Chocolate Covered Starfish in Hot Dog Flavored Water.
I have a suspicion that more people know about the characteristics of zodiac water signs than they do the unmatched power water has in cooking. Water is one of my favorite ingredients and understanding it’s preeminence, I would argue, is possessing true culinary acumen. Working with chefs, you’re made aware that cooking fundamentally is about time and temperature. Controlling moisture, I have found, needs to occupy center stage like time and temperature.
Bakers and Pastry people know the battle with moisture more than anyone. When I was learning to make sourdough, I was getting quite cocky dabbling with higher hydration levels. It doesn’t always work out well. Humidity and the manipulation of it is what makes bread, croissants, macarons and meringue so marvelous and often mystifying. This is what I believe good cooking/baking is all about. Tucked away inside all of us is a relationship with the elements, especially water.
This week I wanted to offer a recipe that will read more like poetry. Ruth Rogers at The River Café in Hammersmith, London has said that a recipe is one part science and one part poetry. What this weeks recipe hones in on is trusting your instincts and relationship with water. Initially, the quantity of water and flavoring it is the genesis of transformation. Midway through the recipe evaporation and concentration provide body and foundation. Towards the end of cooking contrast and texture are indicators for success, which, I sincerely hope everyone has with this recipe for Ribollita. Ribollita is a classic Tuscan soup of beans, greens and bread. Ribollita is a staple in Cucina Povera (poor kitchen) a time and place in cooking when scarcity, insecurity and economic hardship affected most. It will come as no surprise then that the most important ingredient in Ribollita is water. Potable water counts for only percent of the overall water on the planet, not to mention that it has only been since the second half of the 19th century that we started to drink tap water. Being close to 150 years, that is not that long. Water used to be boiled to ensure it was safe for consumption. Looking at the word Ribollita, you do not have to speak Italian to know it translates to reboiled. Precisely that is what makes the dish undeniably delicious.
What the water gave me.
Ingredients are either water soluble or fat soluble. For instance, if you’ve ever added saffron to oil, it never really blooms the way saffron does in water. Absorption, extraction, infusion and reduction are tools to help manipulate water to do your bidding. I am willing to go against some popular opinion and say that mastery and refinement of bone broth and chicken stock is not all its cracked up to be. Simmering bones for long periods of time releases a metallic taste and when you can perceive minerals on your palate from bones, I don’t know, yikes. However, a gently simmered base for cooking beans with rosemary, sage, a thinly sliced clove of garlic, bay leaves, a stalk of celery, a split fresh red chili and a thin floating cloud of extra virgin olive oil on top just sounds more interesting to me.
My conviction into becoming anti-stock came when I was vegan for a couple of years. Theres a product on the market called Better Than Bouillon. In their line they feature a vegetarian, “no chicken” bouillon base. I wanted to make delicious vegan soup, balanced, creamy, and cheating depth and robustness from broth. I made a velvety mushroom soup with dried porcini mushrooms, leeks, a flick of celery, some garlic and the vegetarian “no chicken” bouillon. The soup was flush with varieties of fresh mushrooms and it was tended to with a watchful eye and slight of hand. The bouillon catapulted the soup into the stratosphere. My roommates at the time were in complete disbelief that I had corralled vegetables with the trusty help of a high powered blender to reinforce the creamy texture of a soup that normally would be loaded with cream, butter and yes, stock.
Having recently been in Bologna with spoon in hand attempting to maintain composure while I wept into a bowl of tortellini in brodo, I understand that broth, stock, and even outdated consommé do have their seat at the table. Water will always be treated with respect when I humbly arrive to it’s magic. In one of my most raw moments yet, this weeks recipe might break some of you. I will take my time and please follow my cues. I don’t even fully understand what I’ve done here, but every time I make Ribollita I attribute my victory to mastering water.
Ribollita
Serves 4
PREP TIME: 1 day of soaking beans, allow 2-3 hours of cooking.
*the recipe will be utilizing kosher salt and flakey salt in different steps, please note.
400g cannellini or borlotti beans, soaked in water 24 hours before cooking
1 rosemary branch
2 branches of sage leaves
4 cloves garlic, core removed, thinly sliced
2 cayenne chilis, split
5 stalks of celery, two cut in half, three diced finely
4 bay leaves, whole and fresh
350 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1.5 tsp crushed red chili flake, finely ground
1 tsp fennel seed, finely ground
3 preserved tomatoes, whole and removed of their liquid
2 bunches of lacinato kale, (Tuscan kale) stems removed
1 country loaf of bread, crust removed, torn into irregular sized pieces, think rustic
Method:
In a heavy bottomed pot, add soaked beans (removed from soaking liquid), rosemary, sage, two cloves of sliced garlic, split chilis, two half cut stalks of celery, two fresh bay leaves and 120 ml of extra virgin olive oil.
Add three times as much fresh water to the quantity of beans. Not only should the beans be submerged, but there should be a noticeable amount of water to beans. Cook the beans over low heat with the lid off. After about 10-15 minutes scum may collect on the surface, please skim off as needed. The beans must cook under a low temperature for a long period of time, roughly 45 minutes to 90 minutes. This depends on the type bean used and the size of the pot. A well cooked, finished bean will be tender almost creamy. Remove the beans from the heat and add to a heat safe bowl/container large enough to accommodate the beans and their liquid. Season generously with kosher salt. Stir and taste to ensure the liquid is well seasoned.
In a large, heavy bottomed pot, add 230ml of extra virgin olive oil, three stalks of finely diced celery, onion, carrot, two bay leaves and a big pinch of kosher salt. Cook the soffritto (thats what this mixture is called) over medium heat. I will iterate that you do not want to promote coloring on the vegetables, you’ll want to stir frequently. The soffritto should reduce to 1/3 of its original volume and look rusty in color about 20-30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and add in the chili flake and fennel seed, stir for 2 minutes until the soffritto is fragrant with fennel seed. Add tomatoes and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes. Concentration here is key, the color of the soffritto at this point should be burnt sienna.
While cooking the soffritto, cook the lacinato kale in boiling salted water. In a medium to large sized pot, bring a plentiful amount of water to a rapid boil and season the water with kosher salt like pasta water. Add lacinato kale in batches to not overcrowd the pot and lower the temperature of water drastically. Remove the kale after 5-10 minutes. The kale should be completely tender and not have much structural integrity, add to a bowl and cool to room temperature. Once cooled, wring out liquid from the kale, saving that liquid with the blanching liquid used to cook the kale. Roughly chop the kale into bite sized pieces and add to soffritto once it has reached the burnt sienna stage.
Preheat an oven to 375ºF with plenty of space in the middle to fit the whole pot of soup.
Toss with a spoon the greens in the soffritto and add the beans to the pot. Depending on the variety of beans, there maybe some leftover cooked beans for another dish. It is about achieving balance, the bean to green ratio is very important, 50/50 bean to soffritto and green is desirable. Add a 50/50 ratio of kale blanching liquid and bean stock to adjust the lusciousness of the soup. The amount of liquid added should keep everything afloat. This soup is hearty in body and adding too much liquid will not give the desired viscosity. Bring the whole mass to a simmer for 10 minutes adjust liquid volume, if needed.
Lattice the torn bread pieces a top the soup, like a roof. Each piece should work like a puzzle to completely cover the surface. Drizzle the top of the bread with a couple of generous glugs of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with flakey salt for texture. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the bread on top is noticeably brown. Remove from the oven and serve the soup immediately. Drizzle with the highest quality extra virgin olive oil. Parmesan is nice here, but I highly doubt you will need it. This rustic Tuscan dish is the epitome of simplicity and perfection.