Monday, March 9, 2009
Foods Don't Be So Sfingi
Posted by Carrington Fox on Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 11:36 AM
Honestly, sometimes I think Corrado Savarino makes this stuff up just so he can show off his mad pastry-making skills. But just as there actually turns out to be a pastry called sfogliatelle, named for the way the pages of a book fan out (I was skeptical), so too are sfingi for real. They're Italian doughnuts stuffed with sweet ricotta, and Savarino is making them this season in advance of the Feast of Saint Joseph on March 19.
Jack Silverman, the Scene's Savarino's Cucina correspondent, recently brought a sample of Corrado's sfingi (rhymes with stingy) to me at my desk.
"I couldn't possibly eat the whole thing," I said, biting into the swirl of deep-fried dough topped and filled with sweet cannoli cream.
"That's OK, because I'll take what's left over," Jack said.
Then everything went a little fuzzy. I vaguely remember Jack yammering on about Al Bunetta, Joe Pagetta and Mike Figlio while I bit off hunk after hunk of pastry, whose golden skin and cakey interior recalled a hybrid of cream puff and cruller.
"Bla, bla, Figlio, bla, bla, Bunetta, bla, bla Savarino's Sandwich Gang..." I don't know what Jack was saying. I was just trying to keep the thick sugary globs of sfingi cream from dropping onto my shoes. Before I knew it, the pastry, once the size of a Quarter Pounder, was no more than a single sticky bite, smushed between my thumb and forefinger. I popped it into my mouth, licked my fingers and dragged a sleeve across my face to wipe the last clouds of ricotta from the corners of my smile.
"Thanks, Jack. You were right. Even better than a cannoli."
"Wait a minute--you ate the whole thing? I thought you were going to save me some," he said.
"Yeah, sorry about that. It was just so delicious I couldn't stop myself."
As Jack turned to leave my office, he shrugged, let out a disgusted "humph," and mumbled under his breath, "Well, that was awfully sfingi of you."
Comments (20)
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Fantastic, Carrington. Glad you enjoyed it. They are delicious. It's tradition for these to be bought and given to people who are named Joseph, but no one ever does that (at least not for me), so I just buy them for everyone else. Sometimes I even set up a little shrine to St. Joseph at my desk, and invite people to come by, pay their respects, and have a pastry.
By the way, am I crazy, or does the day and time stamp of this post suggest that it was written in the future?
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Joe, we're waiting.
By the way, we're at 210 12th Ave. S., just south of Demonbreun. Ste. 100.
Those sfingi were ridiculously good. I'll be back before March 19. I understand their religious significance, but if there really were a God, sfingi would be available year-round, not just in March.
Basically, I guess I'm saying that my faith in a Supreme Being is in your hands, Corrado.
Don't worry about where my desk is. You will know when you wake up that morning. You'll have a sense. You'll smell the sfingi, and see the light from the St. Joseph candle burning brightly, somewhere in the late morning sky above the fairgrounds. Have faith my friends.
Claudia, I never doubted. By the way, you've inspired me to start taking pictures of some of my meals. Perhaps I'll post them somewhere.
The sfingi is the most awesome pastry I've had in, I dunno, ever. It's like the best of cannoli and the best of a dessert croissant in one flaky cannonball of flavor.
By the way, Claudia, we were so tempted to call you last Wednesday when we ended up at Savarino's. You've definitely got some fans there.
hope to see you there soon - perhaps this weekend? i'm getting my car on thursday so i'll be raring to go nearly anywhere. i've been housebound for going on 5 weeks now...! i could use a sfingi.
while I don't claim to be an expert in the art of Italian pastry, I do have to chime in here because the 'sfinge' being referred to are not what I see in the picture. That looks more like a cannoli in a different shape. The traditional sfinge (called 'zeppole' by Northern Italians) are a cream-puff-- fried dough, small and round and with a sweetened ricotta filling. They are made in Sicily at the feast of St. Joseph, but in the rest of Italy are served at Christmas or at Carnevale (which is about now). One thing is for sure, the Sicilians are well-known for pastry in Italy and as this is the origin of the Savarino family I believe, they must know the difference. Or maybe they haven't been back in a while...
RE: Joy
I know exactly what you mean. The "sfingi" I've had in Baltimore and from my very Sicilian side of the family are of the ricotta puff variety.
However, my grandfather has always assured me that it's the ingredients and texture that define Sicilian food moreso than the shape, size and look. He's shown me pictures of all the various "sfincioni" from different Sicilian cities and street vendors. And yes, they all have the similarity of being somewhat pizza-like, but they definitely are not uniform.
Anywho, to put the flavors to the test, I think I'll probably just head to Savorino's for a sfinge and then make my way to Palermo for a decent comparison. (I wish!)
corrado worked at veniero's bakery for years and this is how they make their sfinge.
http://www.venierospastry.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=V&Product_Code=SFINGI&Category_Code=6S
considering the line outside the door of their east village nyc location, and the fact that they've been doing them that way since i'm a little girl - i'd say it's a authentic version.
dunno why my above comment re: veniero's came up anonymous... i must've left out my info.
Joy, not sure where the problem is:
Your definition: The traditional sfinge (called 'zeppole' by Northern Italians) are a cream-puff-- fried dough, small and round and with a sweetened ricotta filling.
That's exactly what Corrado made. Maybe not exactly small, but a cream-puff like pastry of fried dough with sweetened ricotta filling.
So what's the distinction you're making?
Take a look:
http://avucciria.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!6E4DAA8BAA44AC45!658.entry
they are completely different. (don't know if that url will come through)
And Claudia, somehow I don't think that longevity and popularity equal 'authenticity' but no matter. I think the quality of the pastry as important if not more so than knowing its origins and there is a huge difference b/t Italian and Italian-American food traditions as i'm sure you know.
i think longevity and popularity is what makes something eventually authentic.
although i agree that there is often a HUGE difference between italian and italian-american food.
Sfingi and Zeppoles were first made in Naples. Their almost a cream puff and deep fried. They are filled with either custard or ricotta. Usually, the custard has amarena (sour cherries) and the cannoli cream is topped with powder sugar, a dusting of cinnamon, orange skin and a cherry. The Sicilian verison is the inis. It is a Brisce, that is filled with ricotta, coated with fine bread crumbs and deep fried. That is a speciality of Palermo.
Thank you and enjoy.
