Kevin72

I really enjoyed Rome as well. And I didn't even get to make carciofi alla romana or bucatinia all'amatriciani! That can only mean I'll have to borrow a day this month and do a proper Roman send-off meal.

Thanks for letting us share a week of your life and a glimpse of some wonderful meals. I really liked your outing on Queensday and that unexpected surprise of a restaurant you found. And the big bash looked wonderful, as all your party meals do. Glad your rat came back! (There's something I thought I'd never say. . . )

Actually, I like the looks of your version better; they look more consistent with what's in Downie's book and what we ate in Rome.

Also, let's go ahead and open the polls for Q3 voting. That way we vote all this month and I announce the choices at the start of June to give everyone a month to track down references and such. So, PM me your choices for the regions we will do for July, August, and September. The remaining regions not covered by that point are: Trentino The Veneto Emilia-Romagna Tuscany Umbria Le Marche Abruzzo Molise Puglia Basilicata Calabria Campania Sicily

For May, we will explore the cuisine of Liguria, home to Genoa, the Italian Riviera, and the Cinque Terra. The most famous recipe from this area is of course pesto. In his book covering Liguria, Recipes from Paradise, Fred Plotkin gives 14 different variations on pesto, proving again that there is no one "definitive" recipe in Italian cooking. Plotkin and other writers have noted that despite it being a largely coastal region, Ligurian cooking isn't as purely seafood as one would think; the waters immediately off the coast do not yield the rich range of seafood that, say, coastal Adriatic cities, or citiies further down the peninsula on the Meditterranean side benefit from. As a result, the sailors from this region would have to venture much further out for longer periods of time, and so when they returned, the wives would prepare meals consisting of fresh vegetables and meat, things they had been deprived of for so long at sea. This is another region I'm glad to see so well-matched to the time year; very delicate and herbal, lots of vegetables. As we were doing Lent when I tried this region last year, I didn't get to give many meat dishes a spin, so I'm eager to try them out, the first one standing out in my mind being tomaxalle, the veal rolls braised in tomato sauce. Book references seem pretty thin. An Amazon search for "Genoa", "Liguria", and "Italian Riviera" turned up only three consistently: Recipes from Paradise : Life & Food on the Italian Riviera by Fred Plotkin Flavors of the Riviera by Colman Andrews Enchanted Liguria: A Celebration of the Culture, Lifestyle and Food of the Italian Riviera by David Downie, Alison Harris Again, I only have experience with one of these books: Plotkin's. Between this one and Terra Fortunata from Friuli, I prefer Recipes From Paradise simply because it doesn't skimp on recipes. However, given how much I enjoy Downie's Rome book, now my curiosity is piqued about his stab at this region. And Adam recommended the Andrews book last year but I unfortunately didn't get around to ordering it.

What was the texture like? It looks quite different from the version I made (using Downie's recipe) last year. Mine came out pretty much like a Focaccia. Your's looks almost crisp. See you in Liguria, everyone!

Actually, to add a counterpoint, when we went there in March the miniature Monte Cristos were a standout, perfectly, delicately crisp. My eyes lit up when they said they do a little plate of these for lunch. And, too, the sous vide(sp?) fish we had was delictable and moist. But, good on you, Chef Rucker, for taking these comments in stride and taking steps to put the matter right.

Review Link: Laidback Manor Review

That's too bad. Still, I wouldn't say it was a trashing, since she does seem to geniuinely be interested in improvements being made and even said she hopes for him to succeed at the end there. When do we get Walsh to go?

Hey, Chufi, are we gonna get music pairings with your homemade meals, like with your last blog? I loved that touch.

That was indeed an Abruzzo show, but uova en brodetto is found in quite a few regions of the South, so I wouldn't sweat the authenticity. Pontormo, I agree with Foodman on the goat milk ricotta used for gnocchi. I think it would actually fit in quite well, the tanginess against the fatty sausage ragu. Gotta work fast and cook a meal out of the Downie book before the month is up, Shaya! Let us know what you think of the book.

All right, my request, building on ErinM's above: What are some spring traditions in the Netherlands? Is there a crop that everyone waits for? A celebratory dish? (Does this belong in the Dutch Cooking thread instead?)

Damn, I just saw you were the foodblog for the week. I'll try and catch up, but for now, Happy (belated) Birthday Klary!

I did the ricotta gnocchi last year with sausage and they were a one dish meal then, as well. Very satisfying and I also recall fondly that light texture they have. They were part of Mario's Roman shows, as well. Normally Marcella's pretty good about what dish comes from what region, though now that I think of it, it's more when she's dealing with "foreign" regions to her, i.e., the South.

