Craig Camp

That is reassuring but no surprise.

Adapting is his strength. You have to adapt Italian cooking to practice it in the USA.

Don't let that horrible and insulting "Mario Eats Italy" confuse the fact that he does in fact understand Italian cooking and perhaps more importantly for people in the USA knows how to translate the dishes using available American ingredients. I found his regular show on Food Network the only show on the channel worth watching. Underneath all the hoopla he knows more about Italian cooking than most of us can ever dream of. By the way I don't want the defend Batali job.

They expect the writers to pay? Writers don't pay they junket.

Absolutely—but sometimes I just need something quick for the kids. </off topic> Be kind to your children! You have to admire both Batali and Hazan for their ability and understanding of how to come close to reproducing Italian food in the United States. Not an easy thing to do. My grocery store here can make anyone look like a great Italian cook. To do the same thing in the USA takes real thought and sensitivity. They both have it.

If wine has been so central to western culture for thousands of years, it seems curious that no real architecture of wine has emerged. It is true there are cellars all over Europe, but these tend to be vaults where the wine is kept, for the most part in the dark, so the interior design was never an important question. Then there are the châteaux so closely associated with the best wine, but the architecture has only a marginal relationship: it may appear, for example, on the label.

Robert Mondavi Winery and Beckstoffer Vineyards announced Monday they have settled their differences over the use of the name "To Kalon Vineyard," referring to a historic 359-acre plot of Oakville land given that name by wine industry pioneer Hamilton W. Crabb in 1868

Jean-Philippe Delamas from Haut Brion vineyards told LCI television that tests indicated his wines could contain as much as 14 percent alcohol this year, pushing regulation limits.

Copitas - the name of the glasses you see in Spain can be hard to track down. However, the official INAO tasting glasses are relatively easy to find and not too expensive. They work great both for Sherry and Port.

Some pizza types are made with fresh mozzarella in Italy. Wonder what the deal was. Of course they can cook the pizza in about 5 minutes.

I don't think we have reached the definitive stage on this thread yet. There may be some recipies not yet posted.

Noting that your enthusiasm for your adopted home is sweet indeed CC, it does not seem to me neccesary to denigrate France's fleur de courgette in order to appreciate Italy's zucchini fiori. Also, mint, walnut and anchovy have been so far neglected from the stuffings....and while perhaps not all together, surely each lends its charms to stuffed zook blooms I do not denigrate those wonderful dishes. I only suggest there is more diversity of preparation in Italy than elsewhere. You can be assured that each of those missing ingredients you mention are used somewhere in multiple combinations in Italy. It is like the cheese argument. Certainly cheese is made everywhere, but all must defer to France (including Italy) for the shear diversity and number of fine cheeses made there.

Why would you suggest that? Vegetables like tomatoes and zucchini have been in Italy long enough to no longer be considered foreign. Indeed they are both basic parts of Italian cuisine. I assure you Italians do not consider them to be foreign or exotic. The point of origin is now meaningless after centuries of cultivation. They are just as much a part of Italian cuisine as Mexican. And I mean to take nothing, and meaning to take nothing, from Mexican preparations.

By hand! Get a food mill it will change your life Heavy sauces like this are not recommended with angel hair pasta as they will overwelm it. Often delicate pasta like angel hair is used for soup or a very delicate sauce. Try a thick spaghetti, pennone rigati or rigatoni and you will have a pasta equal to your big, rich sauce.

... yeah. A couple of centuries ago. You will find no place on the planet with more diverse ways of cooking these flowers than in Italy.

Like Tomatoes it does not matter where there originally came from - what matters is what they did with it when they got it. The Italians win the prize for both tomatoes and zucchini flowers. Nobody does it better.

Not the stuff I'm buying from Puglia at my local store. It has a wonderful almost meringue type flavor. Delicate and sublime. The same cheese is even better when you eat it in Puglia (or Sicily and the other extreme southern regions) instead of all the way up here in Lombardia.

Enophiles who get clogged noses during allergy season may have problems fully enjoying their wines. Now, two New York doctors are marketing a new drug-free product -- developed to clear the nasal passages of chronic sinusitis sufferers -- as a way to improve wine drinkers' sense of smell and taste.

These BOB's (buyers own brands) or private labels for chain stores are produced by essentially all the producers and are part of the traditional business model of the region. It accounts for a huge chunk of the Sherry business in the UK. Even Lustau makes them for clients. Obviously the best wines are saved for their own labels but some very nice wines are sold at very low prices. However it is this end of the market that is collapsing and causing financial problems for many producers.

The fine wines of Alvear are from the Montilla-Moriles D.O. and are made from Pedro Ximenez vine - even the Fino which makes it a much different animal than the Palomino wines of Sherry. Because they use 100% PX to make their wines they are understandably much more famous for their sweet wines which can be extraordinary. How did you like the Fino??

So that they keep their shape rather then going mushy and shapeless. Its one of those things you have to do just right or you end up with a greasy mess. I have had wonderful deep fried flowers, but they battered very lightly. Look how crisp and light deep fried calamari can be in Italy compared that oily mess they give you in the USA.

It's free - just register.

True food and wine matching wisdom. Go this route and you can't go wrong.

There are many growers that take that extra 5% risk to make perfect wine. Revising viticulture and vinification can and has greatly reduced the number of 'disaster' vintages, but has not significantly increased the number of great vintages. Too hot is too hot. Rain at harvest is not the 'key' issue but just one of a range of key issues. There are many techniques that growers can use to deal with climate, but mother nature is just too strong and will determine if at the end of the vintage you have the potential to create a great wine or not.

... but only in a multi course meal!