hathor

Adam...tune up those guitar strings and get going! But....you have so much available space in your cupboards, I'm green with envy. You could rent out that space in Manhattan!!

God. That's horrible.

I've been slammed with work, and I'm trying to be a good girl, and not get sucked in to the dinner thread....but I "accidently" hit the button...and I found myself drooling over all of these wonderful meals! I do believe in chamgpagne...I do believe...I do believe!!!

We had dinner at a fun restaurant (Cacio e Vino) with Weinoo the other night, and yes, we drank some wine from Abruzzo ( ), but we talked about how it was sort of difficult to find recipes from Abruzzo. So, I dug thru some of my files, and below is a list of recipes that I have. If any of them sound intriguing to you..PM me and I'll send you the recipe. My favorite pasta to make is 'alla chittara', or guitar string pasta. It's just the most handy-dandy pasta cutter, simple and effective. If you find one, buy it. I mad because mine is in Italy, and I'm *not. *Herbed Lamb *Lamb soup with saffron *“Tacconi” pasta with chick-peas and baccalà *“Guitar-string” pasta with ventricina sauce (The ventricina is a soft salame typical of this area, flavoured with hot red pepper and fennel seeds and takes its name from the fact that the casing is usually taken from the stomach, or ventre.) *Rack of Lamb with fresh herbs from the Maiella National Park (No, you don't have to go to Maiella National Park, the herbs are rosemary, sage and thyme.) *Guitar-string pasta with lamb ragù *Lamb’s Liver (Don't ask me...I HATE liver. Except for chicken, duck or goose liver!) *Sautéed fillets of rabbit with finferli mushrooms *Cheese and egg quenelles in sauce (This is a very tasty recipe!) *Guitar-String Pasta with Fresh Tomata and Aromatic Herbs from the Maiella Park *Herbed, Rolled Lamb *Guitar-String Pasta with Poor Man’s Ragù (This is a very wacky recipe. Calls for hard boiled eggs that you cut apart, tie up, which is not so easy..then take them apart and mush them up into the sauce. If somebody wants this recipe, I'd suggest keeping the eggs whole so that you can show off your handiwork.) Lamb and Artichokes *Crushed Spelt with Asparagus and Shaved Pecorino (this is a gorgeous to look at and delicious recipe. The asparagus is made into a puree.) ciao!

Elie, you never cease to amaze me!! Just gorgeous. Glove boning is so cool! Mr.BigJas: there are recipes around on the internet for making centerba type liqours. Or you can buy some amaros that might come close. Averna is one that you might be able to find. I'm only guessing here, and going by the name because I've never tasted that "Centerba", but I've tasted other "100 Herb" liquors, so I think they must be similar. Here's a rundown of one herbal recipe from Wikipedia.

Shaya, that was an excellent explanation, but maybe I can contribute a bit more info. De Cecco considers themselves to be a sort of bridge between classic artisinal pasta and mass produced pasta. DeCecco actually uses bronze dies for extruding the pasta, but they also use heat to dry their pasta. In my opinion, what makes DeCecco not artisinal is the wheat that they use. They strive for a very consistent product and will use wheat from all over the world to maintain that consistency. And for anyone in the US, the DeCecco product that is exported to the US must be vitamin fortified, so it is not the same product that you eat in Italy. I was fortunate to have toured the DeCecco plant, and it is truly something to see; but there is no doubt that it is a mass produced product. True artisinal pasta would be made in small batches, using the wheat from one location and one season. This pasta would be made using classic bronze dies and would be air dried. I doubt that there is any 'official' definition of artisinal.

Ciao TGullet. It's all good in Puglia! Here's my blog archive from our trip last October. Puglia blog. We were based in a small town outside of Gallipoli, which was excellent. It gave us easy travelling times to both coasts. Come hungry!

Wow. Great write up. consider the debt repaid in spades!!! Excellent beta!!

Thoughtful analysis, Russ. I keep going back to the European model, and trying to draw comparisons and parallels. One thing that I hadn't focused on was the farmer at the farmer's market. By and large, in central Italy, the actual farmer is not present at the market. The whole market business is run by market 'specialists', meaning that is their sole job: to collect the produce and bring it to the various markets. The consumer's shopping experience is not diminished by this. The market man has a steady and ongoing relationship with the actual farmers, so the market man is just an extension of the farmer. It's not a bad thing, it's just a little different. And how important is it to actually have the farmer there if they are buying lavender bath salts? The theme that I'm hearing is that people look at the pretty vegetables, but buy the prepared stuff. But, is it a hard reality that the profit margins are so slim, that the farmer can't outsource to a market person? Another question comes to mind: what is the impact of climate and growing seasons on a nationwide level? What happens in the Northeast where the growing season is so much shorter? I know there are successful CSA's in the NY area, but in the winter, all you are going to get is roots and apples. This is certainly a multi-faceted dilemma. And while we are talking about challenges, how do we get people to buy and cook more produce? Its a lot healthier than buying ready made cookies at the farmer's market. Now, that would be a seismic shift in American's consciousness, wouldn't it?

