Bill Klapp

And a special EGullet welcome to tanabutler, who, despite the random nature of the universe, managed to find the way to the best board on the whole damn site on day one!

Maybe in Sicilia, but in the home of capellini d' angelo, soup would be among its LAST legitimate uses. Among other things, it would dissolve in the soup if left there for any time.

In the Klapp variation, I peel and seed. Unlike Craig's recipe, the idea in my recipe is a "melting" of the tomatoes and the buffala.

Craig, I favor an offshoot of your sauce above, but I salt the tomatoes (without the basil) in a colander to make them lose the juices rather than saving them. I then add the basil, pepper and EVOO, and let the whole thing marinate for an hour or so. I then toss 1/4" cubes of buffala and that mixture with angel-hair pasta (fresh or dried), and finish it off with a little fresh-grated Reggie-Parmie. Called Spaghetti alla Checca. This does not suck too bad, either. I will save my tomato juice for you.

Craig, thanks for the article. Two of my closest friends in Italy make me sit and have an amaro every time I show up at their places, and I've learned to like it a lot (it's just the first one that you're never quite ready for!), but I knew little about it before your piece.

At least the story has a happy ending (in Italia)!

I second Craig's assertion that al dente pasta retains significantly more flavor than overcooked pasta. Now that I think of it, isn't the same true for anything that is boiled (maybe even poached or steamed)? To be sure, unlike, say, soup, where the goal may be to have the boiled or simmered ingredients give up their flavors for the greater good of the liquid, nothing can be gained from leaving any of the pasta's flavor behind in the water. The discussion has centered on dried pasta, but the same principle applies to fresh pasta as well. "Al dente" may not be the operative term for very tender fresh pasta, but if overcooked, it all but dissolves! The point is that properly cooked pasta retains both taste and texture, so much so in Italy that sauce is used sparingly, more as a savory seasoning than the focus of the dish.

Actually, they made some hip young folk eat it on a recent episode of "Fear Factor"(the only one I have ever seen, honest, and then only for 5 minutes, and only because of the cheese!). Most gagged pretty severely. Of course, they billed it as rotten cheese, rather than explaining that it was edible and quite a delicacy in Sardegna...

We don't know that for sure. He does appear to prefer pork, though...

Wilkommen and bienvenue, strange eye! (You know that you are chuckling at this one , Fat Guy. Admit it.)

And this just in from my wife-when you are screwing the two halves of a moka together, make sure that (a) the threads are lined up properly, and (b) you screw the thing together more than one turn (but not too tight-only to the point where you would have to force it to make it any tighter). She violated both of these principles a year ago, and claims that she nearly lost her life as the top half whizzed by her ear. I was not there, so I cannot say for sure. However, I did have to repaint the kitchen walls!

ctgm-I'm with you on drinking my whites warmer, all the way up to room temperature for grand cru white burgundies and some sweet wines. Refrigerator storage should only retard the wine's maturation process, unless, of course, you have pungent smells in there that might find their way around the cork. The humidity could also be less than ideal, which could cause cork deterioration over time.

Nothing. It is the queen...of blending grapes!

Coming soon to a thread near you, in all the gory detail!

Have lunch at Domaine Chandon, with a lot of their bubbly. You can make up in quantity what the wine lacks in quality, and the food is always a lot of fun. Then you can pass out on their beautiful lawn and sleep it off!

A big problem in Italy would be locating pumpkins in the first place, since all manner of squash and gourds travel under the generic name "zucca"!

Just got back from there, and learned nothing. It is supposed to be in the old Roman town of Pollenzo, actually nearer to Bra than Alba.

In answer to Robert's question, still no Guido II in Pollenzo (where the Slow food University will be), and I couldn't track down Piero Alciati to find out the schedule. Let me chime in on Pinchiorri-so much money, so little food, even less inspiration in a beautiful but sterile environment. The sweet 16 clearly does not reflect what is really going on in Italy, which seems to be a generational passing of the baton to a younger generation that is at once inventive and driven to succeed. My best meals in the Piemonte this trip were had at Trattoria della Posta in Monforte d' Alba, for instance. No Michelin star (yet-I predict that it is only a matter of time), but a kitchen that appears to be on illegal growth hormones!

