Blancmange
Product included in the national list of traditional agri-food products (PAT)
PAT type : Fresh pasta and bakery, biscuit, pastry and confectionery products
Production Area : The whole island
Technical data sheet of the traditional agri-food product (PAT)
Production area: The entire island.
Brief product description: Very light milk-based cream, which in the Ragusa area is made with almond milk.
Description of the processing and maturing methods: Ingredients: milk, cornstarch, sugar, grated lemon zest, cinnamon. Preparation: Dissolve the cornstarch in a little milk while still cold.
Add it to the remaining milk already seasoned with the sugar and the grated zest of a lemon. Pass over the heat over low heat and always stir until the cream thickens, making sure that it does not come to a boil. Pour onto a serving dish and leave to cool in the refrigerator. To make the "blancmange" tastier, garnish it with small pieces of chocolate and cinnamon powder or prepare a layer of biscuits (of the ladyfingers type) soaked in Marsala in the bottom of the serving dish, on which it will be poured.
Specific materials and equipment used for preparation and conditioning: No specific equipment.
Description of processing, storage and maturing rooms: Domestic environments.
Evidence that the methods were practiced consistently and according to traditional rules for a period of no less than 25 years: This dessert was widely used in Sicilian noble homes. In literature, we find several references to this exquisite dessert. "While tasting the refined blend of blancmange, pistachio, and cinnamon contained in the desserts he had chosen, Don Fabrizio chatted with Pallavicino and realized that the latter...was anything but an imbecile." (Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Leopard).
Source Pat Cards: Sicily Region
Card insertion: Ignazio Caloggero
Informational contributions : Web, Sicily Region
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