Pontormo

And I walked nearly four miles to fetch that book last night, past the roller bladers with flashing lights all over their helmets, legs and arms assembled at the gates of the White House! Already made the chestnut soup and sampled the risotto with cinnamon when serving at the chef's demo at my farmer's market and can recommend both, provided vacuum-packed chestnuts are still available. I think I mentioned a less than positive book review in the LA Times (not by Russ Parsons), alluding to failures with some of the recipes, particularly the pasta dough with lots of eggs. However, a lot of the dishes look wonderful. While few of us have been consulting Ada Boni for our meals, I want to say that for Le Marche, there are some that do look worth making. Lynne Rosetto Kasper's Italian Country Table (right?) also has a few recipes from this region. Perhaps Carol Field's book on nonne, too?

...or pilaf. BTW icons were kissed, scolded and yes, even had their paint chipped off and ingested back in the good ol' days as a way of merging the self with the "presence" (translation of "ikon") represented. And if you're out of heavy cream, no sweat. A little pickle relish does nicely. (Just kidding, honest. There actually are ITALIAN recipes which call for melted butter, cream, etc. added towards the end; Union Square does this with marscapone, I think.) * * * This might help you out... Klary, I was okay with not making lasagne for the birthday party. Here, I just don't know...

One more comment: I should have mentioned MEATLOAF and not just hamburgers above.

I am astonished that this thread has gone on this long without a single mention of David Leite's award-winning article: "Tales of a Supertaster". Apologies if I missed an earlier post offering this link. Quite entertaining.

I have to agree that family matters in this case. I'll never forget the first time I returned from a semester in Italy, wishing to cook something during a visit to my step-family. Back then, wedges of Stella domestic Parmesan were the closest you could get to Parmigiano-Reggiano in rural New England, so I picked up a block reluctantly during a trip to the supermarket. It was interpreted as a snobby slap in the face by my frugal relative who would never spend that much on cheese in the first place, especially when there was a perfectly good shaker of Kraft Parmesan in the fridge back home.

Apparently, one of the most frequently cited sources on the popularity of spaghetti & meatballs in the US is an article on pasta that Corby Kummer published in The Atlantic in July 1986. Since contributions to culinary history and histories of Italian-Americans have increased in the past two decades, I'm sure there is something more current. Good place to start, nonetheless. This may not prove completely reliable since we date Latini's tomato recipes in Naples to 1692 (sauces ?), more than a century and a half after the fruit had been introduced to Europe, however after tracing the early history of pasta, meatballs & sauces, the Timeline for Food History observes that recipes for spaghetti and meatballs appear in American cookbooks around the time of WWII. Earlier publications refer to tomato-meat sauces to go with spaghetti. I have to wonder how the history of the hamburger and sale of store-bought ground beef relate to the American dish of spaghetti and meatballs. While it doesn't answer the M & S question, here's the Prince company's autobiography, including a brief history of an influential commercial thought to have inspired the popularity of spaghetti for Americans without Italian roots.

P.S. Someone send Old Foodie a message. She's into the British stuff, though I'm sure Adam will have more to say, too. 'Night!

I didn't know that! Thank you!!! According to the article, these English dandies were called "macaroni" because of a taste of foreign foods as well as Italian fashion in the 18th century. I would assume that gradually led to the adaption of a number of dishes that included that foreign noodle. Too tired to even walk over to the bookcase to look, but in his pioneering book on American cookery James Beard cites all these wonderful ladies's cookbooks from the 19th century in which one boils noodles endlessly and then...okay, here, I've looked it up: The book he cites dates to 1836 (Baltimore).

I just popped in for a second after reading email, so I'll be brief now--with more to say later. However, if folk are really, really interested in American spaghetti and meatballs, two things: 1) Don't overlook Karen Resta's important post. The woman actually did genuine research in a library for the love of Pete! I for one find the excerpts interesting and wish to thank her for drawing her findings to our attention. Mrbigjas and others from Philly, perhaps you have connections for collecting anecdotal information? 2) "Yankee Doodle went to town aridin' on a pony..." There was macaroni in these here parts for quite some time long before Ellis Island gained significance. There might be some intersections to explore regarding the kinds of dishes that were prepared before large waves of Italian immigrants arrived in the United States.

