Pestil

The pulp is spread thin on cloth and dried until the sheet peels off without tearing.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 2 kg ripe mulberries, plums or apricots
• 150 g sugar, or none if the fruit is very ripe
• 3 tablespoons cornflour
• 100 ml water
• juice of 1 lemon

for the cloths

• clean cotton sheeting
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil

Method

1. THE PULP IS SPREAD THIN ON CLOTH AND DRIED UNTIL THE SHEET PEELS OFF WITHOUT TEARING. Cotton sheeting, wiped with the thinnest film of oil, stretched taut and the cooked pulp spread over it with a palette knife to about three millimetres. Then left to dry -- in strong sun a day or two, in a very low oven eight to ten hours. The test is the peel: a corner is lifted, and if it comes away from the cloth as a continuous flexible sheet, leaving nothing behind, it is done. If it tears or stays stuck it needs longer; if it has gone brittle and cracks it has had too long.
2. THE CLOTH IS OILED, AND VERY LIGHTLY. Two tablespoons rubbed over a large sheet with a cloth, so there is a film and no more. Dry cloth and the pestil cannot be released without shredding; a visible layer of oil and the sheet will not dry at all on its underside.
3. A LITTLE CORNFLOUR GOES INTO THE PULP AND IT IS WHAT HOLDS THE SHEET TOGETHER. Three tablespoons slaked in water and cooked into the pulp. Fruit alone dries to something fragile that cracks along every line as soon as it is folded; the starch gives a flexible sheet that can be rolled.
4. THE PULP IS SIEVED AND MUST BE SMOOTH. Cooked, then pushed through a sieve to remove skins, stones and fibre. A single piece of skin in a three-millimetre sheet is a weak point where it will tear when peeled.
5. IT IS SPREAD THIN AND EVENLY, WHICH MATTERS MORE THAN IT SEEMS. Three millimetres everywhere. A thick patch is still wet when the thin areas have gone brittle, and the sheet then has to be taken off in a state where part of it is wrong.
6. SUGAR IS OPTIONAL AND OFTEN UNNECESSARY. With very ripe mulberries there is no need for any. The point of the thing is a concentrated fruit sheet, and added sugar makes it tacky and slower to dry.
7. IT IS STORED ROLLED IN PAPER, NOT FLAT IN A BAG. Rolled with greaseproof paper between the turns. Stacked flat and sealed, the sheets sweat and stick into a solid block.
8. The fruit cooked with the water over a medium heat 20 MINUTES, until completely collapsed.
9. PUSHED THROUGH A SIEVE to remove all skins, stones and fibre.
10. Returned to the pan with the lemon juice and the sugar if used.
11. The cornflour slaked in a little cold water, stirred in, and cooked 5 MINUTES until glossy and thickened.
12. Cotton sheeting stretched taut over trays and wiped with the THINNEST film of oil.
13. The pulp spread with a palette knife to an EVEN 3 mm.
14. DRIED in strong sun 1 to 2 DAYS, or in an oven at 60°C for 8 to 10 HOURS.
15. TESTED by lifting a corner: it should PEEL AWAY as a continuous FLEXIBLE sheet leaving nothing on the cloth. Tearing or sticking means longer; cracking means too long.
16. Peeled off whole, cut into strips and ROLLED with greaseproof paper between the turns.
17. Keeps 6 months.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Turkey · All recipes