Italian Terracotta Cookware And Cooking

[pigro]

Lovely picture, thanks. I'm besotted already, and I echo CaroleB's enquiry ...

It may indeed be a fritatta pan - though I'm not sure it would be so neccessary for a traditional frittata, as they are usually shallow enough to be teased with a fork and flipped with the aid of a spatula or "a la pancake" without too much stress ...

I suspect it's intended for spanish tortilla (i.e. a "cake" of omlette & potato). Tortilla is deep, dense and (ideally) served slightly runny in the centre - and therefore a pain in the proverbial to flip manually, normally requiring use of a plate as an intermediate part of the turning procedure.

You can get a similar hinged omelette/crepe pan here Omelette and Crêpe Pan- Lakeland, the home of creative kitchenware but it is simply no comparison on looks, depth or curvature of the base (again, this suggsts tortilla to me). A purpose designed hinged tortilla pan is here LaTienda.com - 2-Piece Tortilla Espanola Pan - Heavy Duty & Non-stick - but again, the terracotta just looks sooo much nicer!

I want the terracotta one! tell me where I can buy it & what it costs!!

[juliancoll]

Great looking double fritatta pan - but sorry to say - totally impractical. You will only ever attempt to use it once and then it will be shoved into the back of a cupboard or if you want the world to see how useless it is, put it on display somwhere and let it gather dust.

These pans will cook one side of the fritatta beautifully - and indeed would cook the other side beautifully if you could only flip them over without the egg mixture oozing out and running all over the place!

The only way to do it with these type of pans is to cook the first side until the mixture is "set" and then flip it over - but this means the first side is too well done and becomes rubbery.

Use an ordinary frying pan and a large plate placed over the pan - flip onto the plate and then slide the uncooked side back into the pan. Use a plate large enough to contain spillage - or just place the fritatta under the grill when the first side is cooked. Easy.

Edit. Another disadvantage about these pans is that if you do manage not to spill the mixture - you are putting the uncooked side into a COLD pan.

[pigro]

booo!!! stop spoiling my pan porn :-)

I take your point on the "flip side" (larrson, anyone?) being cold - though I don't think that would unduly trouble a half set egg mix, would just slightly increase the time to cook.

But I don't see the problem with leakage during the flip manouver itself - under cooking the first half slightly and then doing a quick 180 degree rotation shouldn't cause significant leakage if the design & construction are fit for purpose (i.e. symmetrical, with a decent lip to seal the inside during the rotation, and the closed handles applying some pressure to the join, as the one pictured seems to).

Also, assumng the pan facing side of the omelette releases OK from the surface after the flip (which it would do given sufficient initial oil) then gravity will cause the whole thing to drop, leaving the original half kept warm but no longer in direct contact with the heat (therefore avoiding ruberriness).

Out of interest, have you tried this or simillar pans and know that the seal is usually flawed, or are you just speculating based on the look of it?

If the latter, we need KrisBhatti to rustle up a tortilla/frittata and post pic's/review so we can decide for ourselves.

[Charles Phillips]

Originally Posted by pigro

booo!!! stop spoiling my pan porn :-)

(therefore avoiding ruberriness).

What is a ruberry?

[pigro]

ruberry is a venerable old English surname, hailing from Cornwall or London. A little known fact (sadly missing from their online genealogy The RUBERRY Surname - but understandable in the circumstances) is that their faces all loosly resemble an overcooked omelette.

[krisbhatti]

I got the pan at a thrift store. I always find the most amazing cookware there. This was one of those times where I didn't know exactly what it was, but I knew I needed it. I can usually figure it out with some web searching, but sometimes I have to ask for extra help. If this is an omelet pan, would I soak the pan in water first? Preheat both sides? I have a lovely French marmite (also from the thrift store) but that is glazed on the inside, so I haven't cooked in an unglazed pot. I figure there must be some specific advantage or feature of cooking on the unglazed surface but it probably requires some specific procedures. Since this pan is hinged at the end instead of the side like other folding omelet pans I've seen, it doesn't seem like you actually cook the contents in both sides since it won't fit on a burner. I'm guessing you would preheat, turning several times to get both sides hot, put contents in one side, close it up, flip during cooking, making more of a frittata. Aha! I think I am getting close now - that must be what it's for. Now I'll focus my research on frittata and cooking on unglazed terra cotta.

Kris

[Carole B]

I somehow suspect that you would not need to flip the pan. Terracotta holds heat and I think that will remove the need to turn what must be a heavy pan.

As suggested, it might also be ideal to cook the thick vegetable filled fritatte (omelettes) without breaking them OR turning the pan. The base would need to be well greased/oiled and it should be cooked slowly to avoid burning...

What is written on the top? I can't make it out!

[krisbhatti]

It says "LA SALUTE E NELLA COTTA, LA COTTA, MADE IN ITALY" Sorry, I should have put that in the original post! Do you think I should soak it in water like other terra cotta cooking instructions I've seen? I believe you're right about not necessarily needing to flip - if I have the whole thing properly heated, the retained heat bake from the top. I always figure there must be some specific advantage to unique pieces like this and this would certainly be a help. Before, I always just had a second skillet heated for cooking the flip side. I'm heading to my cookbooks now to find a good frittata recipe and will give it a try. I'll post pictures of the results.

Thanks for all the replies!
Kris

[pigro]

ah - hadn't noticed that the pans were unglazed. conventional wisdom is that such pots shouldn't be put on a burner (or any other direct heat), and that they shold be soaked in water for a while before each use & then brought up to temp slowly, thereby effectively steaming the food (there's a good summary of do's & don'ts here Cooking in Clay Pots).

I'm now confused, as "steaming" an egg based dish sounds (literally) like a recipe for disaster, even if you could do it on a burner ... though the website linked to above does suggest that food will "crisp/brown" in unglazed clay, so I suppose it's worth a try.

ps. - irrelevant now (if you are not putting the unglazed pan on a burner) but I don't see why the hinge being on the long axis would prevent the pan being so used? simply put the pan on a burner at either left or right edge of the hob & position it such that the handles extend outward to the same extremity, i.e. away from the other burners??

[krisbhatti]

I'm pretty sure this pan is meant to be used on the stovetop - I wouldn't want to put the plastic (Bakelite) handles in the oven. The reason I can't cook in both sides at the same time is simple logistics - the pans are too big to be opened up and fit on two burners of the stove. I think that would defeat the purpose of having it hinged in the first place and you would lose the baking effect.

I decided to just go for it and try it out with the info I have gathered so far. I didn't soak it, but it did absorb a bit of water when I washed it just before using it. I put it on the lowest flame to preheat. I flipped it after 7 minutes; after another 10 minutes I coated the bottom pan with olive oil and flipped it again, raising the flame to the middle setting.

After 20 minutes of preheating, I brushed the pan with oil again and poured in the eggs.

After the eggs cooked for 6 minutes, they were mostly set up except for the far end - I guess I didn't have the pan centered well.

I flipped the pan and let it cook for another 3 minutes.

The eggs did not release when I flipped it so that was probably unnecessary. I used a stiff plastic spatula to loosen the eggs. I lost a nice crust, but it did come out in one piece just fine.

Next try will be with more eggs and probably more oil. I'm guessing the pan will become seasoned over time and hopefully release better, giving a nice crispy crust. I'll raise the heat sooner next time and preheat a little less time. I'll also start looking at some tortilla recipes to try.

The frittata would have looked nicer with the other side up on the plate, but that didn't stop me from eating it!

Thanks,
Kris