Rosolare

There are some cooking terms which are un-translate-ble from English to Italian and others  from Italian to English.

To bake is translated in Italian with a phrase: mettere in forno

To baste the turkey in Italian needs a "dispendium" of words: ungere la superficie del tacchino con il fondo di cottura usando un pennello

We can understand why the Eglish language, being so direct, is one of the most largely used.

On the other side sometimes the romanticism of Italian language, gives more specificity to a concept. 

Today I want to explain the meaning of the verb Rosolare, which is not perfectly translated in English. Dictionaries report "to brown", "to roast" or even "to seal".

Rosolare is a verb composed by the root "ros-a" plus the coniugation "are".

Rosa in Italian means both the flower - rose - and the color pink. So pink and rose are "married" by the same name: delicacy and sweetness in one word. 

Thus: Rosolare means "to make it pink with delicacy and sweetness.

Rosolare is a verb used in cuisine when a food  mostly meat - is "fried" on a low heat until it becomes nice and pink.

Rosolare is also used with a metaphoric meaning: for instance, a girl can let a suitor to rosolare a fuoco lento - on a low fire - waiting for her response.

It is, in cuisine, the case of the Abbachio alla Romana, Lamb Roman style: a simple recipe where the actions must be well calibrated, as well as the amount of the flavor builders.

This is the recipe:

The abbacchio is the baby lamb which has eaten only the mother’s milk.

Ingredients:

1 kg. baby lamb

3 garlic cloves

olive oil

2 salted anchovies

vinegar

rosemary

Roast the pieces of lamb (leg, cage and shoulder, bones included) in olive oil and two whole garlic cloves in a large pan.

Pound a garlic clove, and mix with rosmary, anchovies and some vinegar.

As the lamb is well roasted, pour out the vinegar emulsion on the meat and stir well, until the vinegar has evaporated. Serve immediately

In a recipe is practically impossible to stop on a single verb. I used "to roast". Which is not proper, as someone would tend to heat up the olive oil and toss in the meat on high heat until it becomes brown. No correct. Below the pictures explain how to rosolare properly, rather than roasting.

Before adding the meat, the extra virgin olive oil  must be warmed up, avoiding to bring it to the smoke point.

The meat should cook slowly, with a constant and pleasant  "feezing" noise.

A lid can be put, causing a light steaming, to allow the cooking at the bone

The color will increase gradually.....

....until each piece of meat will be well done, nice and roasted  a puntino

Golden, succulent, soft and crisp at the same time, inviting, shiny: this is the perfect result of a good rosolare.

in two words: no rush