hathor

Why would lining your oven with quarry tiles change the glaze on top? Something with absorbing moisture? And I don't even want to know what a hearthkit is. My wish list is too long already!

Ciao tutti!! We had a bit of a Bacchanal last night, naturally with a strong Piemontese accent. Short background: my college going son hadn't been home for the winter break until this week as he was working on a film shoot. Last night was a festa for him and his old school friends. These 'Bacchanal's have become a tradition in our household whenever all these wonderful kids can get together, birthdays, or whatever excuse we can come up with to celebrate! Now on to the menu: While we waited for Louie to get off from work. We stared with some bubbly and 'grissini' strecchati. Making grissini is so much fun, as I explained to my diners...these were 'artisinal' looking grissini. Primi was agnolotti in brodo. The agnolotti were stuffed with the left over veal roast, ricotta, and a little soffrito. Just a word on that salt encased veal: try it. It was fantastic the next day cold. I had to hoard a small chunk to use for the agnolotti. The brodo was a rich veal stock. The fish course wasn't even remotely Italian, but a special request from my son. Fresh, very spicy shrimp, quickly sauteed and served on a scoop of avocado cream. The cream soothes the shrimp fire and then all the juices get mixed up in the avocado cream, and it is just a damn good combination! Back to Piemonte. The meat course was a riff on the Langhe.net recipe for 'stinco al vino rosso". I love stinco, but I couldn't get any at the market. So, I subbed some nice pork ribs, which worked well and didn't scare any of the diners. I also added some soffrito to the recipe...well, just because it looked like it needed it. I also topped it off with some crushed, crunchy warmhazelnuts. Unfortunately I had some trouble uploading the photo, so I'll try again later. Dessert was some lovely fruit tarts brought by a friend. There was much laughter and much wine drunk. All in a very Piemontese way, naturally! Divina: nice to see you on this thread!! I wasn't sure what IACP was, so I googled it up, and the first hit was "International Association of Chiefs of Police". I had no idea you were the Firenze Chief of Police. That is pretty cool to be up there with Fergus Henderson! I can't wait to have some time to catch up on your "nose to tail" blog.

Thanks for the tip on John Thorne. Interesting stuff. Nice market photos!

I second the vote for Northern Liberties. Lot more room for growth. I'd even edge over to Fishtown for more bang for the buck.

Nathan, that all looks beautiful. Cauliflower in lard, now that sounds really good. I've never heard of salami cotto either. Maybe it was an odd translation of something.

Authenticity is something I've recently been giving a lot of thought to. I'm in love with Italian cooking and when I'm living in Italy, my food is Italian, it can be nothing else because of the ingredients. The bread I'll make is infused with the air of Umbria. But what happens when I'm in NY and I can only cook in the Italian style? Have I sacrificed all 'authenticity"? To be authentically Italian I should be using local NY products and not expensive imports. A conundrum methinks. Zuke, do you really think its that bad? People have lost their will to cook? YIKES. But...do you think this could be a North American bias, but one that is spreading? And as for the divine cassoulet: I belong to the 'jes let it accumulate' camp. But, I like the way you 'deconstruct' your flavors John. Thanks for taking the time and sharing with us.

....ahh great minds...or stomachs...think alike.

Not really Piedmontese, but try this: take a whole red snapper, put in some orange slices, thyme and some parsley. Coat the fish in salt and bake. Sometimes I make a little orange butter to serve along with the fish. Honestly, its heaven. I'm a big fan of salt crusts. Not sure about dinner tonight. But, planning a small feast for tommorow!

I use the orangex juicer too. Its pretty good, quick & easy. But...is anyone else horrified by the price of oranges in NY??? why?? I need juice in the morning way before I can face coffee.

Woo-hoo!! I got into the kitchen last night. After too many nights out or working too late, I needed a little kitchen time. So, I made “smformato di porri e tatate con fonduta” and “vitello al sale con pomodori marinate” (leek and potato flan and veal roasted in salt with marinated tomatoes). Both recipes inspired by Beppe Barbero, the chef at Osteria del’Boccondivino in Bra. The veal roast was trussed up good, then I put one clove of garlic very thinly sliced on top of the meat, with a sprig of rosemary. The roast was then packed in coarse sea salt and put into the oven for about an hour. It was served with a ‘sauce’ of marinated, quartered cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes were marinated in chopped basil, fresh garlic, salt, pepper, EVOO and a little bit of balsamic. The veal that emerged from its salt casing was extremely moist and flavorful and the tang of the tomatoes set off the rich flavor beautifully. The smformato was made using the cream method mentioned upthread. The potatoes were sieved and the leeks were sautéed to the almost browning point. Then served with a basic fonduta. I wanted to find Raschera cheese, but wound up settling for a fresh provolone dolce that was just fine. This smformato was sinful. Nice salad and a bottle of Dolcetto d’Alba and a fine time was had by all! Does anyone know how to rotate an image?? I posted it rotated, but then it reverted. Great posts Pontormo! Lots and lots of good info. Grazie mille! The soup sounds luscious even if it wasn't photo worthy.