Without disagreeing with the posts above, and being a serious wine buff myself, my thought is that there are risks inherent in both choices. The disappointment of a corked $1,000 bottle of wine would be considerable, and likewise a meal of that order of magnitude that did not meet expectations. On that basis, the meal seems the better option, on the theory that I cannot recall ever having had a supremely expensive dinner that missed on all cylinders (although I have had many that, while good or better, simply could not measure up to the hype). On the other hand, two $500 bottles of wine or four $250 bottles (lowering the corked-bottle risk a little!) with a fine dinner at home has strong appeal...

In my view, 1996 will stand among the greatest vintages for Barolo of the twentieth century. That said, Domus is probably what you would expect for that price, from a bulk producer with no pedigree. Beni di Batasiolo, on the other hand, has made some solid, tasty and even highly rated wines in the great vintages (but not otherwise, for some reason). I would spring for a bottle of it, see how you like it, and get more if it does the trick. You probably ought to decant it for at least several hours, as most 1996 Baroli are seriously structured, long-agers and not showing a lot now. But other than that, I have no opinion on the subject.

Joe H, I don't find your comment at all disagreeable, and I agree that Il Latini is capable of mediocity, but also of quality at a really fair price. (I once watched my petite wife down a 2 1/2-pound bistecca fiorentina there, and it was outstanding.) In my view, it would be unfair to single out any restaurant in Florence for being full of Americans eating mediocre food. That is the case in MOST, in my experience, and the thing I like least about Florence. There is brilliant food there, too, but not available unless one takes out a second mortgage on one's home. I always opt for something like Il Latini or a pizza joint while staying in town, and then save my money and appetite for much finer dining at reasonable prices outside of Florence.

I'm getting bored with the California wine scene. I agree that, when the wine is good, the cult wineries seem to be able to sell all that they can produce at whatever price they ask. I had the good fortune to get on all of the heavy-hitter mailing lists (except Marcassin, of course!) when the getting was good. Maybe I'm jaded, but I have already let my Togni, Rochioli, Martinelli, Turley, Dalla Valle, Araujo, Pahlmeyer, Peter Michael, Pride Mountain, Kistler and Abreu go, and I did not take Bill Harlan up on his recent Bond offering. At some point, I decided that I am not prepared to pay $50 for a bottle of Zinfandel, $60+ for a bottle of oaky but well-made Chardonnay and $175 for a bottle of off-vintage Cabernet. I also found myself selling off all but the greatest past vintages of the cult Cabs, and using the money to buy off-the-charts quality French and Italian wines. Somehow, it makes good sense to me to convert a $500 bottle of Bryant Family into, say, a 1996 Leroy Romanee St.-Vivant or two bottles of 1997 Gaja Sori San Lorenzo. For others like Colgin, Bryant, Screaming Eagle and Harlan, I find myself fencing the weaker vintages to friends just to stay on the list (sharing some of my allocation in the great vintages with them, of course). And I'm getting tired of that game, as are many others I know. Tying up thousands of dollars for extended periods of time for wines that I ultimately do not want to keep is pointless, especially when the ageworthiness of the best of the cult Cabs is completely untested. Against that backdrop, I recently found a couple of cases of 2000 Leoville-Las Cases at $133 a bottle. Does that make more sense than the 2000 Colgin Cariad (the third wine from a mediocre vintage) at $165? I certainly think so.

Don't miss lunch at the restaurant at Badia a Coltibuono (on the map under the same name). This is Lorenza de Medici's place, and it is high up in Chianti country and stunningly beautiful.

And let me hasten to add that the quality spread between best and worst Burgundy is probably greater than in any other wine on earth. Some would argue that there is more bad wine produced in Burgundy than anywhere else as well.

Rachel: I haven't tried the watermelon recipe you posted, but I will say that watermelon may be first among fruits for retaining its original fresh flavor regardless of what you do to it.