Fluffbuff

  Thank you for all the good suggestions and resources, on- and off-line. There is no panna in my future (yet), but my ideas a little clearer. Here is what I found in my pursuit of panna cotta.

Ingredients: there are two kinds of panna: "panna fresca" and "panna da cucina". Panna da cucina is very dense, has a rather long expiration date, and is used in non-dessert dishes such as pasta. Panna fresca is less dense, although very high in fat content, can be whipped, and is exactly what's required to make panna cotta.
As for possible substitutes, I've been warned by those in the know against trying to use heavy cream (much lighter than panna, available in the US) or the British "double cream" (much denser and closer to cheese than panna) or even crème fraiche (more acidic).

Availability: Even with all the help I received from you, I cannot find panna fresca. So far, I have only been able to find panna da cucina. Note to self: remind Ben that we need to move to Italy… or close enough that foraging is less of a pain.

Recipes: the older recipes — predating my move to California, fifteen years ago — did not require the use of gelatin. All the recent recipes do, at least the ones I found in books, websites, blogs and talking to Italian friends, including one who is active in the Slow Food movement. Using gelatin does not appeal to me. It may be a combination of what those sheets of gelatin look like and what they used to be called in Italy: colla di pesce (fish glue). Whatever the reason, I find the idea slightly distasteful.

So, what next?

I think I'm ready to give up on the whole panna cotta thing. Sorry, folks. I know a couple of you were really eager to hear that I found the perfect panna and the perfect recipe and that I was going to share it all. Alas, not this time. However, I do want to make some kind of dessert for my little Christmas party and most likely it'll be something Italian so… stay tuned.