Finally, I wanted to add a reminder or one quick note about the beautiful heart-shaped raviioli that Shaya also produced for this thread and just how appropriate it was to choose this region for Valentine's Day. Venetians take advantage of the similarity of the name of their city--"Venezia" or "Venetia"--and the Italian words "venerare" (to venerate), and "Venere" (Venus). Thus, the cult-like status of Venus in Venice and all those Venetian paintings of the goddess with her arrow-bearing, winged son or chubby little naked putti flying around in the air.

For the record, I did not prepare the sardines en saor as Franci did later on in this thread. While the link I offered originally still refuses to give the reader access to the recipe I found there, Anna Del Conte includes a similar recipe in her book on Northern Italian cooking. After removing the bones and stuffing the fish, they're baked under a light blanket of EVOO and the fresh herbs used in the stuffing.

A number of us have been turning to episodes of Molto Mario for inspiration. Last night I decided to produce the meal demonstrated in the tenth episode the chef devotes to the Veneto. Since I was cooking just for myself and this was a departure from the (sort of) more ascetic fare I've slowly been adopting ever since my bathroom scale began scolding me back in Emilia-Romagna, I assumed the persona of Nonna Zappa to make do with what I had around the house. Even though I passed shelves filled with bottles of Prosecco while shopping and could have hopped on the Metro to buy a frozen bunny rabbit, I didn't like the idea of solitary drunkenness nor the extra calories. There was an opened bottle of cheap white wine from Trader Joe in the fridge. Given differences between Judith's reports of succulent rabbit abroad and the less than satisfied reports of Andrew and Kevin when it came to our domestic counterparts, I also went with chicken thighs instead of rabbit legs. No angles to maneuver while removing bones. Primo: Green gnocchi con caduta di formaggio I've made plenty of ricotta gnocchi before, gnudi, even gnocchi di zucca thanks to Franci's inspiration. This was my first time with potato gnocchi and Mario wasn't much help for a novice, so I consulted Marcella Hazan for fork-flipping advice. I also streamlined the online recipe by using frozen spinach. While my results were neither uniform nor perfectly shaped, I found the whole process just as easy. Hazan prefers to make gnocchi without eggs, finding them fluffier. I went with Batali, though, and was happy with the otherwise sticky dough. Ricing the potato really made the texture light and delicate despite my worries it would clump up and get gummy as a result of kneading. There was one bit of advice Batali offered that didn't work for me. He suggests keeping an ice bath ready and transferring the cooked gnocchi to the bowl before adding a new batch to the pot on the stove. Drain, drizzle with EVOO, toss, refrigerate, and when ready, plop 'em back in the water and sauce. Don't. The just-cooked gnocchi were perfect: light, tender dot dot dot. The ones I took out of the fridge and reheated on the stove? Not horrid, but slightly gummy exteriors. I also read recommendations (elsewhere) for transferring the cooked gnocchi to a warm oven and suspect that even a microwave would be better for anyone who had to wait a long time in between preparing and serving gnocchi. As for the sauce, it was great even with modifications. Franci's exqusite radicchio reminded me of another thread in which we discussed red endive. Upon learning they derive from crossing Belgian endives with Radicchio di Treviso, I bought some, sautéing one before adding Gorgonzola (ummmm....) to the butter, and using slivers of the deep red raw tips of another bulb as garnish. As for the Braised, Stuffed Chicken Thigh with Red Onions, Apricots & Cherries, I only ate one. This is one example of many braises in which the sweet element of dried fruit works well with savory ingredients, especially since both fruits have a complementary tartness. Obviously, I had to cut back the amount of cooking time with the substitutions, but otherwise I was quite pleased with the recipe and would make it again. I might increase the amount of rosemary and walnuts in the pesto-like stuffing one spreads inside the butterflied legs before rolling them up; the fruity wine sauce with all those onion bits drowned out the hidden flavors. However, the paste kept the thin, rolled meat moist.

The coordinator of the event responded to an email. The webcast will indeed be archived and should be available in about a week at the link Ludja provides.

Ludja: Just noticed this, though few people seem to have read this notice. Since I would not have heard about the webcast otherwise, I really appreciate the advance word. Thanks!!! If anyone learns that the webcast will be accessible, free at later dates, please speak up.

Lovely party and great menu, Klary. I gather that what you really got sick of was the time-consuming monotony of making all that fresh pasta and rolling out the noodles, even if cutting sheets is less daunting a task than making all those doubled-up, scalloped-edged rounds of stuffed pasta. After all, you prepared a gob-smacked (usage?) number of dishes; this remains a rather ambitious, lovingly presented meal!

