Pontormo

Klary, wonderful report! Would make a great travel feature in a Dutch publication especially since you have so many enticing pictures. I never bother with the special travel section in my local newspaper unless words related to food appear in the titles of articles. Before looking through this thread your love for sweets just never registered fully somehow. Many of these posts strike me as entries that could have been written by Ling! Did you ever make it to Salumi in Seattle?

Sausage or weenie! Mike: Glad you finally got your book. Your first choice is one of my favorites, too. Divina: Polpette made just with bread, no meat? Is that what you meant by "bread meatballs" wrapped in roasted pepper strips? (I made the mozzarella in carozza for the Lazio thread for reasons explained there.) Shaya & Franci: While I did not go out of my way to find paccheri, I noticed some jumbo shells on sale at the supermarket last night (Italian made, at least). The pasta stuffed with eggplant just seem too good to pass up. The calzone look delicious, too.

I've just skimmed through this thread quickly and really look forward to the results! It seems that the MUST-HAVE-CHERRY contingency won, but I am going to be petulent and sulk anyway, pointing out that as De Rigeur Retro that a single centered cherry is as a decorative element during the 50s or 60s, its presence was for the sake of visual interest, especially as a way to break up the uniform surface plane of the caramelized pineapple. It never provided much flavor--as someone else mentioned--and in fact, doesn't sound all that complementary. I had the dessert several times in the 70s or 80s and it never had cherry on top. The caramelized flavor is much more important as well as the contrasts in texture and intensity between the fruit and the cake. To my mind, the mousse's cold, creamy quality is distinctive, but it will be soft like cake and won't give you something to chew the way the chunks of fruit do. I am also hoping the "upside-down" business will appear in the final product. I immediately thought about a tarte tatin, especially if there were a way to spread different hidden layers with other forms of pineapple (e.g. a Baked Alaska within an upside-down cake: meringue and ice cream) between the fruit and the tart pastry. However, I also see why Lorna rejected that as too simple a solution. I was also thinking about things you can do with reduced pineapple juice or a syrup poured over the cake, warm, just out of the oven, holes poked on top. I would like to lend a "Here! Here!" or "Hear! Hear!" (Hare Hair? ) for the idea of incorporating different forms of pineapple into the recipe; since I've had good, fresh-tasting candied pineapple before, the oven-dried component sounds great. Are there pineapple Altoids ? You can definitely find hard candies...or fruit rolls. In any case, the idea of two different versions is not bad. After all, it would be a nod to the present to serve X two or three ways on the same plate.

W: Did you end up using MS's recipe? I got my instructions from Ling and am pretty sure they were adapted from that recipe since Henry Lo posted in the cooking thread devoted to her book on braising. I had to cook the pork belly for a longer period of time and reduce the sauce quite a bit after that. Lately this seems to be a pattern with braises in my Dutch oven. The results were extraordinary.

I believe Next Step Produce does CSAs. The web site is currently under reconstruction. The farmer's name is Heinz Thomet: Next Step Produce 10615 Benton Road • Newberg, MD 20664 phone/fax: (301) 259-2096 • nextstepproduce@hotmail.com You'll find more information about this and other potential sources here:FRESHfarm Markets. If you call the main office of this farmer's market, someone might have good suggestions.

Wonder how much patience you need to stuff eggplant into rigatoni? I have three larger striped ones (called Tunisian/Sicilian in one of my books) left. Looks great, Shaya! Mitch, welcome! I'm so glad you made such a popular dish that none of us has acknowledged yet. Is anyone planning to make sartu? ETA: This more traditional recipe for sartu...or at least one not as excessive as Mario Batali's version that includes pasta and fried eggs.

