Pure, candied, in powder and even grated! How many ways can we eat it?
⏱ 2 MINUTES READING

The sweet taste on the front; the bitter taste on the back; the salty on the sides of the bottom half; the sour on the edges of the back part. I’m talking about the different types of flavours recognized by each different part of our tongue. This organ of the body, added to the olfactory system, is the one who is predisposed to the perception of flavours.

Sweet, bitter, salty, sour and…? Umami!
Umami is the last discovery in the chronological order and sure enough it has been recognized as a real taste only in 1985. Although its etymology refers to countries far from ours, it is a taste that has always been present on our tables. Indeed, to be honest, most of us have already tasted it from the first day of birth through the mother’s milk!

But what role play these five flavours when we want to combine different ingredients in a culinary course? How important are them? This is exactly what we are going to find out in this column. For each article a different seasonal product and three combinations.
THE CITRON
Characterized by a rather small pulp and a rather thick peel, we could almost think of a fruit that is out of proportion. This disproportion, however, is not confirmed by the taste: the acidity of the pulp is perfectly balanced by the bitter hints given by the rind. That’s why we chose the citron. It’s a perfect example of matching by contrast already available in nature. .
VENETIAN CICCHETTO
The starting point is a slice of toasted cereal bread, so as to give a crunchy bite, seasoned with some Gamberi in Saor (prawns) by Marcolin and a diced candied citron peel. At the first bite you will notice that the toasted bread gives support to a prawn which tends to be quite soft in the mouth. The citrus note of the citron perfectly match with the shellfish, enhancing its flavour. Meanwhile the sweetness given by the candied fruit will contrast the sourness of the vinegar present in the “saòr” sauce. What a nice surprise!
FIRST COURSE
Creamy risotto with Isigny salted butter, citron powder, dill and Fil di Fumo.

An absolutely delicate and super colourful risotto. We are going to dry the citron peels and blend them in order to reduce them to powder. We cook the rice with some vegetable broth and we finish it by creaming with salted Isigny butter, rigorously cold! Once served, a sprinkle of citron powder will give to the dish a slightly sour contrast that will marry very well with the roundness given by the fatness of the salty butter, it will enhance the sweetness of the Fil di Fumo and it will bind perfectly to the citrus note of the dill.
DESSERT
The greedy is that person who never puts off to a second moment what he can eat now. I see myself in it a lot, especially if it’s a cheesecake-style dessert like this: not cloying at all! It is made with a bitter cocoa shortbread base with citron-flavoured cream made with Crema del Doge cheese. On the top it is covered with a citron cream and a caramelised citron for garnish. Even here we work on contrasts, textures and flavours! The crunchiness of the shortbread and the caramelized citron support the softness of Crema del Doge, while the bitterness of the cocoa perfectly holds the acidity given by the cream. The cheese filling brings fatness and roundness to the bite. 

Giacomo Chinellato
Sales Manager