We alluded to this favourite dish and all-time feature on all our menus over the past 20 years in our Favourite Foods Blog . . . but we decided that a mention simply wasn’t enough!
Lino’s panna cotta was causing a sensation even before we came to Kibworth; back at Welford Place which we opened in 1991, it was always received with open arms . . . or should I say open mouths!!!
In Firenze days we often went for the obscure: a liquorice panna cotta, coconut panna cotta with an oh so bitter dark chocolate sorbet with just a touch of chilli, rose water panna cotta with our own Turkish delight . . . the list goes on . . . we even did a savoury panna cotta once but we didn’t want to confuse people so we called it parmesan cream! We have served it in a mould, out of a mould, tiny cutesy size, and we did a trifle bowl size once.
How often have our customers said to me, “I have eaten panna cotta all over the world and never had one as good as the ones you serve”????
I have pondered what makes ours so special? And why do others find it difficult to get right? I guess it’s the fine balance of the ingredients, too much sugar. . . too sweet, not enough sugar . . . not sweet enough . . . and adjusting the basic recipe to suit the extra ingredients that you might add to create something a bit different . How can something which is essentially fully loaded with cream be so light? (Panna Cotta, literally means cooked cream)
The balance of gelatin is critical, not enough and we have a whole runaway affair, too much and it’s something closer to rubber ball . . . my mum and I had an hilarious meal once when we encountered such a panna cotta, so rubbery we could barely get our spoon through it!
So, since 1999 there has always been a panna cotta in one guise or another on all our menus . . . big hint for the answer to Question 1 of our Anniversary Quiz by the way!
We hope that you are a fan of these sweet treats and enjoy the variations on the theme, I wonder if you have a favourite?
Ciao for now!
Sarah x
20TH ANNIVERSARY QUIZ
Question 3: Which ingredient in panna cotta stops it from being vegetarian?
Just answer in the comments below and we’ll enter you into our prize draw celebrating our 20th anniversary! (Please be sure to put your email address on your comment so that we can contact you if you’re one of our lucky winners)
Look out for other 20th anniversary quiz questions on our future blog posts. Prize draw winners to be announced on 1st January 2020.