1) Tim: Do you have access to any of the cookbooks on Naples or on Italian baking mentioned here or in Kevin's thread? I don't know if anyone here has made a baba, though I am sure someone experienced will pipe up. I thought someone started a thread in the Pastry & Baking forum recently...though it might have been you since I linked the problematic recipe you have. 2) Nina: one of the books I mentioned in my PM to you showed the cake in form that seemed to be shaped in a bowl or timbale mold, frosted in chocolate vs. dusted with con. sugar. I don't have that book. I now have a recipe from de Blasi before me. You'll owe me a favor, right, if I take precious time away from being outside while it's still light: 2-3 sm or med egs 7 oz extra-bittersweet, 70% 2 T cocoa pweder, Dutched 1/2 t ground cloves (yuck) grindings blk pep 1/2 c red wine 5 oz each shelled pistach & blanched almonds, lightly toasted flour 1 c EVOO 1 egg 1 egg white 2 T sug confec sug slice unpeeled egs real thin, < 1/8 in thick. Pile in bowl of salted cold water for 1 hour Stir choc with coc, cloves, pep, wine, only till choc soft and warm. Stir off flame till smooth. Cover. Chop nuts to small mince Drain egs, squeeze. Shake in paper bag w/ flour, coating. Oven 375. Saute egs in evoo, crisping, remove, drain. Repeat till all done. Very lightly oil a 10-in springform pan and place generous layer of egs at bottom. drizzle with rewarmed choc, sprinkle with nuts, repeating till ending with thin layer of egs. Beat the egg, egg white and sug to froth in pitcher or cup with spout, drizzling caefuly over and own into the cracks and crevices between layers. Bake torta for 18 minutes (!), remove fr oven for 1/2 hour before unmolding. dust with confect sug just before serving, preferably thoroughly cooled. Do not refrigerate. Make guests guess what they're eating, she says. I say, beware genuine allergies. Franci: The pictures in link are great, though, note how different some folk can be. Still have plenty of leftovers, but I like the lovely simplicity of Franci's contribution today and plan something somewhat related soon. Meanwhile, anyone seen fresh pasta in this region? I'm thinking of something from Sorrento, probably, that calls for linguine. I assume dried, right? Arrivederci. Dusk.

And here I was peeping at the thread again, seeing your name and hastening to correct my identification of the fruit on the mosaic floor! Cool photo, Andrew! As for what we call art, you got me there. Marcel Duchamp is famous for questioning our notion of art by displaying ready-mades such as a mass-produced bottle rack (to keep examples food & drink related) and by virtue of recognizing its powerful lines and the beauty of repeated form, asking us to call it art and him its artist. In college, I took a Studio class on Idea Art (graded) in which the professor told us that art was anything we wanted to call art, but that he reserved the right to distinguish between good and bad art. As you know full well, art museums are devoted to preserving and displaying cultural artifacts, objects and images in a context that is utterly foreign to the original context in which the majority were produced. As a result, they lose both their original function and significance, e.g. honoring the gods, proclaiming power or flattering the elite. The term "museumification" was coined by a major scholar of Mao to explain how presenting an object for academic scrutiny was a way to divest it of its relevance and thus, its power to influence our lives. Again, moving outside the "Western" tradition, we should recognize cultures that make no distinction between Fine Arts and Minor Arts when it comes to their notions of artistry, skill and beauty. E.g., raku ware made in a refined, paradoxically "warped & cracked is beautiful" aesthetic, meant to be pondered while sipping its contents. However, while John started this thread for the sake of intellectual nourishment, the examples that inspired the topic all were produced by folk who would probably like to see some of their stuff displayed as art in museums.

This gets away from Tim's focus, but I'd like to say the final items on your list are fine by me. However, I have to repeat one of my pet peeves: I hate the fact that you cannot go anywhere to drink coffee, read, and maybe down a pastry without listening to music. Ipods are lovely inventions, but I wish they would inspire coffee houses and restaurants to stop assuming our experience is enhanced by having someone else's musical tastes imposed upon us. Let others bring their music with them if they want it and leave the rest of us in peace. Especially when there are lyrics involved, music is distracting, even when sung in a language I do not understand. (The only time I enjoy "background" music is when I am performing mundane tasks; I'll turn it off if I am depending on a recipe, even, when making something new that requires me to concentrate.) Sometimes you just want quiet to think, read, write, or listen, talk and enjoy your company. Our lives are not empty without a perpetual sound track. * * * And Maggie, yes, your signature line is as appropriate as your clever pun. Sometimes you do need to shout and wave your hands. Now, brace yourself for less subtle references to Cream, Lovin' Spoonfuls...

