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Reflections: What Grows in Silence - I Sepolcri di Grano

Today, as I prepare i sepolcri di grano - those tender shoots of wheat grown in darkness for Holy Week, I’m struck by how much of our heritage is cultivated in shadow. These small grains of wheat will in time sprout into humble and symbolic tender shoots; grown quietly in cupboards and cellars, much like the family stories carried in silence. They belong to rituals that travelled across oceans with our families, reappearing each year in kitchens and parish halls far from Basilicata. I remember my maternal grandmother, nonna Carmela preparing them for Good Friday. I watched her soak the grains, spread them into shallow dishes, and hide them away in darkness. She had carried this tradition from her village to Australia, recreating it in a suburban kitchen that bore little resemblance to the world she left behind. For her, it wasn’t nostalgia; it was devotion and continuity; a quiet way of keeping the rhythm of faith and the old world alive in a new one. I didn’t fully understand the sy...
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Quince & Vino Cotto - A Match Made In Heaven






Quince season and a need to highlight an old recipe post from 2014.  This fruit marries well with vino cotto (cooked must), a preserved liquid that over time has become more popular in household cooking and recipes.
 
Both of these ingredients have varied uses, ranging from culinary to medicinal purposes; but this is another topic which I will write about at some later stage.  The combination of the two used in making jam is what I will focus on here, and what a perfect match nature has provided!

La cotognata according to my father and the way his mother would make it, involved using vino cotto.  During wine season le cotogne  (quinces) would also be ripening on their trees, picked and used in a range of dishes.  My nonna would poach pieces of quince in the vino cotto, adding flavour as well as sweetening the fruit. 
   
In ancient times quince would also be cooked with honey for the same result.This recipe follows the process of making quince jam with the addition of vino cotto  at the end of the cooking process.  All required is to follow my Quince jam recipe and just add a cup of vino cotto to the final cooking stage according to the specified quantity of pulp.  The quince jam acquires another level of flavour which is very moorish!

This will definitely be the hero of any sweet dish, so I decided to make some tartlets.  


Quince & Vin Cotto Almond Tartelettes

Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
100g almond meal
1/3 cup caster sugar
150g unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg
quince & vino cotto jam

Preheat oven to 190c.  Process flour, almond meal, sugar and butter in a food processor. Add egg and process in bursts until mixture forms a ball.  Transfer to a lightly floured bench and knead lightly until smooth. Wrap in plastic and rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.

Divide pastry into 12 even portions.  Roll out each on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thick and 8cm in diameter.  Place individual circles on a shallow cup cake tin, lightly pushing them in place.   

Dollop a teaspoon full of quince jam in the center and bring the edges slightly in.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until pastry is golden. 

Dust with icing sugar and enjoy!


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