I make falafel from raw, soaked beans. They're ground fine without cooking. Texture's important. Canned wouldn't work--at least in my recipe or ones based on the same methods.

What a sight to behold. Thanks for joining in, and with such a bang, Wienoo! You did justice to the cheeses of this region, too, something I've neglected despite learning that Asiago is from this region. Kevin, the prospect of fatherhood must be making you giddy--the descriptions of your meals are a blast, here. I regretted not have a meat grinder until I read your translation of "bigoli" which takes on a rather unfortunate significance if you consider that they're made with whole wheat flour. If you ever get a chance, I'd love the recipe for the meatballs, especially the sauce you raved about. And, yes, Franci, as always both your baking and your photography are exquisite. That radicchio...the close-up of rice...the slivers of almonds resting on a swollen mound of moist, golden dough... And Elie, I found the recipe for apple risotto online. Got a kick out of your verbal child's enthusiasm. I'm guessing the sausage on the far left is the lemon-thyme and on the far right, I think I see a fennel seed...

Falafel is the reason I finally broke down and bought a Cuisinart since it is a pain and a half to make with a standard blender--or without a really good mortar and pestle and the arm muscles of Angela Bassett. There is nothing like warm, fresh home-made falafel! I like Madhur Jaffrey's recipe in her early vegetarian cookbook on Eastern/Asian food, though I'd enjoy hearing from Middle-Eastern members or sources. Less than authentic: fine when prepared in cast-iron skillet, not deep-fried. Excellent with red onion, hot sauce, a cucumber-yogurt sauce and cornichons. In this case, you HAVE TO SOAK THE BEANS!!!!

"Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?"

Some people chew their cuticles...

Is genuine Prosciutto di Parma banned? Is this related to curing with the hoof on? ← No, hormones fed to piglets during their first 30 days ex utero. I should have explained that the entire paragraph (in my original post) in which you find this reference concerns the foods Whole Foods no longer sells. I started a thread about the matter this summer; decisions are left up to different regions, so your WF may carry what mine does not. To this day, I can only get San Daniele vs. Parma at WF, but can easily get Parma at several other stores around town.

I said there are no meatballs on top of spaghetti ("all covered with cheese...."). Reread my first post, especially the lines about premise & discovery. I did not read the article all that differently, just more critically which is my wont. However, I also happen to appreciate Hathor's passionate rants and was expressing gratitude for bringing the article to my attention. Linguists note that women tend to use discourse as a means of identifying with other participants in exchanges, and men, to compete and promote themselves. I guess I was being myself while displaying characteristics of the other gender. I thought the lesson a good one, and yes, even found the bit about tomato paste interesting, though when we were cooking our way through Sicily, I also saw signs of Italian-American tomato paste in practices Lanza & Simetti report. As I said, the mode of presentation undermines the journalist's purpose and I didn't have too many problems with the content of the article. I thought that the lesson itself should have been stressed and that her great-aunt's lamb ragu should have been offered by way of a recipe in tandem with Kim Severson's red sauce. If that lesson is to have an impact on readers who don't know from red sauce (how many NYTs readers, don't , really?), you don't say: "Here: a recipe for Italian meatballs...I like using dried basil....") Show how to make fresh breadcrumbs without the Progresso Italian seasonings at least. I'm not saying everything Italians cook is great and everything Americans do bastardizes real Italian cooking. I love chicken parm, myself, and I find the reliance on dadi of Star (chicken boullion cubes) in Italian kitchens less than satisfying. There truly are nonne, wizened, dressed in black plucking rucola from the meridian along the superstrada. Still. But a lot of those women have traded in the clunky, hand-cobbled black shoes for Nike-knockoffs they bought from a bin at the streetmarket or even Footlocker. Plenty dress smartly, have careers as well as jobs and go to church only when there's a newly restored fresco to see... How many Americans saw Caterina in the City a couple of years ago (an Italian movie set in contemporary Rome)? Watch television long enough and you'll find what we are exposed to too, too much instead: a sappy song sung by a popular tenor as a gorgeous, gorgeous young man leaves a box of Barilla for a gorgeous blond to serve her friends, or gondola rides in Venice to sell pizza. When Severson writes about the Romantic notions of her family's recipes and how her nostalgia was based on mythic notions of the past, why perpetuate that myth?

