Pontormo

Beautiful, Chufi....as usual! I have cardoon envy at the moment. I've never tried them in Italy and can't find them here .

Nathan: See the last post I added to the dining thread on Piemonte (look for "Filipot" in title) regarding current practice in restaurants versus the traditional succession of dishes from antipasti through dolci. Secondi are not always included. To build upon the strengths of the region, you could provide an array of antipasti, your wonderful pasta, then either a salad and rich dessert or cheese, fruit and wine. I would like to add something about a popular secondo, nonetheless: VITELLO TONNATO. I have long been using a recipe provided by Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman in Cucina fresca in which pollo is substituted. I have gotten to appreciate the sauce, especially, since it is made without mayonnaise, another ingredient traced to the relationship between French cooking and Piemontese dishes. The two authors call mayonnaise a "modern" addition to a sauce that includes olive oil and lemon juice, but no egg. They base their version on a recipe provided by Pellegrino Artusi in an edition of La scienza della cucina.... from 1907. I know Hathor said that she made her sformato with cream rather than the traditional white sauce. Anyone have any preferences concerning the use of mayonnaise in this dish?

I am going into the kitchen now to pour a glass of #4 and reheat last night's #6 . 4: Beaujolais Nouveau--a glass of red wine's good for you. 6: Quiche without #3, but bacon nonetheless, leeks sauteed in butter, 1 cup heavy cream, eggs and lots and lots of Gruyere.

Whole Foods appears frequently in discussions on eGullet, usually as a target for many reasons that include price and varying quality of offerings. It attracts a considerable amount of flack because it has grown from scruffy, food co-op style origins to a corporation that resembles Starbucks in its wanton desire to swallow up all the competition in new markets it enters, recasting everything in its own image. Somehow, that seems hypocritcal, betraying the spirit in which the store began. The major factors in the company's favor relate to workers: the benefits, salaries and stock options are superior to those offered to most of their peers. I have heard workers glow about their jobs, though certainly there is dissent, too. I know I've done my share of griping and will continue to do so. In response to the original post in this thread, one of my major complaints is a dogged resistance to anything WF considers unheathful, or not natural, especially when it comes to preservatives. This principle seems more important than superior quality, to me at least. Whole Foods would disagree. I have grown less militant when it comes to preservatives in meat, for example. I may favor a brand of bacon made with pork that I can find at WF that has no sodium nitrates and a lesser degree of fat, etc. Yet, I don't really care what keeps pancetta from rapid spoilage as long as it is good authentic stuff imported from Italy. WF carries imported prosciutto (one kind only), but "all natural" pancetta in flat, thin slices that are packaged like bacon somewhere in the U.S. It's more expensive than the real thing. No thank you. I miss the Israeli feta I used to get at Whole Foods, but the item was discontinued when the cheesemakers refused to honor the company's policy regarding preservatives. Because the company is based in Texas, the central warehouse of shipped goods has a greater influence on what one can find in the produce aisle than local farms do. Recently WF became aware of its self-image in this respect and has begun posting signs advertising what is grown locally. "We love the family farm" is the message. Still, from May through November, I spend very little money at WF, and shop at the farmers market, grateful that it's there. That farmers market is a privilege. So is the bounty of choices New Yorkers, D.C residents and other large-city dwellers have in many places this far from California where most of the produce at Safeway would do cartwheels easily over the likes of the stuff at the WF I visit each week. Whole Foods probably is a g-d send to folks who don't have Asian grocery stores or the kinds of markets that are being photographed on John Whiting's current food blog. I know a friend in a small town in Maine would like something like WF because her local farmers don't grow exotic greens like arugula or black kale or heirloom tomatoes or golden beets. Her natural foods store is small, even if its whole wheat loaves are good. The large supermarket, not a chain, has aged, imported Gruyere....now. Usually, she needs to drive to Portland or Boston for anything "unusual." WF suffers from a lack of competition since Wild Oats never grew the way it did. Wegmans seems to be offering this...though I have not yet seen its effects. Already, though, the pretensions of that store are being tallied.

Curlz: Here's the link because they are indeed available through the catalog. At least with my browser, I have to say the image hardly does them justice. I was heartbroken when I dropped a bulbous hand-made mug that friends brought back from a road trip to Bennington, VT. Had used it every morning for more than a decade. The glaze was layered in blues and greens. Thought I would never recover.

