Panna cotta

File:Panna cotta a una pizzeria del carrer de Baix, València.jpg

The name panna cotta is not mentioned in Italian cookbooks before the 1960s,Luigi Carnacina, Luigi Veronelli, "Panna Cotta," La Cucina Rustica Regionale 1:156, 1977, based on La Buona Vera Cucina Italiana (not seen), 1966Camilla V. Saulsbury, Panna Cotta: Italy's Elegant Custard Made Easy, p. 14 yet it is often cited as a traditional dessert of the northern Italian region of Piedmont.{{Cite web |title=Panna cotta easier to make than it sounds |url=https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2012/06/13/panna-cotta-easier-make-it-sounds/13464354007/ |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=Savannah Morning News |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Gold |first=Rozanne |date=2000-06-21 |title=Subtle Variations Lift an Already Sublime Dessert |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/21/dining/subtle-variations-lift-an-already-sublime-dessert.html |access-date=2023-07-27 |issn=0362-4331}} One unverified story says that it was invented by a Hungarian woman in the Langhe in the early 19th century.{{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Alan |editor1-first=Tom |editor1-last=Jaine |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |publisher=Oxford University Press |edition=second |year=2006 |location=Oxford |page=574 |isbn=9780192806819 }} An 1879 dictionary mentions a dish called latte inglese ({{literally|English milk}}), made of cream cooked with gelatin and molded,P. Fornari, Il nuovo Carena : la casa, o Vocabolario metodico domestico : compilato sui più recenti lavori di lingua parlata, con raffronti dei principali dialetti : ad uso delle scuole, 1879, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YG9LAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22panna+cotta%22 p. 498] although other sources say that latte inglese is made with egg yolks, such as crème anglaise;Pietro Fanfani, Vocabolario della lingua italiana: per uso delle scuole, 2nda edizione, 1865, [https://books.google.com/books?id=nd9DAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA848 p. 848] perhaps the name covered any thickened custard-like preparation.

The dish might also come from the French recipe of fromage bavarois from Marie-Antoine Carême in le pâtissier royal parisien, which is the same as the modern panna cotta, except that one part of the cream is whipped to make chantilly and included in the preparation before adding the gelatin.{{Cite book |last=Carême |first=Marie-Antoine |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k852237p |title=Le pâtissier royal parisien ou Traité élémentaire et pratique de la pâtisserie ancienne et moderne.... Tome II / composé par M. A. Carême... |date=1815 |language=EN}}

The Piedmont region includes panna cotta in its 2001 list of traditional food products.Riccardo Brocardo, "I prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali del Piemonte a quota 370", [http://www.regione.piemonte.it/archivio/agri/ita/news/pubblic/quaderni/num33/dwd/n33_pp19_24.pdf full text] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074901/http://www.regione.piemonte.it/archivio/agri/ita/news/pubblic/quaderni/num33/dwd/n33_pp19_24.pdf |date=2016-03-04 }} Its recipe includes cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, gelatin, rum, and marsala poured into a mold with caramel."Prodotto n. 69", Bollettino Ufficiale Regione Piemonte 33:23 (supplement) [http://xup.vcoformazione.it/allegati/progetti/materiale/_00011_00033_.pdf p. 532] Another author considers the traditional flavoring to be peach eau de vie, and the traditional presentation not to have sauce or other garnishes.{{Cite book |last=Del Conte |first=Anna |title=Gastronomy of Italy |publisher=Pavilion Books |year=2013 |isbn=9781862059580 |edition=Revised |pages=272}}

Panna cotta became fashionable in the United States in the 1990s.Amanda Hesser, The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century, p. 441: "1990's: ... Panna Cotta replaces crème brûlée, excising the egg yolks and using gelatin for a wobbly texture"Greg Atkinson, West Coast Cooking, 2006, {{ISBN|1570614725}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8i9PBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT525 s.v. 'panna cotta']: "panna cotta took us by storm in the '90s"

Sugar is dissolved in warm cream. The cream may be flavored by infusing spices and the like in it or by adding rum, coffee, vanilla, and so on. Gelatin is dissolved in a cold liquid (usually water), then added to the warm cream mixture. This is poured into molds and allowed to set. The molds may have caramel in the bottoms, giving a result similar to a crème caramel.Accademia Italiana della Cucina, La Cucina: The Regional Cooking of Italy, {{ISBN|978-0-8478-3147-0}}, p. 832, 2009, translation of La Cucina del Bel Paese After it solidifies, the panna cotta is usually unmolded onto a serving plate.

Although the name means 'cooked cream',{{Cite web |last=Moskowitz |first=Nina |date=2023-06-12 |title=This Giant Panna Cotta Is Wigglier, Jigglier, and a Lot More Fun |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/story/why-panna-cotta-is-better-bigger |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=Bon Appétit |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Krieger |first=Ellie |date=2019-03-26 |title=This panna cotta uses yogurt to lighten up |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/lifestyle/health-fitness/2019/03/26/krieger-this-panna-cotta-uses-yogurt-to-lighten-up/5618854007/ |access-date=2023-07-27 |website=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |language=en-US}} the ingredients are only warm enough to dissolve the gelatin and sugar. Italian recipes sometimes call for colla di pesce ('fish glue'), which may literally be isinglass or, more probably, simply a name for common gelatin.

Panna cotta is often served with a coulis of berries or a sauce of caramel or chocolate. It may be covered with other fruits{{cite web|url=https://www.affektblog.de/sahniges-panna-cotta-mit-frischen-fruechten/|title=Sahniges Panna Cotta mit frischen Früchten|language=de }} or liqueurs.

Bavarian cream is similar to panna cotta but usually includes eggs as well as gelatin and is mixed with whipped cream before setting.{{Cite news |last=Claiborne |first=Craig |date=October 1, 1980 |title=Fine Home Cooking: A Heritage Nurtured; With Care Variations on a Classic Culinary Theme Some Variations on a Classic Culinary Theme Related Recipes Quiche Lorraine Variations Mayonnaise Variations Hollandaise Sauce Variations Sauce Anglaise (English custard) Bavarois au Liqueur (Liqueur-flavored Bavarian cream) Custard Pie Variation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/10/01/archives/fine-home-cooking-a-heritage-nurtured-with-care-variations-on-a.html |work=The New York Times}}

Blancmange is sometimes thickened with gelatin or isinglass, and sometimes with cornstarch.{{Cite news |last=Adler |first=Tamar |date=2016-05-26 |title=Trembling Before Blancmange |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/magazine/trembling-before-blancmange.html |access-date=2023-07-27 |issn=0362-4331}}

Panna cotta is sometimes called a custard, but true custard is thickened with egg yolks, not gelatin. A lighter version substitutes cream with Greek yogurt.

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{{Cookbook-inline|Panna Cotta with Red Fruit Sauce}}

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