If you're sticking to bans for the United States, I'd see what Customs allows and forbids including uncured meats from foreign countries. I wouldn't wish to subject other parties to the prospect of fines or worse, though, or advocate breaking the law or risking the importation of a brand-new pest. Otherwise, I suspect you want us to name certain types of seafood and I just don't want to dangle from your trap. However, I would perhaps add a chicken that has led a sorry life before being fried in Crisco. A lobster, too. Some milk from cows fed hormones, genuine Prosciutto di Parma, Land O' Lakes butter and Pepperidge Farm Cookies, the latter two brands Whole Foods stopped carrying. You also might go historical, for example, by sautéing spinach. Expanding your notion of banned foods to other cultures and traditions? That hairy moss served for the new lunar year if you can be sure it's old and not artificial (the fake stuff really can be dangerous, I understand). What foods from the U.S. are being refused in other countries? How about dog? Yorkies are eclipsing Golden Labs in popularity these days...

Judith, you're not alone, though the content of the article does not bother me very much. It's the manner of presentation I find irritating; were a few revisions made, the article might have even done a very good deed in furthering general knowledge about the complex relationship between Italian and Italian-American food. Kim Severson's premise: I have to go back to my Italian family's homeland to discover how to make the great tomato sauce of my childhood. It must have been authentic since family tradition within my living memory stems from an illiterate matriarch (knowledge corrupts; the uneducated peasant is the salt of the earth, too hard-working and poor to go to school, but put her in front of a stove and you civilized, cultivated fool standing beside her shall find True Wisdom) who spoke Italian, but little English. My mother's sauce is one step removed, mine two, so they are neither similar nor as good as Grandma Zappa's. The journalist's discovery: Even the first generation of immigrants did not make authentic Italian food because they lacked the same local ingredients. Everything our family has been thinking of as truly Italian is actually not even a pale reflection of the original since it bears no resemblance to the foods my relatives in Abruzzi prepare when I visit. The lesson is not stressed. If it were, Severson should have offered recipes for the ragu made with lamb and the things residents of Ateleta do with vegetables or tomatoes next to the recipes of her family. The journalist would speak to Fabio Trabocchi or other young Italian chefs who have recently opened restaurants in the US. Ask them what it is like to introduce guests to unfamiliar regional dishes--or how they responded to their first tastes of Italian-American food. To her credit, though, she did speak to Lidia Bastianich who has a true appreciation for Italian-American food, not just the cuisine of her own family's heritage. What Ms. Bastianich said should have received greater emphasis, especially when it comes to resourcefulness and making do with what one has, locally.* While the journalist may have been eating American red sauce all these years, making do and improvising based on what's around is Italian in spirit. Talk about canned goods vs. fresh, dried herbs vs. fresh and how canned and dried are not just American phenomena. Someone should have mentioned you don't put meatballs cooked in red sauce on top of spaghetti back in the homeland. Called polpette, meatballs are indeed prepared throughout Italy where local traditions determine ingredients and ways they are served. Also, LB is the right source for this lesson: what's with Americans and the concept of following an authoritative recipe precisely? The idea of a master recipe is faulty. What undermines the lesson in terms of presentation: 1) The title. Grandchild of Italy sets up the article as a kind of Roots experience which it isn't. It's the opposite, but I don't mind that so much as the reference to the Davinci Code which ticks me off more than any other travesty of Italian culture since I don't know when. It's pandering to the worse possible taste. 2) The glorious romatic band of pictures on the web site. Look at that lined face in the middle, will you? I'd love to hear Filomena Sciullo Ranallo really likes to watch reruns of "Dallas" on cable and wear lipstick whenever she leaves the house. It really is the great-aunt of the journalist, though. However, what's the word "tagliatelle" doing under a picture of a dried local pasta I am too ignorant to identify myself? And is that really zia's tomato sauce on the right? 3) The recipes. Those are NOT Italian meatballs. Call them Severson's family meatballs. *Think you had it bad cooking tubes of ground meat in Utah recently?

Oh, Tepee, I got distracted. Forgot to say that I meant the soy sauce (just a T) gets poured onto the fish before steaming. Fish did not discolor. If you check out your own (? I think) demo, you'll see you add soy sauce before steaming, but around the fish and not directly on the skin as I did. I only wish my fish was as fresh as the glistening one you photographed. BTW, I love the ingenuity of your set-up for steaming!