I think I did once and my leaden pallete couldn't discern much a difference. The only time I really taste the difference in using EVOO (sorry) as a frying medium is when I'm using dough, it really seems to absorb the flavors. But otherwise I'm of the mind that the high temps do break down the more complex flavors of olive oil. I used pure Olive oil and a healthy bulk of vegetable oil.

Great looking pics and meals, Foodman and Calimero. Calimero, I'm so glad you're sharing some of your wonderful city with us, thank you! While I agree that the chokes lose some of their "artichokeness" flavor when made alla guidea, I like the potato-chip like quality they pick up and that lingering sweetness to them. Argh, I forgot I had wanted to make those polenta sandwiches!

Good episode and maybe the funniest episode yet. That ABBA rant, coupled with Tony's own self-effacing narrative about it, was Bourdain at his best. I'm really enjoying this season; each hour seems to fly by with little filler. It's also good to see that it's winning a wider appeal with mention in EW and I've seen banner ads for it on CNN, EW, and the Onion.

Thanks for weighing in, SLC. You've only got me more pumped to go. FoodMan I'll be in touch when I'm in the area again.

Saturday night, some Roman trattoria standards, all of which have been made already by others on this thread and need no introduction. Carciofi alla Giudea: Pasta Carobonara: Yeah, the eggs curdled a little. I like penne for this preparation, each nub of pasta perfectly captures the essence of the sauce and the bacon. Pollo en padella: Downie gives a great and evocative description of making this dish after strolling through a Roman garden and absconding with a few bay leaves, the principle ingredient in this dish. Unfortunately in my version, the rosemary won out over the bay leaves. Spicy broccoli with frascati: My brother was staying with us over the weekend. I remembered at the last minute that he doesn't normally like broccoli, but he was really impressed by this dish. Again, there seems to be few green vegetables that do not benefit from being slowly braised in olive oil until they are unctuously soft and then finishing with blankets of mint. Budino di ricotta tart: Ricotta mixed with eggs to set up while it bakes. I topped it with some sour cherry jam. I really need to remember to take the pic of the pie before I hit it with powdered sugar.

Thanks for all the pics, PN. Those all loke fantastic, particularly the pies!

Urgh, no, I hate limas.

That's my read as well; the focaccia rises a little more. Downie's recipe has milk I think in it, and rises a little longer since it has very little yeast. That said, however, having both made it myself and eaten it in Rome, I don't find them to be that much different and actually prefer focaccia. I just chased away our Roman poster Calimero, didn't I?

I thought this was a really well written review: A slice of the 'sweet life' and it has me absolutely chomping at the bit to go. My parents have been I think three times and love it. Anyone else? (Foodman, in particular, I'm lookin' at you.) Naturally, the Batali comparison caught my eye. My parents showed me the menu a few months back and it does seem very Babbo/Otto inspired (though no complete copies, thankfully, or that would go a whole other thread!). But, too, that it's from the Da Marco chef is a seal of approval for me.

My own regional aberrations should make Natasha feel better. An absolute favorite meal I make in the springtime is a liberal modification of the Italian springtime rite of passage: the dish of raw fava beans and a hunk of pecorino. I do it a little more salad like and toss in shaved raw fennel, fennel fronds, mint, olive oil, and lemon juice. I had recently found a Middle Eastern grocer across the street from my work and they sell, miracle of miracles, frozen peeled fava beans. However, I was running late after work this day, and still had to shop at the regular store for supplies for that night's dinner, so I relied on (avert your eyes, hide the children, native Italians!) frozen shucked edamame. But it was really good, I swear! To accompany, two wedges of sheep's milk cheese: caccio and Pecorino di Muggino, a younger and somewhat softer cheese. And, also, a loaf of non-Roman focaccia: Just think of it as a pizza bianca that got out of hand! Anyways, I love how you can combine different elements together in this meal, and I don't know what combo I like best: cutting a small piece of cheese off and then eating it with a forkful of the salad? Spooning some of the salad on a still-warm hunk of the bread? Or a piece of the cheese on the bread? Or all three together? Or sopping up some of the minty, vegetal olive oil at the bottom of the bowl with the bread?

It sounds delicious anyways, Natasha. If I'd pin it to a region, maybe Venice? But I can't imagine a Roman wouldn't enjoy it, too! And why would we want to boot anybody's posts who has a quote from Mario Batali in their sig?