Cups? Not sure. Perefect mug? It is made by Waechtersbach in Germany and is held by the title character of the television series, "House." The most beautiful shade of red I know, brilliant glaze, light but with substance, simple stocky lines and available at Sur La Table for a reasonable price.

Anyone know where I can buy cardoons?

Consider this British Invasion, Part IV since I have stolen the idea from the forum for the U.K. & Ireland. This thread is a place to come if you're having trouble finding a particular bottle of wine, cut of meat or fresh herb that only comes dried in bottles at your local supermarket. When your local Asian market goes Latino and you become addicted to crema, return here when the store becomes another Seven Eleven and you don't know where to buy the stuff. Track down the best place to reline your copper pots or purchase certain piece of cooking equipment.

Nathan: That is a beautiful meal, especially the stuffed onions! Very WHITE!!!! Panna cotta with fresh golden raspberries would be a perfect dessert.

Gotcha, Chris. Just couldn't resist...especially since the thread that inspired your question also discusses buns, steamed and otherwise. Me, I would never use the word "wholesome" to describe pasties, even the Cornish ones . I know opinions are changing about the consumption of lard, but even so, they strike me as more filling & durable than nutritious. "Hearty," definitely, but "hearty" doesn't mean "wholesome" to me either. The word "wholesome" strikes me as having homey connotations: the Mom or Pa holding up a steaming plate of warm, comforting food that is Good For You. However, the former terms of this image are more important than the latter. In that respect Cornish pasties are relevant. I am guessing that the people who eat them in Minnesota ate them when children and the family tradition hearkens back to roots in the Mother/Fatherland far, far away...or long, long ago if you're a software engineer living in Cornwall. Also, if we think of your apron and Ono as they relate to food and the music scene of the 60s-70s, Judy Collins strumming an autoharp, singing "I always cook with honey" would be wholesome even though honey isn't necessarily all that good for you. It's in home-baked whole wheat bread (see post above) cooling on the table with a yellow cotton tablecloth that's faded after all those times it was hung out on the clothesline in the back yard out in the country. Mike Jagger, holding the microphone down low to the stage and mouthing "Brown Sugar" so that you almost taste the lips jutting forward, touching on the "B" and parting on the "OOw"? Not so wholesome.

Now that I know what exactly is printed on that apron of yours and have had time to ponder all its implications, I am not sure how to explain the word "wholesome" to you, Chris!

Substitute "DC" for "NY" and I am with you, Hathor, though, so far fresh navel oranges seem inferior to those of the past couple of years. Only Cara-Cara seem really sweet, although they're all coming from California instead of South Africa in enhanced sizes. Busboy, feel free to jump in here. The US government actually uses oranges to inform the public about the market economy. Who knows how much is due to price gouging, lingering problems with crops in Florida combined with rains in California and compromised transportation at ports? Well, I am sure there are opinions here. Juicing oranges used to be more economical.* It got to the point that when my small Braun equipment broke down, I switched to cartons and drank Minute Maid until Coca-Cola bought the company, substituted reconstituted juce for freshly squeezed juice and started a campaign to persuade consumers it was just as good. Thank g-d for competition between junk food companies. Thanks to Pepsi's ownership of Tropicana, I never pay full price for the stuff, though I wish there were weekly sales of grapefruit juices. My favorite hand-squeezed orange juice is made in cold tiled Italian kitchens with Sicilian blood oranges, each individually wrapped in thin red, white and gold papers. Europeans are starting to drink cartoned juice, at least Italian supermarkets sell quarts, including blood orange, tangerine... Finally, as to the article itself, again, it's an example of journalists having to find a topic to fit the theme of an ongoing series. Hard to read without critical stance. I didn't become a vegetarian because of the cost, air pollution & other environmental harm caused by animal husbandry nor the plight of defenseless creatures on the way to the slaughterhouse. I will not give up my O.J. unless it's somehow proven to affect the ozone layer.

Thanks for jumping in, Divina, and may you be snatched from the mouth of a wolf regarding all your other current projects. Since I must accommodate an allergy to nuts when I get around to choosing a dessert, I hope you or others will make something with chocolate and hazelnuts.