Thanks for the up-date, Ned. I think someone here may have brought this to our attention in an earlier thread, too, but I had forgotten this fairly recent mosaic made with slices of toast instead of pebbles, squares of rock or glass. Imagine being a conservator in charge of maintaining the work for posterity! ETA: Tibetan butter-painting is one example of perpetuated, age-old practices that include the use of food as a medium for constructing images. A decade or two ago, a museum in NYC invited monks over to demonstrate the ritual to the curious. However, I can't remember off-hand whether it was in The Museum of Natural History (i.e., classified as anthropology) or an an art museum. In this case, it is the process of making the image that matters and not the end result. Sort of like Pollock, though his canvases go for a lot of money and are carefully restored when necessary; butter-paintings are destroyed upon completion.

Well....there's a lot. Depends upon your notions of food and contemporary art. I'd argue you're documenting quite a bit of it at the conference you're reporting at the moment in a different thread, Doc. I'm not all that knowledgeable about the twenty-first century, but in the previous: Perhaps one of the few performance artists whose name became familiar among the general public for a little while, there's Karen Finley who smeared herself not only with chocolate; she's done honey, too. Someone considered profoundly influential when it comes to performance art, Joseph Beuys, should be mentioned. "How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare," a piece performed in the mid-sixties was one that contemplated the relationship between humans and animals including those we slaughter and eat and those we fear will do that to us. (The artist also included a free-range living wolf in another famous work.) Then, of course, there's Claus Oldenburg and his soft sculptures of hamburgers, pie, etc. Everyone's favorite, an enormous ice cream bar, upturned, bite taken out of it so cars could drive through on the streets of Manhattan, was never built. Pop art gave us lots. You know Andy Warhol from his soup cans to the influence of his documentaries on John Waters, including the infamous incident in which Divine ate something most of us would not. Mel Ramos did pin-up images that conflate the commodification of the young, desirable bodies of naked women with that of food as seen with the heterosexual male gaze Closely related are Jasper Johns with his ale cans and Rauschenberg with his sculptural realizations of Cubist collages that took absinthe, etc. as their subjects. Then there's the British feminist artist, Mary Kelly and the "Post-Partum Document" of the 1970s which includes diapers documenting her son's experience of food. If you get a chance, go over to MOMA or the Whitney and look around. There should be some of Wayne Thiebald's paintings in which he draws relationships between the lusciousness of the thick impasto of brushwork and the frosting on cakes. Also look for one of my favorites at the Whitney (? MOMA? I forget) of a dish of ice cream that really is a dish of ice cream, solidified back in the 60's--I think. You definitely will see Duchamp's sexualized chocolate grinder, Cornell's dancing plastic lobsters (unless they're on loan for a special exhibition) or the infamous fur-lined tea cup by Meret Oppenheim. But why stop with the recent past? Still-life paintings are obvious. Rembrandt's hanging racks of meat respond to sixteenth-century works of the same subject, but in a more violent, painterly fashion. Go back further, food figures importantly in stained-glass windows at Chartres Cathedral where it is argued, the men behind the construction of the building used the themes of bread, wine and money to flaunt their power and impose their authority. Further back? Roman mosaics, one famous composition possibly based on a lost Greek precedent, strew the floor illusionistically with gnawed bones and cherry pits. Athenians carved themselves bringing sacrificed animals to their civic goddess and sent images of her throughout the Greek world upon trophies filled with expensive olive oil. Earlier? Egyptians documenting their funerary practices and making miniaturized replicas of food and servants that they believed would spring to life, full-scale in tombs to feed the life-force of the deceased. And while skepticism is currently raised about whether or not the prehistoric people of Southern France or Spain ate much bison (bones found in caves suggest a diet primarily of bunnies and fish), there are the running bovines and equines on rough stone walls. As for the so-called non-Western traditions beyond the ones cited above, there's a whole lot too. A favorite from the T'ang Dynasty is a painting on silk of a palace concert attended exclusively by women, all seeming to be well into their cups. A much different example would be the images of palm trees bearing heavy fruit in early Islamic holy sites, promising the splendor of the afterlife in terms appropriated from Ancient Rome. I'm pretty sure there are several pre-existing threads on this topic.

Spend some time down in the Italian regional forum. September's cooking thread is devoted to Campania, the region that gave birth to pizza. Pizza Napolitana is the eGullet moniker of an Italian expatriate who is extremely knowledgeable on the topic. You might search for contributions from the past that might be of assistance.

