You sure asked yourself how to cook like an Italian? You only need to know a few basic cooking principles which are applied across most restaurants (and kitchens) across Italy. One word that hits straight in the hearts of most Italians is “mantecatura” or the aberration “mantecare”. Today you’ll learn what it means and how to apply it in your kitchen. Who knows, maybe, you’re the next Massimo Bottura, which means you should definitely know this!
What does “mantecatura” mean?
The word “mantecatura” is simply Italian, and believe it or not, it does not have an English translation. The word itself somehow evolved from the Spanish word “Manteca” which means butter. The word is often used by kitchen professionals to describe the techniques used to make especially creamy textures in classic Italian dishes. Sounds complicated, but it really isn’t! You know that creamy Carbonara you had but didn’t know what’s the deal? Mantecare! That one special seafood risotto you had (or hopefully will have) in Venice on your honeymoon? Yes, “mantecatura” baby! Really a lot of Italian dishes use this technique to be outstanding!
How to cook like an Italian with “mantecare”?
Now you learned the meaning of “mantecatura”, but how should you apply it in your kitchen? First by learning the basic ingredients used for mantecare. To make the magic happen you need to have the 4 basics of mantecare: cheese, fat (oil), butter and pasta water (or rice water). Of course, there are more complex ingredients (and often emulsions) used for mantecare, but the most abundant in Italian cuisine, are the above mentioned!
How to use the ingredients for mantecare?
Here’s what I learned in the kitchens around northern Italy about the use of ingredients for mantecare. Butter, fat or oil is always added cold, this way it melts slowly and evenly (and does not lose its nutritive values). A lot of different cheese varieties are used, not only grating cheese as Parmigiano or Pecorino, but also Gorgonzola for example, sometimes even sour milk is used. The pasta water is added because of the starch which gives additional creaminess and texture to the dish, do not overdo it with pasta water, it’s mainly used to dilute the fat and cheese to a perfect cream!
Basic principles of mantecare!
If you follow some basic rules, you will fast learn how to use mantecare in your dishes (some of you already use it, but don’t know the word for it, until now!).
1. The process is mostly used at the END of cooking, which means mantecare is really finishing off the meal! But without it, the meal is not complete (and we do not want that)!
2. Your dish should be hot, but you should turn of the heat! When adding the ingredients, you need to make sure that nothing will burn, coagulate, or stick to your pan!
3. Do not throw away your pasta water, and do not wash your rice before cooking risotto!
4. With risotto, after adding the mantecare ingredients, stir vigorously, with pasta be careful and try to mix it with moving the pan to the front and back (like the professionals do), or when stirring, do it very carefully!
5. Serve your dish immediately! If the dish stands for a while, the creamy top hardens, and it’s not how it should be served!
6. Enjoy while cooking! That’s the one most important thing.
Now you learned how to cook like an Italian with mantecare! Use it in our recipes or make your own, the world of Italian cuisine is a big one, but you are already in it! If you use “mantecatura” in the right place and at the right time, you will just know that you did everything right! It’s just the “la vita e bella” feeling you get!