Kevin, tweaking the recipe made a lot of sense. I am sure throwing two heads of garlic into the soup would have been fine, too. (I love squeezing garlic cloves out of deflated roasted heads. One roasted head might be nice, too.) How did you like the sage? The original recipe calls for quite a bit. Based on my own experience, some of the instructions in Kramer's recipes call for modication as good as the book is in all other respects. I appreciate not only the greater degree to which the author integrates personal experiences & cultural history into his text (this seems to be a trend in cookbook publishing, and not just relegated to the role of "background" in glossy coffee table souvenirs), but thoughtful decisions, such as exclusion of recipes that call for white truffles.

Hathor, that roast looks fantastic. Thanks for showing it while still in its salt crust, too! I am intrigued by your promises for Wednesday....and am still waiting to see what Adam Balic has ordered.

Since we're also learning more about the region itself, just a few more for background. If you ever read or watch movies while you eat or watch your stew simmer, do note that in addition to all that the Savoy, pastries and university brought to Turin, Piemonte is the setting of several Italian films and home or birthplace of some of the nation's major 20th-century writers. One century earlier, Piemonte also supplied the reason just about every city in Italy has a street named after Camillo Benso di Cavour who had to learn Italian to help with the process of national unification. (In Florence, you can get really good warm custard doughnuts on Via Cavour. Also see label on jar that Kevin holds up during the last month of his personal blog.) Cf. a thematic program of a few years ago for movies. There's Marcello. And two of the literary giants:Natalia Ginzburg, the daughter, wife and mother of amazing men, although the most noted of her family. You have to read her, if you haven't. All Italian school children do. And only one other: Cesare Pavese. Now, here's dessert!

Here are some of the links I have been collecting. Please forgive me if some are repeats of others you've seen. General overview of Piemontese cooking Series of recipes Batali's cookies that Albiston also makes on Il Forno More recipes, this time in pastel tones A lot of info on wine and tons of recipes And since I almost lost this stuff, consider this Part I.

Tonight I made the palline di carne con le mele in brodo as a first course, using the roasted beef stock I had prepared over the holidays, waiting for the urge to sip French onion soup. In this month's continuation of last year's thread, Kevin mentions how tangy, light dishes complement the otherwise rich cheesy, substantive foods of Piemonte. This soup definitely falls into that category. Instead of the contrasts of anchovies and sweet roasted peppers or sharpness of vinegar, the unexpected factor was tripartite: the sweet-sour taste of a peeled, grated Granny Smith apple, minced garlic and lots and lots of Parmigiano-Reggiano in small veal meatballs that contain no bread crumbs and have no flour coating. After the palline are mixed and browned in [bright yellow Icelandic] butter, white wine was added to the pan and the heat turned up high. Once the meatballs simmer briefly in the stock, more cheese is sprinkled onto the soup. Perhaps it's just as well that I cannot append photographs to this post. The results were absolutely delicious, but brutto ma malfatto might be another good name for the soup. The quality of veal in Piemonte is supposed to be stellar, and raw, chopped veal is one of its best antipasti. My small veal meatballs might have been superior had I purchased the veal in Bra on the day that I cooked it after grinding it myself. My meat was a little too wet and my apple, a bit too watery. Were I to make the veal mixture again (it's also served in larger patties), I would drain the meat and squeeze out the apple. The large quantity of grated cheese helped dry out the mixture somewhat; cream vs. milk and a little less egg....or some time spent in the fridge might have been a good idea too. I managed to keep the little guys mostly intact when browning them, but they ended up as rhomboids rather than nice spherical palle. Very light, on the other hand, without the crumbs. When added to the broth, the beautiful clear brown immediately became spotted with flecks of grated apple that broke free from confinement. Not having to show this to you, I did not get out the slotted spoon and the sieve. I ate it as it was. Quite good. I would make it again, but I have to say that although I figured the veal and beef would go together in almost a familial way, because I had roasted my meat, bones and even some of the vegetables, the broth was a little too assertive. I do think a good chicken stock would be better. I also kinda preferred the one meatball I ate straight from the pan. Wasn't as sophisticated, but the surprising contrasts were more pronounced.