Tonight I assembled two different types of meatballs, intending to eat one for dinner tonight and reserve one for later in the week. However, temptation got the best of me, so I can report on both: Melanzane-wrapped polpette and Golden Zucchini-wrapped polpette The recipes are from Arthur Schwartz's book, although I modified them slightly. Before exercise at dusk, I broiled thin slices of both vegetables and managed to roast two peppers for later in the week after that was through. Layered the slices with slivers of garlic and olive oil. Mixed together the meatballs (3 parts veal to 1 of ground beef) which shared grated Parm, parsley and garlic as flavors. However, the ones destined for the eggplant wrap got raisins and pinenuts and the others, capers and lemon juice, making them a little more fragile. Shaped them. Out the door. Back: Put on Duke Ellington's Such Sweet Thunder. Highly recommended as cooking music, in part because I am slow and it's a long recording. Makes you feel virtuous that you can fry up two batches of meatballs, wrap them in basil leaves and vegetable strips, skewer them with toothpicks (Neapolitan pigs-in-a-blanket, really), bake them and have everything ready including wine and a heated piece of nan (the way I see it, the water bufale that produce mozzarella came from India, so why not?) before Track 22 is over. Even got the seeds off the roasted peppers and did some dishes. Response? Kind of disappointed with the eggplant and I am hoping they'll be better tomorrow once the flavors merge. There's too much garlic on my tongue at the moment. These got baked with tomato sauce and lots of sprinkled Parm. (The sauce that didn't send me when I put it together this weekend was actually perfect.) It just seemed fussy. The eggplant was trying too hard to belong without proving to be an integral part of the dish. I admit I also wondered why there wasn't a strip of mozzarella in there, too. The zucchini polpette were a different story. First, they were beautiful. Because I used a mandoline to slice them a little too thin, they dried up just a little too much. Here, however, the use of veal rather than ordinary ground beef made a lot of sense. The liquidy aspect of the mixture ended up being a plus since they were so light and the little amount of lemon juice (around 1 1/2 T with 1/2 lb. of meat) really asserted itself especially since the capers proved its friend. I tasted only one and look forward to more. Still, it's not easy biting into the delicate polpette with a skin of zucchini and basil in the way. You kind of need the teeth of the undead or a bobcat, maybe.

Fun!!! I know, I know. Diane Krall may snuggle up to Easy Listening once in awhile, but I got to say her rendition of "Peel Me a Grape" is a very sexy tease. On the cake stand just outside the kitchen: Nelly May, Harry Belafonte ("Step in the Line" is good for washing dishes), Lorraine Hunt Lieberson ("My Heart Swims in Blood" might keep one mindful when using sharp knives), The Temptations (yes, okay, so Murphy Brown lives on) and Hillary Hahn playing Barber and Meyer. I find it's not just the dish being made that determines the music, but the amount of time one has before the meal is supposed to be ready and whether you've swept and cleaned the bathroom yet. As for heavy metal and rap: another reason to be glad I didn't apply to the CIA years ago. I could not do what Buford did at Babbo.

Franci: That soup looks great now that it's lunchtime. Shaya: How about this? Too much stuff with dough? Cf. this tiella from Il Forno, too. Since we're talking about eggplant, I have to say I am too cowardly to try making the chocolate-covered dish I seriously was contemplating months ago. Where's Ling? Would she consider rejoining us for that? Or Shaya, just how open-minded are your children? Most kids are not obsessed with chocolate per se; they just like candy, ice cream and desserts, period...at least that's what I am guessing based purely on observation and memory. It isn't until you get into the double-digit ages that the chocolate fiends emerge, right? ETA: Oops. The first link's to a regional dish of E-R vs. C. However, merge it with Alberto's description of tiella for an appropriate dish.

Anna, thanks for response. I thought the advice about bringing chilled food to room temp before continuing to cook didn't make much sense, so I popped pot directly onto burner. Perfectly fine. Better. New Stupid Question: How come tomato preps turn from deep red to bright orange when blended even for a brief period of time? In both cases I've observed recently, olive oil has been involved along with a few other vegetables that were (of course) not as fully mixed up with the tomato until whirred in the blender. Gazpacho, raw tomato; tomato sauce, cooked with fresh tomatoes for more than an hour.

