definition: french gnocchi

photo from North Point Journal

Last night on the Top Chef finale, Dale had planned to do a gnocchi dish which I'd never heard of, French gnocchi.

Curiousity peaked, I did a bit of research. In French gnocchi, there is no inclusion of potato. The dough instead, is a pâte à choux, or a common pastry dough used for cream puffs, eclairs, and gougeres. The dough is cooked over a low heat, to dissipate any moisture, eggs are then added one by one. The dough is then piped into little nuggets and dropped into boiling water to cook. The resulting gnocchi is incredibly light and tender.

Of course, there are so many other types of gnocchi out there:

potato gnocchi- traditional, made with boiled mashed potato
gnocchi gnudi (from Tuscany) - also called "strozzapreti", made with spinach and ricotta
gnocchi alla romana- made with semolina, then baked

Due to the large population of Italian immigrants in Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela, gnocchi has made its way into South American cuisine. They are referred to as ñoquis, and are traditionally eaten on the 29th of each month., when families had fewer funds, and this was a means of getting by.