Bigoli, Bigolaro, Bigolarist

hans

Wed, 24 Aug 2016 13:43:54 GMT

Hello,
I"m a proud but somewhat frustrated owner of a Bigolaro extruder.
I"ve tried it a couple of times, but it never worked out properly.
Either they stick together when exiting the die (if the deugh is too soft) or they come out nicely but break into pieces when drying over a stick.
I"ll appreciate it, if you could give me a tip or two.
Cheers......hans

fx

Sun, 6 Mar 2016 21:03:57 GMT

Great memories indeed!

Slick

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:35:42 GMT

Ahhh, This brings back meremios of my mom and grandma"s homemade fettucini! Only there was no kitchen aid , other than my brother Tyler, and Me. Our job: After mom rolled out the dough, tri-folded it, and cut it from one end to the other in strips, Tyler and I took the strips in a bowl to the back yard, gently unfolded them one at a time, and each held an end, to wiggle them into a lightly stretched single strand. The strands were then placed side by side to dry on large beach towels in the backyard. The sauce: It contains whipping cream, among other things. We aptly call this: heart attack on a plate . I haven"t made it for Santosh in a long time, since we are going low refined carbs. Maybe a whole wheat version could be tried. You have inspired me! Do u think I could get Santosh to help me wiggle the noodles out? Or should we too be shopping for a kitchen aid mixer? hehehehe!Have fun, guys!Lisa

Gigi

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 05:56:27 GMT

Hi Fx, love your blog & your details instruction. The only problem is, I live in the US, and I would like to purchase both the garganelli comb and the bigoli machine. I don"t speak Italian so how do I order these fancy gadgets? Thanks so much

fx

Mon, 7 Feb 2011 18:08:15 GMT

Marco, you won"t find this machine in Italy, it is very local to Vincenza, and there is only one maker of new ones. The Kenwood bronze (I think it"s bronze and not brass) extruder is really well-made but indeed, the bigolaro is more fun for guests and really original. The amount of torque needed is unbelievable. You really need to have the bench - it just won"t work otherwise. If you ever visit Switzerland let me know and perhaps I can give you a demonstration!

Marco

Wed, 2 Feb 2011 13:54:44 GMT

Great post!!! Love that piece of kit. Will look for one next time I"m in Italy. I"ve had an Imperia pasta machine with every possible attachement (including raviol, raviolinini, cannelonni) they offer for more than 15 years. Have also had the cheap (original) Kenwood pasta extruder - the plastic one. It is OK, but never got that good of a result and they only have 6 dies. Just bought the metal Kenwood attachment - it has 13 dies, all in brass. Not quite as interesting as your bigoli press, but looking forward to trying your duck ragu soon. It does have a bigoli die - but not the same as your fantastic press.

Richard

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:55:49 GMT

I very much enjoy your blogs, articles, recipes, excellent photographs, and-- especially-- your sense of humor! I just today received my bigolaro, along with all four of the dies. I am anxious to try it out that weekend. I recently purchased a vintage chitarra on eBay, and have had great fun using that interesting kitchen device.

My question is, where can one purchase the bench for the bigolaro? Or are their "plans" for the one pictured on your website? I really like the style of that one, and am wondering where one can be purchased (however, my father-in-law is a master craftsman and could easily make one if plans are available.

Thanks for all of your helpful information! I really enjoy reading everything that you write.

amy

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 21:19:05 GMT

Hi, can you reccomend where to purchase bigoli press and garganelli comb?

Michael

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:56:31 GMT

Did I get it right? 100 g of regular white flour plus 100 g of durum semolina plus one egg + (olive oil) per person for the bigolaro? This is about double of the amount of flour I normally use for pasta ... Thank you for the great article!

fx

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:30:51 GMT

Craig, duck fat to fry potatoes is fine, but a pund of duck fat dissolved in a sauce is absolutely revolting and will get people sick. And I don"t like confit, to me it"s a ghastly way of cooking parts of duck people don"t buy (legs) in rendered fat. They are always overcooked and dry. Much better this way with a duck you buy whole.

Craig

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:16:55 GMT

Discard the duck fat? What is wrong with you....

Ever heard of confit?

I know you have so why don"t you update the article.

David Llewellyn

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:54:01 GMT

What a great article. I spent a whole day finding a bigolero outside Padova five years ago. I have made bigoli with both 00 flour and eggs (1 egg per 100 gms of flour) and with a recipe that calls for milk. I like your desription of how to keep the bigoli separated. I think I agree that the dough must be very stiff. I will try the 1/2 semolina, 1/2 plain flour and one egg recipe and see if it doesn"t work better. Thanks for a grear article. By the way, where can I get the bench? It would not fit on the plane back to the U.S. I have attached the bigolero/torchio to a board and clamp the board to my counter. But I would prefer the bench.