...combine briefly cooked, still warm fresh tomatoes with pesto. I can't tell you how many times I've made the same mistake. As good as raw cherry tomatoes or chopped fresh plum tomatoes are on pasta tossed with pesto sauce, the heat does bad, bad things to the dish. Sludge. Slow-roasted tomatoes at room temperature? Good, too. Quickly sauteed cherry tomatoes with garlic and olive oil? Fine, just dump the contents out of the pan and pop them in the freezer for a few minutes to cook it down to room temperature. THEN add the cooled stuff to the pasta.

This recipe conforms to some of the recommendations made here. I've had it a number of times, all good: Mother's Brisket.

Writing in the capacity of a participating member, I am pinning this response to a query made some time ago, altering it slightly to suit new location, make it more legible (i.e. by getting rid of the light blue font of citations), add a link, etc. I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING PLEA : If you are reading these pinned recommendations, you already know that this is the first place to go in looking for advice as you're planning a visit or a move. Second: Try to conduct a few searches to find previous threads that also ask where to eat, shop or take cooking classes in Florence or your other destinations. You may find either that you no longer feel the need to start a new thread, or that it is more convenient to bump up an old thread by tagging on a request for fresh recommendations. You'll also find threads on sub-categories of interest such as *bringing children to restaurants in Italy, *Best Sandwiches (quite important for Florence) *The Central Market (Mercato Centrale) *The Traditional Italian Meal *Student blogs of Ore and Hathor, eGullet members who travelled as they explored Italian food. Third: Do note that during 2005 the forum's current Specialist spent a year cooking regional dishes of Italy. Check out Kevin72's very long thread. It has its very own index that will send you directly to Tuscan dishes he prepared; there is a bibliography, too. During 2006, eGullet members collaborated in renewing Kevin's venture. The tour may continue in 2007. Look for threads that begin: "The Cooking and Cuisine of...." Florentine specialties should be covered in November 2006 along with other Tuscan dishes. This will acquaint you with kinds of dishes you might wish to sample during your trip. Still have a question that goes unanswered? Then, please post a new thread since your query may benefit others. FINALLY: Please, please express your gratitude for this resource by reciprocating. Report on your trip. Add updates and new discoveries in a relevant thread in the forum or start your own thread. Please pin it here. Especially if you were disappointed by the lack of helpful suggestions or nature of advice, know that the reason there was little here to help you is because others did not document their experiences either. [Pontormo,Nov 30 2005, 12:27 PM] Always consult divina's Web site where you'll find recommendations organized by location and new discoveries. Some of the best places to go are outside the city proper: Divina Cucina. The following includes places you may also find on her site. It's slightly modified from something I wrote in response to frequent requests from a younger set headed off to Florence: Osteria del cinghiale bianco Borgo San Jacopo, 43/r [r = red; street #s are red for commercial establishments or n (nero/black) for residential addresses]. The White Boar. This is my personal favorite if the neighboring Cammillo is the more elegant (pricey) establishment. On the Oltrarno, a street running parallel to the Arno, right behind the bank of the river. Fairly close to Ponte Santa Trinita, to the left, heading toward the Palazzo Pitti. (On the corner is a high-class "deli".) While their Web site says they accept Visa cards, I seem to recall they require cash only, at least in summer. Staff very warm and helpful, especially when your party includes a 5-year old Chinese girl. Great ragu made with wild boar. Great spinach. Almost as friendly with women dining alone. Reservations. Acqua al due Via Vigna Vecchia, 40/r To left of Santa Croce's belltower. One of two co-owned restaurants across from one another. Fairly new and popular. When figs are in season, their antipasto salami con fichi is incredible. Best known for pizza and very good primi [1st courses, though it is perfectly acceptable these days to order pasta as a main dish in all but the most elegant restaurants]. Gilda Bistro Piazza Ghiberti 40-41r. Next door to Cibreo, also off Sant' Ambrogio Market. Small. Reservations at night. Fabulous grilled porcini (these mushrooms are eaten like steak in Tuscany). Ravishing desserts if you have room. La Capponcina Outside of the city in Settignano, Bus #18. Some take cabs. FYI for future