Kevin72

So, some questions for Alberto: What's sea fennel? You commented here and in the other thread that the region is not as developed in regards to being receptive to tourism. Is this a conscious decision on their part? I.e., with say, the Amalfi coast in mind, do you think they have been much more measured in developing an infrastructure around tourism rather than going at it full-on? Is this a good or a bad thing?

I've been but it was a couple years ago, very soon after they had changed over. I was underwhelmed but I chalk it up to being in transition still. A friend works there and he let me see their menu recently. I was impressed; it seems to have found its legs.

Fantastic, detailed write-up and pictures, as to be expected from e-G. If I ever do a travel write up here it will be intimidating . . . not the least because I don't yet have a digital camera and/or know how to load pics on this site! But it was dead-on, everything I've read about in researching our potential Puglia trip is laid out here. I smiled at the mention of each of the dishes you tried, recognizing them from one cookbook or rhapsodic travel article or another. Alas this thread is bittersweet agony for me. The place I work at is closing the first part of the year and my layoff date would probably fall right around the time we were planning to go. A stubborn part of me is holding on to the notion that we can still try to go but I'm afraid reality is sinking in. As a matter of fact I've spent most of the day preoccupied with making the final decision on whether or not to go. Hmmm, is this thread a sign . . . ?

Yes that's exactly my observation and why I stopped freezing mine. Though I didn't do the foil wrapping, hmmm . . .

My parents went to Sorrento after the Press review and were sorely disappointed. But it was an "off" night, like a Monday or Tuesday, I think. Since we're in an Italian vein I'd strongly recommend da Marco. There was a brief thread on it here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=50252 I had the highest opinion of those who responded, though.

As for favorite pasta sauces: Ragu Bolognese Clams, white wine, olive oil, garlic, chilies, parsley A favorite sauce "technique" I have is one learned from Batali/Willinger where you cook a seasonal vegetable in olive oil, garlic, and chilies, and then finish it with mint and pecorino.

I wouldn't get so bogged down in hard and fast, this sauce MUST go ONLY with THAT pasta, just some generalities: Fresh pasta goes best with cream or butter-based sauces Dried pasta goes with olive oil-based sauces Short stubby pasta, or tubes, go best with thick, robust sauces like meat ragus. String pastas go well with seafood or vegetables. There are certain dishes that are classic pasta/sauce combinations, and usually you will see them listed as such: Fettucine Alfredo, Tagliatelle Bolognese, Bucatini all'Amatriciani, etc. But don't get too worried about specifics otherwise.

Get ready to hate me, Basilgirl: I got both of the cotechinos I ordered.

Arrrgh. My blood pressure is rising just reading this thread. We have an impending Christmas Potluck as well and I'm not looking forward to it. We did a Thanksgiving potluck and I brought sweet potato gnocchi and I got alot of "Well that's interesting . . . maybe I'll get it on the next pass." The problem is now my hand's been shown as a cook and so the expectation is I have to cook something rather than bring pre-packaged stuff, regardless of the fact no one will eat it. Nothing really to add in the way of suggestions here though, just venting.

We freeze a couple each in sandwich bags after the can's been opened. I don't get using more than 2 at a time, much less the whole can at a time. I find them infernally spicy: I made a soup once with 3 in there and it was almost inedibly hot, and while I'm no chile-head, I do pretty well with heat. Or am I just a bigger wuss than I thought?

Knives, particularly the high end ones like Wustoff, Henkels, etc. supposedly last indefinitely. Have you taken it to get it professionally sharpened? I do mine once or twice a year and it really helps. Edited to add: I don't use mine professionally though.

Just checked their website. I haven't found a way to see what they actually shipped me yet but I did see that their return policy leaves some room for manuevering. It doesn't specifically say dissatisfaction with product received though.

Thanks, slbunge, Russ, and winesonoma for the baccala resources. I'll look into them.

I caught that too. Maybe they're just waiting until the show launches to formally introduce her . . . ?

Yup. Plus it seems that quite a few people (or the ones I know anyway) are squeamish about sausage in general and take a don't ask don't tell approach. Serving them a stuffed pig's leg, hoof and all would put them over the edge.

The hell? I mean, they're not even remotely the same. Not good. They emailed me just now and said it's on its way. What's their return policy?

--Seconded.

With the Holidays, this memory from a few years ago was triggered: my wife was making green butter-cream frosting for the Christmas cookies. I'm watching TV while she's cooking. Her: "Honey, how many sticks of butter in a cup?" Me: (not really paying attention, confusing "cup" and "pound"): "Four." Ten minutes later: "Are you sure? Come look at this." I go into the kitchen and there's a mass of whipped, bright green butter practically exploding out of the mixing bowl, rapidly melting.

Every New Year's I make the resolution that this year I'm going to finally cook much more spontaneously and just go to the store and pick what looks best. But I'm so neurotically obsessive about meal planning that I can never make it. We usually have three major meals each week (Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday) and then live off of the leftovers the rest of the time. So around mid-week I start obsessively dwelling on what the weekend meals will be and usually around Monday I start thinking about Wednesday's meal. This time of year, there's alot of traditional Holiday dishes so it's really just a matter of fitting all of those in.

1 of the 2 cotechinos (cotechini?) I ordered are for a bollito misto party, in fact. I've been tempted on the zampone but I think I'd have a hard time convincing people to try it on the basis of the appearance alone. Hell, dinner guests get squirmy just hearing what's in cotechino. I'm also getting the itch to try making my own. I have two books with recipes.

Well I would if not for the igourmet recommendation upthread. I am hankering to order guanciale sometime soon and they will definitely be the first go-to.

Awesome! Just ordered it, thanks! Now who has a baccala source?

Their online catalogue didn't list it as something they had.

During the Holidays I usually cook two Italian staples: baccala and cotechino (not together, of course!). My main source in Dallas, Jimmy's Food Market, burned down in October I thought that it would be easy enough to track down an internet or mail order source for these items but I'm not having any luck. I've checked the usual suspects: Dean and DeLuca, Zingermans, and a host of other sites listed at the back of my various cookbooks, to no avail. I've google searched for cotechino by mail order and nothing. Does anyone out there know of confirmed sources to mail order cotechino from in the U.S.? Baccala is available at our Central Market here but it's in small portions and is partially reconstituted, and I'm looking for some that I can take with me when I fly to the in-laws and cook the Feast of the Fishes on Christmas Eve. Worse comes to worse I can use Central but I'd rather get the stiff-as-a-board kind and take it with me.

I did pasta e fagiole a few weeks back using Borlotti beans and pancetta, and home-made, wide-cut pasta. Also the deli guy at a store I frequent here gave me at no charge the rind from a prosciutto so I used that in the soup (removing it when I was done cooking). It gave the soup a viscous quality and porky flavor that the pancetta alone would never have been able to do. It was the first thing I've made since my trip to Italy a year ago where when I smelled it I immediately thought of Italy. Unfortunately the deli guy is no longer there and when I asked one of the newbies there if I could have more he gave me a puzzled look and said they just threw that stuff away.