Caramelised Grapes In Vino Cotto |
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 4 |
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A very pleasant appetizer, brunch or dessert. A truly delicious , tasty and eye-catching dish. Le Marches is in east central Italy. Ingredients:
2 cups of black table grapes |
2 cups green table grapes (buy seedless ones if you don’t like seeds, ) halved lengthways. |
2tbsp brown sugar |
directions |
marinate the grapes in 2 tablespoons of vino cotto add the sugar to the grapes and vino cotto and mix really well together. |
preheat grill. |
transfer to a flat flame proof dish and place just under the grill for about 10 minutes at 250c or until slightly |
caramelized. |
serve 1 cup crème fraiche on the side (or cream or mascarpone). |
Directions:
1. Saba, sapa, mosto cotto, vino cotto...
2. Sapa – also called saba – is made by slowly cooking the must of red grapes (Montepulciano - Sangiovese) and white grapes (Verdicchio - Maceratino - Malvasia - Trebbiano). According to tradition, open copper kettles are used for the long cooking process. The thick sweet syrup that has a slightly acidic caramel flavor is then placed in wooden barrels to age for at least 10-12 months. During this time, the crystallized sugars from the cooking process settle to the bottom of the barrels allowing the syrup to be carefully removed. It is interesting to note that only 16-18 liters of premium quality sapa are obtained from 100 liters of grape must.
3. From the most ancient times, grape juice was of great importance. It was essentially the only sweetener readily available, aside from honey. The ancient Greeks used several variations of sweet grape juice, differentiated by the degree to which they were boiled down or concentrated.
4. The Romans followed suit, with their own spate of similar grape sweeteners boiled down to various consistencies. There was caroenum, which was actually boiled down wine, and sapa or defrutum, which was concentrated grape must. According to Horace, there is even evidence that the juice of certain grapes was considered better for boiling than others, namely that of the Chian variety.
5. Both Greeks and Romans used must and its boiled down syrup to sweeten all manner of dishes. The Roman chef Apicius used boiled grape must in cheese sauce for lettuce and sauce for boiled turnips; as an addition to barley soups and a seasoning in luscious game and poultry dishes, such as duck cooked with prunes and chicken cooked with leeks and herbs. It was also used as a sweetener proper in a whole range of both Greek and Roman pastries, sweet breads and cheese-filled desserts.
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