From here scicli and immediately the feats of the Inspector Montalbano, who have made the world know the most suggestive corners of this town in the Ragusa area with a thousand-year history, pearl of the Sicilian late Baroqueuniversal heritage UNESCO with its fascinating golden stone churches and sumptuous palaces.
Say Scicli and go back a thousand years when Ruggero d'Altavilla in his march towards Noto and Malta put an end to the Arab domination of the island by defeating the Saracens in the battle of the Piana dei Milici thanks also, according to what would testify to a controversial memory of the so-called Codes Sciclitani, a Madonna of the Milizie who descended on a white horse to defend Scicli «mea civitas dilecta», its inhabitants and the Norman Catholic troops.
The memory of that domain has remained in many toponymy of the town of clear Arab derivation, in some traditions such as the procession held in May of the highly venerated, but unusual for Catholic iconography, statue of the Madonna delle milizia a papier-mâché statue, which depicts the Madonna on a white horse brandishing a sword and trampling on two Turkish soldiers: unusual in its warlike appearance but so venerated that in In the 700th century it was carried in procession to avert an invasion of locusts that had brought the crops of the whole area to their knees, sending the peasants to starvation.
And the Saracen domination also bears witness in a sweet la “Tiesta ri Tùrcu”, Namely “Turkish head”, a large cream puff filled with ricotta and cinnamon flavored with lemon scents whose shape precisely recalls the Arab turban, as if to say a way to sweeten the memory of Arab domination.
As is the case with the arancina, the traditional stuffed and fried ball of rice, which divides the Sicilians into two fierce factions, the one from Palermo where the arancina is strictly feminine and has a round shape, and the one from Catania where it is also found in points and is declined in the masculine, so much so that it is enough to ask a Sicilian what this specialty is called to understand its western or eastern origin, the Sicilians are also divided over the recipe for Turkish head.
In fact, in the North a Castelbuono in the metropolitan area of Palermo we find a Turk's head transformed into a teaspoon dessert made up of a thin sheet of fried dough (scorcia) and a very delicate milk cream, flavored with cinnamon and lemon. It is one of the typical desserts prepared by grandmothers during the carnival period, together with chiacchiere and pignolata.
Conversely, in Scicli the "Tiesta ri Tùrcu" made with lard (and not with butter which sounds blasphemous to ancient customs) is used all year round and is a baked maxi-bignè filled with cream or cow's milk ricotta, stuffed with flakes of chocolate and chopped almonds or pistachios.
One of the best Turkish heads in Scicli, and not only that, you can tasted by Don Tabaré trendy restaurant housed in the former deconsecrated church of Sant'Antonio, from the XNUMXth century in the heart of the town which is an understatement to define as a pastry shop. Don Tabarè. in fact it puts into practice a very particular and scenographic pastry formula, a space that re-proposes the spirit of a street party "a goliardic pastry" as defined by the creators William Raimondo and Antonio Sarnari, two entrepreneurs who have given life to an open concept in which pastry chefs and chefs could best express themselves in passing on the traditional confectionery heritage.
The operative signature is one of the most prestigious: it is that of the Pastry chef Giovanni Galesi that after working in some of the most renowned Italian restaurants, fascinated by Asian culture and discipline and by fusion experimentation in the land of the rising sun, he moved to Japan for a certain time, where he worked, among other things, at the restaurant " Massuya” in Tokyo, learning the techniques and the art of Japanese cuisine, understood as a term of synergy with the cuisine of the territory of origin and a greater hardening of the discipline.
Back in Sicily he then taught training at the "Gambero Rosso" schools in Catania, then moved on to the kitchen of the "Cenobio Restaurant" at the Antico Convento dei Cappuccini in Ragusa Ibla where he also directed the Nosco School in Ragusa Ibla . Here is his recipe
The recipe for the Turkish head of Scicli
Ingredients for the choux pastry:
- water 300ml
- lard 160 g
- salt a pinch
- type 1 Sicilian Majorca flour 240 gr
- whole eggs n 5
Ingredients for the ricotta cream:
- dry ricotta (rested in the fridge for a couple of days) 500 gr
- wild thyme honey (satra) 100 gr
- the grated rind of a lemon
- a pinch of ground cinnamon
Procedure:
Dissolve the lard and salt in a saucepan together with the water, bringing to a slight boil.
Off the heat, add the sifted flour a little at a time, stirring constantly until the mixture detaches from the sides of the pan.
Pour the mixture into a worktop to let it cool and start beating the whole eggs in a bowl.
Once the mixture is cold, insert it into the planetary mixer with the leaf attachment and gradually add the eggs until you obtain a smooth mixture with a soft consistency.
Place the mixture of the Turkish heads in a pastry bag and start creating cream puffs with a diameter of 10 cm, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake in a static pastry oven at 180°C for about 40 minutes, until the cream puffs are well browned, being careful never to open the oven door to prevent them from deflating.
For the ricotta cream, combine all the ingredients in a food processor with soft blades and blend everything until you obtain a shiny and smooth cream, then fill the Turkish heads.
Don Tabare
Via Aleardi, 16/A
97018 Scicli RG
Italy
Tel: (+349) 242 8333 XNUMX
