Baking from northern italy, by richard sax - 2

1 servings

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SOURCE: GOURMET MAGAZINE, 02

FROM: SALLIE KREBS

Gubana has traditionally been baked at Easter but is now a typical part of several holidays. "Everyone has heard of panettone," says Carol Field in her fine book The Italian Baker, "but even many Italians are unaware of gubana, the Easter bread of Friuli. " Lore has it that this coiled, nut-filled yeast bread originated either in the village of Gorizia or in the village of Cividale. The name, however, indicates Slavic origins and probably derives from the Slavic guba (roughly, "folded"), which describes its characteristic snail shape. Some people claim that the name is derived from bubane, or "abundance" in the Fruilian dialect. (The Italian term is Cuccagna, which Mary Taylor Simeti eloquently describes in Pomp and Sustenance as a mythic land of plenty, with mountains of macaroni and Parmesan cheese. The same term has survived in English as "Cockaigne," which the Rombauer family used to designate their favorite recipes in Joy of Cooking.) Gubana is a luscious bread, with a rich yeast dough spiraling around a mixture of nuts and raisins moistened with grappa and/or other spirits. The time-honored formula calls for equal weights of dough and filling; one local baker told me he uses even more filling than dough for each loaf. Frequently, slices of gubana are sprinkled with additional grappa or slivovitz (bitter plum brandy) when served. As is frequently the case with regional and folk recipes, there are several versions of gubana, and it also has two close relatives, putiza and presniz (see recipes below); confusion among them is widespread. In one town gubana may be called putiza. Some bakers make a version of gubana using puff pastry instead of yeast dough; just a few miles away, it may be called presniz. Some might view this as imprecision. I prefer to see it as a lack of dogmatism, and I consider it one of the joys of Italian cooking. The filling in the recipe below comes from Andrea Purinam, who, with his father, runs Il Fornaio di Mario Purinam, an outstanding bakery in the lovely town of Udine, capital of the Friuli-Venezia-Giulia region. Here gubana and pinza, another sweet yeast bread, are available year round. When I visited one October, Andrea was starting a flour and water mixture that would ripen for two weeks. This "mother," which raises the dough without yeast, was the first step in making gubane for Christmas. Andrea also uses a slow four-rise method for his dough. The following gubana recipe is actually a hybrid, using Andrea Purinam's nut filling and Simone Supanz'a dough and assembly method. (Gubana recipe here) (this precedes the Putiza recipe) Early on the morning after that raucous lunch, I met Simone Supanz in the labyrinte work area behind his wood-paneled bakery. The way he stretches the dough for his putiza (sometimes spelled potiza) is a marvel; once in motion, this sturdy man moves with fluid, athletic grace. Like the gubana above, putiza is made by spreading a nut filling over a yeast dough, rolling it jelly-roll fashion and stretching it, gently but decisively, before it is coiled into its characteristic snail shape. Putiza can also be found in cookbooks from Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. The etymology of both putiza and gubana shows the Slavic influences on the Trieste dialect. Potica (the Slavic spelling) is thought to be a contraction of potivica, from potive ("rolled," "wrapped up"). Putiza is excellent with tea; people in this region offer it when visitors stop by for a caffe or grappino. And Simone also suggests sprinkling the slices with a little more grappa or slivovitz.

Submitted By SALLIE KREBS On 12-07-94

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