reference since best in warm weather at end of day; very beautiful at night. Foccaccia con rucola e prosciutto crudo is a specialty. (Haven't gone for years but enchanting.) Santo Spirito area: At least four very good places to choose from just around the piazza. The phenomenon is starting to spill into the Piazza Camine (in front of church with Brancacci Chapel) where you'll find a night spot called La Dolce Vita on one side and a good little trattoria on the other. Very unimposing, inexpensive good place called La Casalinga (the housewife) is on the little street leading directly into the piazza SS, via Michelozzo 9. (There's a nice place close enough to the Uffizi to have been affected by a bomb that exploded some time ago--very old-fashioned, traditional Tuscan fare where they also do wonderful porcini. I love their ribollita (hearty, filling soup). Perhaps someone can help me out with its name.) QUICKER/CHEAPER OPTIONS Italian bars are essentially cafés, places to get cappuccino ed una pasta (pastry) in the morning or as a late afternoon snack. Stand up at the counter; it's usually 2-4x cheaper. Decide what you want and pay first, showing your receipt (scontrino) to the barrista. While the very best was destroyed by Roberto Cavalli, there are still lots of fine old places and then some. Rivoire is opposite the Palazzo Vecchio, famed for hot chocolate in winter but also a fine purveyor of flaky pastries. Scudieri leads into Piazza San Giovanni (Duomo) and is quite popular. Robiglio on via dei Servi is a good place to stop between the Duomo and Santissima Annunziata or the Ospedale degli Innocenti; a nice bakery is close by on the opposite side of the street & sells pizza by the slice. If it's early on a Sunday morning, cross the Ponte Vecchio and head towards the Pitti Palace. On the left, past the shoe stores, there is an oldish looking bar with lots of colorful fruit salads and panini set out to attract your eye. They make great cornette (Italian croissants; budini are oval cakes made with rice and in the winter bambolini alla crema make custard-filled donut lovers swoon) that are sometimes still warm from the oven. Open daily. At lunch many bars produce dishes from their kitchens in addition to the salads and sandwiches in the counter display cases. Sometimes a bowl of pasta at one of these places is cheaper than buying bread, cheese and a yogurt at an alimentaria or corner food store. Bar degli amici (??? something like that) is across the street from the Palazzo Ruccellai, on left, towards the Arno and has fabulous panini & salads for lunch. Coquinarius Via delle oche, 15r. Near Duomo. Fairly new wine bar, great for large salads (gorgonzola con noci!) during a leisurely lunch or light dinner. American cheesecake. According to Divina's Web site, though, they're open for brunch on Sundays, so you might have to check hours and fare. Tavola Caldo da Roco inside Mercato di Sant' Ambrogio. Lunch only. Boisterous. Gorge for hardly any money. Enoteca Balducci Via dei Neri, right near piazza and close to Arno. Not far from Santa Croce. Wonderful place owned by Donatello & wife. Packed after one with daily specials (not ready at noon). Check out cases inside first and see what the Florentines are eating. Big with the Biblioteca Nazionale crowd. Via dei Neri is a great street for even cheaper lunches. Across from a good Japanese restaurant (Eito) is a narrow little place whose black tee-shirts tell you why God wants you to drink wine and not water. Great roast pork sandwiches plus (big w/ Florentines; another funkier spot w/ more limited offerings is under arch where the city's most important nunnery, San Pier Maggiore used to stand. Way back when each new bishop ceremoniously married the convent's abbess; now short old men stand around smoking, laughing, scowling and drinking wine). Across the street is the proprietor's friggitoria where you can point at roasted vegetables and other goodies to eat seated at one of their tables or on the street. ←

Okay, we're good, Kevin. I shouldn't expect someone from Texas to know about the superiority of pizza in New Haven, Connecticut, let alone the tradition of street fairs in the state's many Italian-American communities.

This weekend, at least two stalls still had peaches. Tomatoes everywhere they tend to be. Elie's claims they will be selling them another four weeks ! The large standards are of mixed quality. Some good, others not ripe through and through. Best for cooking. Cherry tomatoes at New Morning still delicious. Celery root's back for Week II. When you reach a certain age, you think you'd remember certain tidbits like the end of tomato season. I don't recall local tomatoes being sold through the end of Ramadan, certainly. Heinz still had his kiwi fruit. Tuscan kale and winter squash abound. Peppers like bunny rabbits. Like fruit flies.