Beautiful as always, Shaya! The spaghetti in the photo, is it as thick as it looks in that shot? I'm asking because it looks like 'pici' or umbrecelli from Umbria.

79th and 1st?? I don't have a visa to go that far uptown!

Mitch, you are the man! You have an amazing ability to track down the good stuff!! Where is Agata & Valentina??

A high heat braise! You're a heretic! Seriously, what sort of pan? Earthenware? How long did it take, and just how big was that 'big cut' of meat? What the hell fun is it if you keep making everything the same ol' same ol' way??

Are you talking about the Slow Food Osteria guide? If you are, I wasn't aware that it was ever on line. They might be too "Slow" to think about putting it online... You might be able to order one thru your local Slow Food people. If you get stuck, let me know, I'll be in Italy fairly soon, and I can send you one.

Oh God. That is so depressing. It just makes me want to bang my head on the desk. Repeatedly. Obesity. Prepared Foods. Could there be any connection?? When did we get so lazy.....?

Dry the oregano and save it for another day. I prefer dry oregano any day. I don't know about botulism, but I have used fresh herbs, and the oil wound up fermenting. It was...uh....explosive! Don't know if gentle heat would cure that. Maybe using a dried herb would work better. Hey...let us know! P.S. I can kill just about anything too! I believe in survival of the fittest...if you live, you get to stay.

In your opinion, what's the difference in flavor and texture between traditional braises that you have done, and this slow braise?

Devotay, I'm curious. Why do you think Slow Food and Chef's Collaborative would feel threatened or resentful? To my mind, we should all be pulling in the same direction.

Bryan, you did a very thoughtful writeup and you come to some interesting conclusions. I think it would be an intriguing project to save a copy of that post, and look at 3 or 4 years from now. To see how dining in the US has changed, or to see if London, Paris, Barcelona have stepped up to the intellectual and creative plate of the US restaurants. Or, after you have traveled more in Europe, how your perspective will have changed. It is exciting to see how your cooking is influenced by this trip. To have 'fresh eyes' and a 'fresh tongue' is such a gift, and you have used it well. Congratulations!

Beautiful dish! I love the way you 'riffed on a traditional family recipe. Now...if only those artichokes were available here in NY, life would be grand!

Doh! I remember your experience and the thread, just not the name... For those that missed it, here's the link (Thanks for the cookie recipe! ← Did you get a chance to make the cookies? They taste better when they sit for a few days, IMHO. Hope you enjoyed! FM, that barely looks like a cake...it looks like a cooked pudding! OH! Maybe I'm finally understanding what my British friends say when they ask for pudding for dessert! That cakes looks incredibly rich and tempting. Especially with your condiments.

Does anyone remember a produce market project that was supposed to be built in lower Manhattan? I remember seeing pretty grandiose designs for it, but then I lost track. I tried to google it but wasn't successful. Thanks.

Wow. Chef, how the hell did you find the time to write this?? Excellent, in the moment writing and a great story. It would be a great HBO series....pick up the story of one of the guys from Oz..... Thank you for sharing it with us.

Bob, thank you for starting this excellent topic, it is a subject that deserves to be talked about. There are so many elements in play here: *shopping for produce in a midtown setting and schlepping them home is one I never thought about, but I can see that it might present a challenge. *tourist destination v. someone shopping for dinner. This is just an unavoidable situation in an urban setting. *competition. This is usually a good thing for the consumer, but it is certainly going to play havoc with a small producer who doesn't have the economies of scale that Whole Foods has. *sanitizing. Sanitizing is just plain destructive, a market should reflect a specific place, not be genericized to the point where you could be in Cleveland or Seattle. Grrrr....this one really gets to me. Something that I can't figure out is why the local markets in Italy are thriving, vital parts of the community and here its like pulling hens teeth. Is it a cultural thing, Europeans are just used to shopping at a market? As my Italian language skills progress, I'm going to try and dig a little deeper into this when we go back. Regardless, thanks again for opening this discussion.

Got me good!! Ever since my uptown Manhattan ob/gyn quit his practice, joined the Marines and moved to Japan....I'll believe anything!!