Michelle, those lamb stuffed dates sound divine. I'm a total sucker for anything with pomegranite juice. (I had so much help in the kitchen over Christmas that I actually got my mother to juice enough pomegranites to hold me over for a few weeks...reduced to syrup. ) I have to say I'm on the "youhavetogrowupthestuff" camp when it comes to matza brei even if you do make it sound so good. and I just realized why I HAD to have a bagel this morning from the corner deli. Subliminal effects of the blog. So...what kind of soup is cooking??

Kevin, your pasta looks beautiful. You are never going to get that gorgeous saffron color. US eggs just never have that almost red tint to them that you will find in European eggs. Although I'm told some of that may be due to using dyes! Did you find the pasta difficult to work with? I remember it being a stiff bear because of all the yokes.

What do you mean its the last day of the blog?? What fun it has been to peep inside your world for a few days. Thank you. I also enjoyed reading your take on living and cooking in 2 different worlds. I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, and I try not to be judgemental when I'm in the salad dressing aisle... but you come to realize the US food culture is so marketing based. I don't mean going to the market, I'm mean advertising marketing. This could be the basis for a whole new thread. Again, thank you! (and yes I make artichoke soup! )

Ciao Christopher Kanjlung! Very nice breakdown of typical foods! Azureus, how dry was that beef? In the photo it still looks pretty juicy. Was it 'air dried", or really as dry as say a bresola is? I've been stuck in the office cleaning things up...its killing me that I'm not cooking! Hopefully tommorow....

What about artichoke stems?? huh?? come one...you know you love'em! Poached in chicken stock, with chopped tomatoes and garlic...lemon juice right before you devour...I mean serve....

Marguerite Patten just became my new hero. How cool. Artichoke porn: I had this once in Florence. Melted gorgonzola dolce, bresola bits mixed around and you dipped the artichoke into them. Or how about super fresh, sliced thin with some parmigano and lemon juice and a splash of olive oil. Or....make me stop!!!!!

please stop.....I have to work....and all I want to do is eat an artichoke, with a bialy on the side........ I know... I could just not look at the blog, but I have no self control........ P.S. I could easily eat an artichoke at every meal. Can't you just imagine crispy artichoke flakes for breakfast??? On a more practical note: Marelena, with a bi-continental lifestyle...how do you keep track of recipes, cookbooks, or that new kitchen tool that you just started using and now cannot live without? I never seem to have what I need in the right place. I know. I get very little sympathy here...oh, you left your chinois in Italy??

Ciao tutti! Kevin, why do you say Italian stocks use meat and not bones? The chefs we worked with used bones....but I have to say the word you may have been looking for in comparing French stock to Italian stock, might be ....bland. The Italian chefs thought it was a big deal to throw in a carmelized onion...cut in half, the flat side scorched. They never carmelized the mirepoix which I always thought was strange...and bland. Just rough cut vegetables thrown in a pot, with some salt. My take on the interchangeble-ness (thats a word that doesn't show up on spell check) is just the over-all blandness that it really doesn't make a difference. As much as I adore Italian cooking, I make French stocks...and demi-glace...

Nathan: where there are pigs this is lard. When the farmer has pig fat to hand, that's what gets used. So I'm assuming that lard starts to show up in the hills and mountain regions of Piemonte. Then again with pork being so important in all of Italy that may be too narrow of an assumption.

Michelle: that's gorgeous!!! That dish is just amazing. Worth the little extra effort, don't you think??

We've gone from puddings, to cheese to butter. What an indulgent, hedonistic blog. I love it! My husband's family is from what used to be Turkey, but is now Yugoslavia, from a town called Monastir, but now it has another name that starts with a 'B' but I can't remember it. His grandmother was a spectacular cook, even making her own phyllo dough. The first time I made her matzo ball recipe, I swore I felt her presence looking over my shoulder. However, it may have been that she was trying to warn me. I didn't know the balls grew in the pot! These matza balls are meant to be about the size of a large gum ball (and are full of walnuts). I put them in at that size and they started to grow to golf ball size. In a panic, I took them ALL out and cut them in half. 25 years later I'm still teased about my half dome matza balls! I can buy bufala butter at our market in Italy. It is white, it is delicous, but expensive, and I'm not convinced its worth the expense. I don't dream lamb per se, but I do dream smells. Thanks god I'm not the only one!