Please, please make the sformato with cardoons! I would if I could. I don't understand why you have them there in Texas, yet they're not disseminated by Whole Foods! In his discussion of sformati, Kramer links these custardy antipasti to the primacy of France vs. Italy/Chicken or Egg debate by discussing bechamel or balsamella. Of course, he favors Italy. However, he is the traditionalist when it comes to using this white sauce as a binder when producing sformati which some cooks nowadys make with cream instead to produce something lighter and I suppose, more familiar to diners who order flan for dessert. Batali calls the binder besciamella, and also uses it in all three versions of sformato (chestnut & fennel are the other two) in Molto Italiano.

Oh, and the heads are cut in half without separating them into cloves, so they can simmer first. When soft and flavors blended, you shuffle off the mortal coil, emptying the skins by first squeezing the goo back into the soup, then throwing them away.

I can answer that question. The recipe for 6 servings calls for 6 HEADS OF GARLIC , or one per person, and 8 cups of the major liquids (6 c. water), remainder stock. Since there is only 1 T of milk per serving, I could see why Kevin chose to make his adjustment. Beautiful job!!! I love the new self-portrait, too. Great vegetable. Very anthromorphic!

I am writing to bump this thread back to Page 1 since it addresses the region that we have turned to for the month. Do note complaints about the superiority of appetizers to the main course. This is virtually a literary topos in restaurant reviews, however, in this case it is what Italians might call "typical" or "characteristic" of the cooking of Piemonte. Matt Kramer says that the Piedmontese have a virtual cult devoted to appetizers; diners tend to order many when visiting restaurants where it is acceptable to skip the secondo, or main course.

Ben: Welcome to eGullet! I recommend that you spend some time browsing through pages at this site to see what other members are using, what they recommend and what gets panned. There are some threads that are about cookbooks, especially in the Food & Media forum. Go to what is now the third page and see thread on Cookbooks published in 2005. On page 2 Doc-G's & Marlene's suggestion, The Cook's Book, is praised and includes photos taken after its use by Daniel (see more of his stunning work on the Dinner thread in the forum on Cooking). If you go to the Baking & Dessert forum, you'll see why eGullet members are obsessed with Pierre Herme's desserts and pastries (books co-authored by Dorie Greenspan who is an eGullet member). I'd say that no one should be without Marcella Hazan 's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, a book that I personally feel is vastly superior in introducing North Americans to a wide variety of Italian dishes and cooking methods. I use Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone all the time. (There is actually a thread somewhere on eGullet where members report which books they rely on all the time, but I can't find it.) While more of an encyclopedia with recipes than a cookbook, if you're interested in using a variety of vegetables, turn to Elizabeth Schneider. Since I find more ways to vary meals by featuring vegetables, I also would recommend the book Alice Waters devotes to this subject. Paula Wolfert 's books on Middle Eastern cooking are terrific, though I am partial to The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean. (The author is a member; see discussions of her most recent publications throughout this site.) Restaurant-generated cookbooks that I own and love include the one Judy Rodgers wrote (Zuni Cafe) and the first of the two books published for The Union Square Cafe (Danny Meyer & Michael Romano). Cheaper paperbacks? Paul Bertolli's cookbook for Chez Panisse (more useful than the menu book by AW); Cucina Fresca, often in second-hand bookstores & Patricia Wells on Bistro Cooking. You'll find great discounts, prices and more ideas at Jessica's Biscuit (epicurious.com) and Amazon.com's dealers (enter the latter's site through eGullet to aid its finances). All-purpose cookbooks come in and out of style (I believe Michael Ruhlman started a thread on this topic late last year). Mark Bittman's two most recent volumes are both good, the new one being deliberately multi-cultural in scope. The Gourmet volume, edited by Ruth Reichl, is also discussed here in various places.

Am I too late to invite you to participate in the current project over in the forum on Italy & Italian cooking? We are cooking our way through regions that include Piemonte. If you have 4-5 bones left (with about 60 grams of marrow), a good choice would be a red wine risotto. Marrow is melted to cook onions and shallots before rice is added. Then each time you add stock, pour in a little dry red wine, adding a bit of tomato paste too after about ten minutes. When done, season with black pepper, pinch of nutmeg, Parmigiano-Reggiano and a pat of butter if you'd like. I can send more precise details from a published recipe in a personal message if you'd like.

You're welcome, Cucina. I am not sure how much you've eaten around while in Italy, but in the rounds you've made of the D.C. area, were you able to judge whether the restaurants you visited honored a specific region's cooking? Or were they more generic: Italian vs. Iranian, or Northern Italy vs. Southern Italy?