Eddie Chan

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:05:04 GMT

Experienced my 1st ever bigoli all"anitra last night in Sasorosso in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - small ristorante runned by a Milanese native. Totally bowled over by this amazing pasta dish - the deep rich flavors are such a departure from a regular bolognese. Loved it so much I did a search and found your site. Now I know the "secret recipe"! Great photography. Thanks.

fx

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:28 GMT

Mario, you can look up Bottene figli on the Internet as explained in the article

mario kristal

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 16:41:28 GMT

hi! where i can find the �bigolaro�"?
thank you.
Mario.

Walter Aprile

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:44:58 GMT

Apparently yes, it is very good exercise! I noticed one funny thing, that is that if I run the crank a bit fast the pasta comes out warm - not hot - must be all the shear stress in the cochlea.

But really, the meat grinder is not made for doing these sorts of things. Cleaning it up has taken a lot of time, I kept finding little hidden corners where pasta had taken up residence.

fx

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:08:33 GMT

Hey, I did bigoli twice this week already, yesterday with rye flour! Is the crank on your sausage machine long enough to permit turning by hand?

Walter Aprile

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:26:26 GMT

Dear FX, last weekend I wanted to make pasta, but since I don"t own a bigolaro yet I used a meat grinder -the type you use to make sausages-. If you remove the knives, it extrudes pasta just fine. It does need some cranking, of course, but that works as an appetizer.

The sticking-together problem is of course a bitch, but perhaps I will find a way to mount it vertically...

Patty

Mon, 11 May 2009 15:44:41 GMT

Hi Francois,
I was thinking about buying a torchio thanks to you I found the place. The funny thing is that I live about 1 hour away from it :-). I would like to know the number of the torchio you bought, I was thinking about n. 6 or B what do you think? Thanks in advance. Patty

fx

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 09:00:36 GMT

Evan, try with a tablespoon of grated bottarga for 2 as a main course, add a tablespoon of oil and a teaspoon of lemon. Then taste and adjust accordingly.

Evan

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 18:18:12 GMT

Hello Francois,

Just wondering--what proportions do you use for the bottarga/lemon juice/olive oil mixture? Looks delicious.

Best

Evan

fx

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:19:37 GMT

Hello Linda, thanks for visiting! It must really be great to have a bigolaro/torchio passed on from your grandmother, a real family heirloom to create many happy feasts in the future. You need to have a very crumbly dough, you could even try some dough that looks like crumble on apple crumble rather than a proper dough. Very, very little liquid. In fact traditional bigolis were made with whole wheat soft grain, not durum semolina which was a thing grown in the South and that farmers in the North could not afford nor grow. But durum semolina has superior qualities for pasta.

Linda

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:03:27 GMT

A friend of mine just forwarded your site to me and I LOVE IT - the bigoli are great. I also own one, which is called a torchio. It belonged to my grandmother in Italy, and my father made the bench for me. You can see it on my blog, ciaochowlinda.blogspot.com. I found it very difficult to get the right consistency of dough. It kept sticking coming out of the machine, even though the dough was made with 100 pct semolina, and it was extremely hard to crank. I will try you suggestion of mixing semolina with regular flour. The duck ragout look exquisitely delicious and a perfect complement to the bigoli. bravo. I"ll be checking your posts frequently from now on.
Linda

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:17:59 GMT

Robert, thanks for your visit! Yes you are right, some bigolari are not as user-friendly as others. I know that bigolari traditionalists use whole wheat flour and I use some sometimes. But Italian cuisine would still be cooking teats if there was no progress, and nowadays many people including in Veneto, use regular flour when making bigoli. The original recipes used wholewheat tender flour, as hardwheat flour was too expensive for people from the North of Italy. But if they could have afforded hardwheat flour, the same Veneto farmers would probably have used it. Cinammon does not sauces sweet, our brain does if we are fixated on the usual associations of cinammon with sugar. But it works great in ragus, you should try it once, just a little piece to humor me.

robert piro

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:29:46 GMT

I hate to rain on anyone"s parade but I have a torchio, the Venetian name for the machine. First, it does not come with clamps so you need to permanently attach it to a table two inches thick. Second, you need to load the machine FROM THE BOTTOM which means you have to turn the table upside down to do this. Third, cleaning the dies and the cylinder are a real bitch. Fourth, real Venetian bigoli should contain at least some whole wheat flour and must contain some warm milk and melted butter. Bottom line, I love the machine. It �is beautiflly made. The fact that it extrudes straight down (rather than sideways as with other machines) make it easier to produce pasta that doesn"t stick together.Didn"t care for the cinnamon stick in your sauce, it made the sauce too sweet tasting. I like bigoli better with the other famous bigoli sauce-------anchovies and onion. Loved your article. RJP

Mary Sanavia

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:33:52 GMT

Thank you for sharing your delicious bigolaro adventure with all of us. All your pictures look so beautiful and delicious!!! my kind of party!!!

fx

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:53:39 GMT

Diva, thanks for visiting, the bigolaro is indeed great fun although the bench is a bit flimsy, it made a nasty crack after a very lean lady sat on it!

fx

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:49:21 GMT

Sarah, the duck rag� is a little work but so fun, it"s no longer work but pleasure! I like to get the whole bird to understand better the food and where it comes from. If you can"t look the carcass in the eye, better become a veggie! Peter had great fun, the bigolaro part is really easy and it works every time. Next week I"ll show another recipe with the bigolaro - visit again soon!