Piemonte 101 Hopefully, better late than never. I dug up some of my ital.cook notes on Piemonte to create a rough overview of the region. As with all things Italian, this is subject to change, discussion and revision…without notice! When you try to understand regional Italian cooking, or regional anywhere cooking, it is important to understand first the geography and then the history of the area. Borders may have changed, the Roman Empire rises and falls but the mountains, seas and plains remain fairly constant. Here is a map that will give you a geographical orientation: Piemonte Click on no. 1. Piemonte borders on France and Switzerland, and is protected by the Alps in the north and west, and by the Apennine mountain range and the Ligurian sea in the south. Nice and the French Riviera were part of Piemonte for centuries and was Piemonte’s sea access. What this means is that the region is naturally divided into three areas: plains, hills and mountains. In the plains, grains are grown: wheat, corn, rice. Think: pasta, polenta, risotto. A word about rice. Italy is the largest producer of rice in Europe and has been grown in the provinces of Novara, Biella e Vercelli since around 1500. The original Japanese strain has been replaced by Arborio, Carnaroli, Vialone rice. The key to making risotto is to choose one of these Italian strains of rice as these rices will absorb flavors and liquid indefinetly, whereas the Asian variety of rices will only absorb enough liquid to be cooked. The most highly valued rice for making risotto is the Carnaroli variety. In northern and central Italy, where soft wheat is grown and there are lots of chickens, egg pasta is made. Piemonte is known for ‘tajarin’ pasta which is superfine and traditionally served with a chicken liver sauce. Also a specialty are the stuffed pastas like ravioli and agnolotti. Polenta in its simplest form is yellow corn meal boiled in water. Many times it is served in place of a pasta with a ragu type sauce over it, or served along side meat or fish dishes. The plains also provide a rich abundance of vegetables. Corn meal is also used in more rustic cakes and cookies. The Piemontese breed of cattle come from the hills and plains and are known for their milk and meat which is typically boiled and served in such dishes as bolitto misto or vitello tonnato. Or served raw, tartare style as in insalata di carne cruda. The city of Bra is home to the famous and tasty, blood red Bra beef sausage, which originally was created either by or for the Jewish population of Bra who could not eat a pork sausage. It is delicious eaten raw or cooked. As you go from the plains to the hills, you fine more pork meat, lamb and cinghiale or wild boar. With regard to fish, there are plenty of fresh water trout and white fish that show up simply fried or cooked with rice. In the southernmost part of Piemonte you will find the salted, preserved fishes such as anchovies or baccala`. Here is the home of bagna cauda, a warm garlic and anchovy based dip for vegetables. In the mountains, you will find the cheeses, mostly cows milk cheeses such as Castelmagno, Raschera, Bra, Tomino del Melle, Toma della Val di Susa, Toma Piemontese. There are also sheep cheeses such as Murazzano and the mild goat cheese Robiola di Roccaverano. The mountains are also home to potatoes that are especially good for gnocchi. And what’s missing from this list of regional ingredients? Two major food groups: wine and truffles. The plains area is where the famed, fabulous and mightily expensive “tartufo bianco d’alba’ comes from. I’m not even going to start discussing this truffle. Here is a whole thread dedicated to truffles. Suffice to say, if you are lucky enough to have tasted these truffles, you will understand the cultish obsession with them. In the hills, the nebbiolo grape is cultivated and gives us the squabbling twin wines Barolo and Barbaresco. I don’t have my wine notes with me, but one wine used to be classified with the other, and they squabbled and broke the wines into two distinct regions. Someone with more wine knowledge than can explain this much better than I can. Other famous wines are Barbera, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo and Asti Spumante and my favorite after dinner desert wine: Moscato d’Asti. What this means is that the region has an overwhelming abundance of natural ingredients from the sea to the mountains. Which makes it a logical place for Slow Food to be founded and headquartered, don’t you think? edited because I had trouble linking the truffle thread!

I"ll bite. What's Tapulone? edited because I cannot spell, or proofread.

I've got a big house, with a big kitchen. Before we go pulling up to convents.... come onna my house come on! (My stove is terrible, but its adds to the challenge! Seriously, when it heats up the knobs would fly across the room!). I never answered your queery about strongozzi. You know, its something I just don't care for. Its just too....chewy. Seems to show up more in Southern Umbria, although it may just be that my brain glosses over when I see it. I need to check out your Jewish recipes, are they all Sephardic? The lemon and grape chicken sound delisious. My husband is Sephardic and one of our cherised possessions is a hand written community cookbook. And I must say, I make a fine shicksa (sp??) matzoh ball, Sephardic style!.

whats your favourite umbrian thing? Marlena ←