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divina

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Everything posted by divina

  1. forget the cookbooks as the Italians also don't measure with cups and tsp's. ingredients differ enough to change the results too. I send brownie mix, lemon bar mix, See's nuts and chews chocolates, jelly bellies... etc Food speaks! If your daughter can teach them pancakes! that is fun too! maybe she can bring a set of measuring cups, spoons etc. and write the recipe for them! PS the flour here is really different, more like cake flour.
  2. to start where did you eat that you didn't like? I can give you a short list of my favorites
  3. You are very lucky to be getting paid at all, plus only working 4 days a week! Many would think of that as a cream position!!!! no kidding. In Europe ( I have been here for 25 years from America) most resto workers do 6 days a week 12 to 13 hours a day, and people look at monthly wages, not hourly per week. When I worked as a pastry chef in America, it was in a 5 star hotel, union wages and overtime! Think of it as saving money. you are getting paid and trained.
  4. When I went into food professionally, I chose pastry too. Looking in the kitchen was how I decided. I was working in a 5 star hotel in San Francisco, in 1979. It was a very "French" kitchen. Lots of men - lots of yelling. The women in the kitchen were the salad and veggie prep, and the only other place I saw to go where I could create a future ( and not get yelled at) was pastry. HOURS?- our shop closed from 2am to 4am to be cleaned. We baked our own croissants,breakfast breads, muffins, cookies plus desserts for two in house restaurants and banquet service as well as room service. I always thought that the men in the kitchen were great at tweeking a sauce, but the preciseness of pastry was more for gay men and women. ( where I worked) Looking at the pastry teams, mostly men, again stress related? Construction? pulling sugar ( pain!) who knows.
  5. true adam.. it is all very confusing. one must read the protein content of the flours, not trust the OO or O labeling. When I want to make bread, I go to the bakery and buy bread flour as I cannot easily buy it in the stores. in america to replace OO flour I usually suggest White lily from the south when making the pasta frolla.
  6. I live in Italy and have been here 25 years, Only went on vacation once in Sardegna, but have friends from there. Email me and let me know more, would be glad to help.
  7. ciao- just got back from touring for a week in Chianti. If you want to go to delfina's, one of our temples.... go for lunch! it is not close to where you are, and he scenery is lovely I went twice last month( see my blog) Solociccia in panzano ( dario;s) is also fabulous and fun. dinners at 7 and 9... or sunday lunch. it is a barfy curvy road so drive slow! I have a chianti dining guide on my site for beginners. WE also ate at La Panzanelle, after panzano going to Radda.. fabulous. San Giovanni is actually on the A1, so you can hit places out there too. I will look them up there are some places not to miss!
  8. it is a guest house with working farm and dinners that rate right up there with michelin star experiences! Plus she does cooking schools and foraging classes, raises pigs and makes her own prosciutto etc!
  9. The lower gluten flours also absorb less liquids. Cookwise has a great chapter dedicated to doughs. I sometimes use 00 for both pizza and pasta, and due to the low protein/gluten get much more tender dough, which is also easier to work. When I teach I start students with 00, and then go to the higher gluten dough. Bakeries here get most of the hard wheat flour for bread, from Canada " Manitoba". Usually the 00 is a low gluten , around 10 percent protein, unlike the hard wheat flour which is around 13. PS I LOVE the thin crust crunchy pizza crust! better than a doughy thick crust for me in most places, although in Naples they have it down! Most of the fab pizza places use Caputo flour which is 00 info on Caputo Pizza Flour "00"
  10. too late, but I made "head cheese" with mine! Did this recipe for my presentation at IACP with Fergus Henderson in Seattle years ago. used orange zest and vin santo with a touch of chili here is the step by step
  11. Ciao here I am! From Florence's Central Market at San Lorenzo you can get stuff vacuum packed to bring home, and bubble wrapped for breakables! As people have mentioned I have a dining guide, by neighborhoods! Another nice place I haven't put on my site is in piazza San Marco near the Accademia called Accademia, it is quite popular! and if you go there you MUST try the Schiacciata bread from Pugi in the piazza!!! Near the Duomo is GROM gelato, and on the same street is Coquinarius wine bar! wine bars are great for lighter meals! on my site is also a guide for Chianti, and Siena is there too! As for bringing stuff home, no mozzarella, no ricotta.. other cheeses are fine vacuum packed ( I go to Baroni Alimentari and to Conti who is right in front) olive oil, dried porcini, dried sicilian cherry tomatoes, etc....) and there is a recipe for riccarelli on my website! I make them not as sweet as the Siena version. There is a new chocolate ricciarelli now too, one is dipped the other has cocoa! Enjoy!
  12. I live here in Florence. Everyone loves the Davanzati! the brunelleschi is a more formal olds style hotel 12 years old.... Acqua al due for the pasta tasting dinner is where I took my 21 year old nephew! a favorite with all the college kids here. I have a dining guide online on my site, but one not on my site which I love and would be festive is Da Giovanni, on via del moro. Owned by Giovanni Latini, of the famous I Latini, a calmer nicer version. If you want crazy.... go to I latini.. will be unforgettable. DA camillo on Borgo San Jacopo a favorite of mine, or Buca Orafo near the Ponte Vecchio.
  13. yes I was talking about the slow food school in Jesi. too bad! I would say do not plan on getting paid. Do you speak Italian? and if you are working in a restaurant 100 hours a week, you have no time for life.... or really experiencing the culture! The reality of it all is not the dream! I have a friend with an organic farm that takes apprentices in Chianti. she is Canadian so english is ok! that would be a possibility
  14. Ciao! I came to Italy over 25 years ago, but times have changed! I would try connecting with someone in the states to get your sponsered, find the first kitchen that will take you. Many take students for 6 months at a time, but you will be peeling carrots often! are you in NY? There is a nice school here in Jesi that does a fabulous 3 month program and then gets you an apprenticeship! probably the best investment.
  15. divina