Sarah

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:11:46 GMT

Positively beautiful. I love your recipes! This looks delicious, and very labor intensive, and daunting as well. You see, I have never dealt with bones in mt cooking, much less a whole duck, head still fully attached.
My favorite pictures in this post include the one of your friend (Peter?) sitting on the bigolaro looking thrilled to be there! As well as the duck carcass draped across the biglaro, neck limp, cooking accoutrements gathered around.

diva

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:14:37 GMT

That"s one super cool piece of equipment! makes pasta making seem all the more fun! And the bigoli is fat - just the right size. Mmmm.

jensenly

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:57:36 GMT

Whoa! I kinda freaked at the duck head and the gizzard-thingy, but I told myself I need to be a more grown-up foodie and embrace the entire cycle of cooking. I should probably go and spend a week on a farm or something.

Nice post, Francios!

Jordan Chandler

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:40:09 GMT

Could you post the exact recipe ingredients, or did I miss it somewhere on the page?

I have a duck defrosting right now :)

claudia (cook eat FRET)

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:25:24 GMT

You are amazing...I so respect what you do I so wish I lived close so I could be a guest at your dinners...

fx

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:32:20 GMT

Cynthia, thanks for your kinds words!

Cynthia

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:31:47 GMT

Have I told you lately how much I love your blog. I learn so much and get inspired with each post. You are the best.

fx

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:52:26 GMT

Alys, I am not a fiend for duck confit, but perhaps for a good cassoulet I"d make an exception!

fx

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 04:52:16 GMT

Una, heart attack after the food attack with that much duck fat. But hey, what a pleasant way to go!

Una Smith

Sat, 9 Aug 2008 23:32:07 GMT

Please send your duck fat to my house, special delivery. Every molecule of it will be savored, spread on br�tzeln still fresh from the oven. Oh, oh, food attack. Gotta go!

fx

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 08:06:41 GMT

test

Alys

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 10:11:10 GMT

Great pasta tools that you have! It sounds like a fabulous dining adventure.

But, fx, if you discard your duck fat how will you ever make duck confit? I agree with all of the posters who note duck fat is superior for many dishes. As it is mild in flavour I also use the fat to make pastry for savoury pies.

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:46:19 GMT

Shreela, thanks for visiting! The bigolis actually cut themselves while serving, and if my guests had started to eat them Chinese-style, making the noise of a thousand cows being machine-milked, I�d have kicked them out I think. But that�s personal. For the raviolis if you can buy this for 10$ or so, go ahead, otherwise I�d recommend starting with a simple pastry cutting wheel, this costs nothing and you can buy old ones from Ebay. They are way cool to use.

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:43:12 GMT

Fran thanks for your praise! Yes I was pretty satisfied with the way I treated by guests this day, they seemed to find the whole think entertaining and tasty. It�s a difficult balance, as when you do the fancy bit with the bigolaro, you raise expectactions. They think �This better be good - real good�, so if you fail to deliver the meal becomes memorable in the opposite sense.

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:41:42 GMT

Walter, thank you! The bigolis, like most fresh pasta, cook in under 90 seconds. Really it�s a matter of getting the water hot, then pouring everything in at the same time, make sure nothing sticks, and then taste a bit and remove swiftly. Anyway they continue to cook in the sauce so all you really need is 60 seconds flat.

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:40:20 GMT

Paul, yes next time they might have to slaughter their own pigs - who knows? Once I invited friends and made them - with their joyful approval - create tortellinis from scratch. They still talk about it.

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:39:15 GMT

Andrea, thanks for your kind words! This was a rather successful lunch I think, despite the flour cloud explosion!

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:37:28 GMT

Martin, yes duck fat is great but really the stuff that floats on top of the stock pot the next day is not hugely appetizing and it doesn�t taste like anything. Much better to buy your duck fat in a pot, methinks.

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:34:36 GMT

Saxit, you got me here, yes in fact I did a small batch two nights before and had a backup plan in case the bigolis turned into a disaster. But they didn�t! Thanks for the link I have fixed it now.

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:33:39 GMT

Ouroboros, I don�t strangle my ducks myself, but indeed those are strangled ducks rather than bled ducks, so that the blood remains in the meat.

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:32:49 GMT

Thuan, indeed it is a rather scenic bigoli joint!

fx

Sun, 3 Aug 2008 14:29:50 GMT

Paul, there must be something wrong with my photographic lens if my picture made you think Cynthia�s hands were not in style with her fancy shoes. Both belong to the same person - a distinguished lady.