pepper which has an appellation control and is the most famous French capsicum pepper. Grown in only ten communes in the Pays Basque, it is unique in France. The Espelette variety, another of the myriad Capsicum annum L., resembles none of the other peppers grown. In its home region, it now has an indigenous population with unique morphological characteristics. Both aromatic and pungent, it has figured in chocolate recipes and is part of the rub for the famous Jambon de Bayonne. Called “pipera” or “biperra” in Basque, it was so prestigious that it almost disappeared due to counterfeit sales by unscrupulous merchants. Widely grown for home consumption, there are only about 50 producers who grow the pepper for sale. Very aromatic, with layers of scent comprising a fruity, sweet, toasted tone of some intensity, it flavors dishes before giving them heat. Espelette’s hotness falls between sweet bell pepper and Cayenne. It has a rich, round deep flavor with heat present, lifting flavor, but not intrusive. In French, “un goût relevé.” We have customers who are addicted to Piment d’Espelette. You should keep it on the table as an addition to black pepper and salt. It has a lovely flavor and a very pretty red color.
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Corti Brothers
Sacramento CA