    Gnocchi Bianchi

    I found a Coch di gries made with semolino, but not gnocchi and another semolino fritto ( dropped by spoonfuls)
  16. I agree, there are many places to enjoy a fine pizza, and we all have our favorites. Usually I like a thin crust if I eat a pizza, at da michele, it was thin, I have also seen pizza's from there with thicker crusts, more like what I have had everywhere else in Naples. NOT AMERICAN thick.. but a perfect ring of well cooked dough.. When I was at Europea for lunch it was PACKED, I immagine like in Florence, more of a business mans favorite as it was filled with guys in suits and ties, no tourists. I know price is a heavy factor too, no where in Florence is a pizza 4 euro! when the euro replaced the lira the price went from 10,000 liira to 10 euro! Where I live in Tuscany there are a million pizzaira's because that is really the only food people can afford to eat our on a regular basis.
  17. Thanks for your feedback I love having homework... it is strange though that of the 4 places I went to this trip, all had the style of dough that I had at Europeo. wondering if I could be having a "tourist" moment, I googled for some Italian reviews too, and found this one Where for those that doen't speak Italian he raves about the whole menu, and calls the pizza a classic perfect execution. perhaps he is also wrong, but it made his top 10 list and he seems to be a professional food critic Do you have some foto's of a correct Pizza? Not all of us are lucky enough to be born Italian! nor in Naples! I would be interested as I have been collaborating with a person that exports to the states. We use Caputo flour, long proofing of the dough and high heat for cooking. I know Da Michele pizza was only 4 euro, so a great deal, but for some reason was more moved by the hype around it, than the actual pizza. I adore Burton Anderson and respect his opinion, and went there based on his suggestion. Damn, now I have to go stand in line again! will keep an open mind, but the flavor and texture was fabulous on what I ate on all 4 occasions. and if it is not right... forgive them! I know living in Florence too, locals ( I am married to a Florentine) often fight about what is correct or not correct with the local dishes, if pork liver should be left whole or ground for fegatelli, the spice blends to be usedand other such things. thank you for the enlightenment! looking forward to a da michele pizza foto!
  18. Although not Italian, I have been living full time in Italy ( Florence) for the past 25 years. I am not a lover of heavy pizza, and love the thin crusted pizza I get in Florence, since pizza is served as a per person pizza. On a recent trip to Naples, I changed my mind about pizza. having eaten the last trip and the "famous" da Michele, which I found not worth the wait. ( I will go back to try again as soo many people love it, my pizza was ok.. not worth waiting for though) This trip I had pizza at three different places and found it to be consistent at all three places, the dough was flavorful, cooked to perfection and easy to digest after! We had it served as bread under sliced meats, topped with raw tomatoes, cooked margarita style with tomato and mozzarella, and all fabulous! perhaps I like tourist pizza??? Here is the chef... and note the pizza boxes behind him near the ovens.. I guess someone likes it enough to get it to go! We certainly are all entitled to our own opinions... and thank god all love different things. I have several places I will try when I get back to Naples, such as Brandi ( touristy? where the Pizza Margarita was"invented". Last trip to Torino, I saw a "BRANDI" making Pizza at one of Chiambretti's restaurants, and the man struck me as being so intent and passionate about his pizza's that made me want to try the original. The world is fabulous because of it's diversity!
  19. ciao I was also at L'Europeo with Marlene on the pizza feast, and yes I have been to Da Michele and would never go back! I do agree we all have our own preferences on what a perfect Pizza dough is. All the places we visited on our tour, served some sort of Pizza as an appetizer, and all were the same lovely style. A fabulous flavorful wonderful dough, which I did not experience at Da Michele! In speaking with another Napoletana woman , I asked her about Da Michele and she said it was only for tourists! When we at at L'Europea, there were no other tourists, the place was PACKED with Italian business men in suits and ties, so yes, could be expensive, but also as it is near the Chamber of Commerce, looked like business lunches to me. Will post a picture of the pizza's
  20. how long are you planning on staying? looking for one week or three months?
  21. divina

    Trattoria Garga

    Ciao! Sharon is a good friend of mine, Garga is a very famous high end trattoria that she and her Ex husband "GARGA" created. The food and ambience are fabulous, I consider it a sort of Twisted Tuscan, no traditional recipes.. all very creative as they are both artists! Have fun!
  22. I find that to be true often in Italian dishes. Italians cook, but often names are given by others. OF course there is an on going battle to the origins of many dishes, if they are French or were taught to the French by Catherine de' Medici's chefs, such as Bechamel sauce- Colla in Italy. On international menu's , Veal Florentine, Eggs Florentine etc, all are dishes prepared with spinach, Here in Florence Veal Florentine is with peas. Florentines are big eaters of spinach , chard or anything leafy and green, but it was the French that codified the recipes they saw. Even in Italy names change for the same dish, area to area. A classic dessert Zuppa Inglese, is said to have been a dessert which fell and was reassembled - cake and custard, while being served to an English guest- so called English soup.
  23. I believe it is lambs ear lettuce and says to cut off the roots! It is usually sold with it's tiny roots attached.
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