Timpano is but one local dialect term for a timballo, amongst many others for differing regions around Italy, and as its a movie, it's perfectly ok to call it that.
Just as there are many versions of timballo, there are many names for it too
Just as there are many versions of timballo, there are many names for it too
I am having a devil of a time finding fresh pasta sheets. Will cooked lasagna noodles work as well, or will they not be strong enough to hold the filling?
We saw the movie when it first came out. Watched it again this summer with friends and our respective 14 year old sons. And then we made one ! Two foodie boys guided by my wife Alyce. It was amazing and even better the second day.
1
I'd like to try it, but I fear marginal benefits exceed costs, both pecuniary and temporal.
There should be a catalog for well-made Timpano that one could order like gourmet Christmas pudding.
There should be a catalog for well-made Timpano that one could order like gourmet Christmas pudding.
Love the recipe, but the Italian name of the dish is Timballo, not Timpano.
3
Bravo Giuseppe! Exactly what I was thinking and timpano means eardrum in English. The recipe for timballo in "Il Gattopardo" by Tomasi di Lampedusa can be found online. The English translation for "Il Gattopardo" is "The Leopard", however the animal in question is actually the North African wild cat called serval in English....totally lost in translation in so many ways...
4
In the movie, which we watched after making this dish for Christmas dinner, Secondo explains that it is called "timpano" because it resembles a timpani drum.
Please, the meatballs are the best part of the dish! Get rid of the salami instead. And nobody needs to make lasagna noodles by hand or get fresh noodles. My family never did.
2
Ms. Clark's recipe is fine for folks who want a shortcut (not to mention squash and broccoli), but there's a particular beauty to a timpano's dough that is not approached by store-bought noodles. (Noodles!) I've taken to using a "frolla," or shortbread, dough that is light and holds its own flavor against the rich internal ingredients. Also, making a meat ragu, then separating the liquid from the meat and using the liquid inside the timpano is a great way to add flavor. I would not avoid that step if, of course, one can find the time. Mangia bene!
5
"Ages ago?" I worked on the movie Big Night and it was 1994. I don't remember tasting the timpano prepared for the camera. Food on the set sits under the lights and can be glazed with inedible coating for effect. Maybe I should give your recipe a try.
6
one of my favorite films - i own it! what a great experience that must have been!
Since when is making timpano about saving time? Where is the love?
Part of the greatness of timpano is all of the hard work to make it for the people you love. The reason why people applaud when timpano is presented is just as much about the love, the heart, the obsession, of the person making it as it is about the delicious dish.
Reading the word "timpano" and "shortcut" in the same sentence or article is just wrong and robs the dish of its history and culture. Is there really such a thing as a "modern" timpano? If there is, there shouldn't be.
Steven Kolpan
Woodstock, NY
Part of the greatness of timpano is all of the hard work to make it for the people you love. The reason why people applaud when timpano is presented is just as much about the love, the heart, the obsession, of the person making it as it is about the delicious dish.
Reading the word "timpano" and "shortcut" in the same sentence or article is just wrong and robs the dish of its history and culture. Is there really such a thing as a "modern" timpano? If there is, there shouldn't be.
Steven Kolpan
Woodstock, NY
29
I wholeheartedly agree with everything Steven Kolpan says.
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Exactly. And given that, why go the the considerable bother to track down (far too thick) fresh lasagne noodles, when all you need to make your own one-piece timpano-wrap is a bowl, a rolling pin, a flour-shaker, and a lifetime-total-commitment of about one hour of practice? It's also trivially-easy to rope kids into helping, which doesn't take TOO much extra time...
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Clifford, I second the motion!
2
Interesting. I've made perhaps a dozen timpani over the past 15 years and developed an approach that alternates flavor layers with barrier layers, e.g., a layer of hot Italian sausage meatballs coated with a fig sauce...then a layer of potatoes, grated, mixed with garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and then fried like has browns into a solid mat which sits on top of the meatballs...then a layer of roasted eggplant slices, rolled with goat cheese and drizzled with an anchovy-balsamic-cilantro pesto. The barrier layer works with the layers above and below it, and keeps them from touching so you get distinct flavors. But it's 4-5 hours of work before this can go into the oven. Your version would save a bunch of time.
18
You really do need to post that recipe, plz. It would be a service to mankind.
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As always, the link to click for the recipe is below the article. Just scroll down to where it says Modern Timpano and click.
Please post your recipe for all us Timpano wannabe fans. Please.
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Timballo featured prominently in the 1996 film Big Night, although the dish there is referred to as timpano (a regional or family term).[1] The movie seems to have increased the popularity of the dish.[6][7]