For all the moaning about how the end of the month is near, there certainly was a flurry of activity this past weekend everywhere except my home. Franci, those calamari-shaped pasta rings are quite adorable. Never met anyone who didn't like squid, though I confess I am not crazy about squid-ink risotto. Elie, we trust you since you're a man of your word. Looking forward to seeing what you make next. While running errands, I decided to step into a bookstore to check out the cookbook section. Ended up fascinated by Schwartz's book, too, and having index cards in my bag , I ended writing down a recipe to try some time this week. Thanks for the details on the escarole, Kevin! Wonder why it was assumed I wouldn't make the calzones --though it is true that I avoid deep-frying. It can hurt, Mrbigjas, like Andrew said. And A, love the ectoplasm simile--or was it a metaphor? * * * There are a number of relevant recipes in Carol Field's book, In Nonna's Kitchen; Naples seems to be the place to find grandmothers. Also borrowed Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Italian Country Table, hoping to find a few things for months ahead. * * * Just made a huge batch of a simple tomato sauce last night with a ton of tomatoes brought back from the market. (No more Romas; these are just standards and definitely not as good as they were last week since we've had a few very cold nights.) It will end up in at least one Campanian dish, though there are several I have in mind. QUESTION: Because the tomatoes were just so-so is there anything to do to perk the sauce up post factum? It's supposed to be a foil, so I am not looking to add herbs. It definitely does taste fresh which I appreciate, but. Cook a little some more with tomato paste and then blend it all together? A drop of vinegar? Accept life as it comes?

Edorovio: Check out links and references to La Quercia in Iowa. The American "artisanals" are growing more sophisticated and their "artisans" produce a superior product. These folk are getting acclaim and there's a new one out in Berkeley area that just got a write-up in Gourmet. The thing is, the real deal is produced from animals that eat differently and breathe different air...let alone factors that include breeds, locations, in-house traditions and so forth. Me, yes, I'd rather have the Italian thing. Ditto on Serrano and the limited number of Spanish pork-products now available here. Cheddar is perhaps one of the best examples when it comes to an imported tradition that North Americans have spun-off successfully, but the domestic versions of the British original are different cheeses. Fresh cheeses don't translate as well (she says, three days after eating burrata from Campania flown in that morning) here. No one in the US makes a mozzarella that lives up to a good Italian one (especially from bufale). And cheese is not the same thing as meat. From what I understand, there are Italian producers who do feed their animals antibiotics for a limited amount of time. This is what bothers Whole Foods. Cf. the post by Russ Parsons regarding a reluctance to over-romanticize the superiority of all Italian prosciutti, but it's the way the animal is raised that seems to be even more important to WF than the quality of the product in regards to taste, flavor, etc. For example, the store sells packaged, pre-sliced Italian prosciutto that passes its test, but that is something I would never purchase myself due to belief that it is not as good. As we've probably said over and over in this thread, we've got some supply and demand issues in addition to those that smack of corporate arrogance or extremism. It's not a black and white matter. If everyone in the world knew how good real prosciutto crudo/dolce is, then what do we do? Better keep those commercials for McDonald's running on TV and make Parma sure does not fit everyone's budget.

Finish on stove top with cover off, or pushed slightly aside. I speeded up process by turning up the heat up and too much would have lept out of the pot were there no lid. The meat seemed to benefit from being cooked forever.

Do not put wieners in your vodka drink, Great minds should not fritter away their time; Besides, young man, what would the neighbors think? Before ere long the meat will start to stink And flies will queue to skate across the surface slime. Do not put wieners in your vodka drink. If your mother knew, she'd cry, "Go see a shrink!" "Inherit the estate? Bah! Not a dime!" Besides, young man, what would the neighbors think? For a laugh, dress the kitty up like Pink Yet plying him with booze is such a crime! Do not put wieners in your vodka drink. Picture noble Socrates quaffing 'cello rinky-dink Or Virgil downing franks in fields sublime. Besides, young man, what would the neighbors think? So start infusions while the glasses clink, But as we reach for ice or wedge of lime, Do not put wieners in your vodka drink. Besides, young man, what would the neighbors think?