albiston

You might want to try Gustiamo.com and see if they carry "Miracolo di San Gennaro" tomatoes. They're considered as one of the best brands, if not the best, in Italy.

Ok, I promise I'll post more about that as soon as I have a little time, this week end probably. Would that be fair? Sure, microcosm cuisine applies to every country and to me it's one of the most fascinating aspects ofany culture. And yet, I still haven't found another country in Europe (I cannot speak of other continents) where the differences can be so extreme at so little distance, as they are in Italy, though Spain and Portugal might come close at times.

Ostuni is beautifull and, if slightly more creative restaurants interest you, very close there's one of the foremostemerging establishments in Southern Italy, Già Sotto L'Arco in Carovigno (about four km east of Ostuni). I haven't tried it yet but heard only positive comments. I'd definitely include this town in the itinerary. I don't really like Bari so I would avoid it even if the hotels were priceworthy, but that's just a personal preference. You might want to have a look at viamichelin.com and Slowfood.com for tips on hotels and restaurants (Michelin) and trattorie (Slow Food), if you haven't already. You need to sign up, free, for both services.

Kevin, I couldn't help but smile reading your comment. It really hits what Italian ciusines are in a nutshell. We have so many lingredients, dishes, customs that are limited to extremely small areas that it would take more than a lifetime to really know them all. I've been living most of my life in Campania for example, yet I always manage to find something new, be it a new recipe, a variation on a classic or a new ingredient, whenever I travel through the region. It never stops amazing me. In a sense that's bot the strength and weakness of Italian cuisine. It can be extremely stimulating to the food-curious person but can be damn confusing for just the same reason. I think the supreme isolation factor is truer of the inland. On the coast you have a lot of influence from the various rulers who treid to conquer the island. This ends up in a few interesting twists: the island of San Pietro and its only city, Carloforte, for example have a cuisine that keeps the traditon of the Genovesi who established a colony here four centuries ago. The rustic definition hits the spot, though Srdinian cuisine can be extremely baroque at times, especially with its sweets. Oh "maggot cheese"! Delicious. . . maybe I should tel the story of how I was tricked into eating this sometime .

Good point. One reason could be that both Sicily and Friuli are cultural and culinary melting pots. In Friuli you have a the contact of Slavic, Austrian (or Austro-Hungarian), and North-Eastern Italian cooking. Add to that the relative isolation of some of the valleys and hence their peculiar cuisine and you have a unique mix. What is amazing is how such delicious dishes evolved from this possible mess . I'd add Sardinia to Sicily and Friuli, at least when it comes to distinctive, unique cuisine. Maybe not as exotic though.

I was wondering about more or less the same thing some time ago. I intended to turn the extra gancahe into truffles (covered in cocoa powder), but never manage to get around to that. Still think it would be a good idea. The thing that stopped me was, as you mention, the fear it might go bad. Anyone tried this?

Ciao Igles! first of all thank you very much for taking the time to be here with us. During your career, both at Il Trigabolo and at La Locanda della Tamerice, you've worked in what we Italian call la provincia, i.e. outside the major urban areas. This situation is not uncommon in Italy, I would even go as far as to say it is the rule: highly prized places like Le Calandre, Dal Pescatore, Gambero Rosso-- just to name a few-- are all outside big cities. If we exclude La Pergola in Rome, one could say that none of our best establishments is in any of the major Italian cities. The trend might be slowly changing, see Cracco in Milan for example, but it's too early to say if it really will. This situation seems quite unusual when compared to countries like France, the UK or the US, where Paris, London and NY all host some of the best restaurants in their own national scene. This in itself seems a bit strange. A big city would seem like the ideal place to open a restaurant aiming at excellence: a big customer base, high incomes (depending on the city clearly), higher number of tourists, etc. Yet this doesn't seem to work in our country. Even someone like Gualtiero Marchesi had to close his restaurant in Milan and move to Erbusco. Is there a special reason for this in your opinion? Costs for the restaurant owner? Customers needing a break from the city life? Keeping the same theme, but on a more personal note, I seem to recall reading in the Gambero Rosso article on Il Trigabolo (could have been somewhere else though) that after the restaurant closed, you were offered the position of chef in the restaurant of an important hotel in Rome. You chose to open La Locanda della Tamerice instead. Apart Pia were there other reasons that pushed you to chose the countryside instead of Rome?

Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to Igles Corelli, chef-owner of Locanda della Tamerice in Ostellato, about 30 km east of the city of Ferrara. It is an honor to have him as guest for the first chat hosted by the Italy forum. A big thank you goes Pia, Igles's wife and who some of you might know already from her participation on the forum, for acting as Italian-English translator for Igles. The chat will take place between Wednesday and Sunday of this week (19/1 to 23/1), but please feel free to start posting your questions anytime. (We will start with a day of delay respect what shown in the eGullet calendar because of chef Corelli’s appearance on an Italian TV show on Tuesday.) For those unfamiliar with Igles Corelli work here’s some introductory information: Igles Corelli, chef of Locanda della Tamerice in Ostellato, might not be a household name abroad yet he is one of the professionals whose work has been functional in defining what the Italian “cucina del territorio”, creative cuisine based on local traditional ingredients, is today. The best way to explain his cooking philosophy is probably through his own words: His influence on the modern Italian gastronomic scene is not limited to his cooking. Corelli organizes one of Italy’s most interesting food events, Sapere e Sapori, and is wholeheartedly involved in the education of the next generations of Italian cooks. He is also a founding member of the Jeune Restaurateurs d’Europe and Eurotoques associations. Biography Born in 1955, Igles Corelli starts his cooking career in 1976. After experiences between Modena and the Adriatic coast of Romagna, followed by a year on cruise ships, he becomes the chef of the restaurant Il Trigabolo of Argenta in 1981. A former pizzeria-restaurant, this will become with the years one of Italy’s finest establishments; its influence on Italian restaurant cuisine, though not often receiving the recognition it would deserve, is still relevant today. Il Trigabolo was one of the first, if not the first restaurant in Italy, to break away from both the old fashioned hotel classics and the at the time flourishing Nouvelle cuisine to propose what is today widely known as “cucina del territorio”: for the first time the best traditional and local ingredients were being used to create new dishes, leaving free rein to the creativity of the kitchen staff. The success of Il Trigabolo was the result of a sum of factors: a capable and creative brigade under Corelli’s guide, an owner, Giacinto Rossetti, always on the look-out for the best products and the use of avant-garde technology, like the now famous pacojet, years before these would enter many of Europe top kitchens. Some of the dishes invented here, like the Lasagnette croccanti (crunchy lasagne), have been since then copied and reinterpreted by many Italian chefs becoming downright classics. The recognition of the critics arrives soon: in 983 the restaurant is awarded its first Michelin star followed by a second in 1987. In the following years Il Trigabolo will receive numerous praises and awards from the Italian critics: Gambero Rosso’s Tre Forchette, Espresso’s 19,5/20 and Veronelli’s Sole award. Corelli continues to lead the kitchen of Il Trigabolo till 1993, when the restaurant closes down after economic difficulties. During the years at in Argenta Corelli starts the Sapere e Sapori (Knowledge and Taste) cultural association, which organizes the homonymous annual event dedicated to promoting quality foods and wines, and to creating an opportunity for chefs to meet colleagues in a spirit of exchange and cooperation and for gourmets to try the cuisine of top chefs from Italy and the world (see below for more details). Corelli’s cooking has also been the culinary backdrop of a number of political and cultural events. Notable among others is his participation to the Gala dinner for the international launch of the Slow Food Manifesto in the December of 1989 in Paris, alongside acclaimed French chefs like Michel Trama of Aubergade in Puymirol and Jean Marie Meulier of Clos Longchamp. In 1992 Corelli meets Pia Passalacqua, who will become both his life and business partner: they open Locanda della Tamerice in Ostellato in 1995. The Locanda is located in an area of particular beauty, at the limits of the Po delta national park, and rich in unique products, which often appear on the menu. Corelli involvement in teaching has grown in the last decade and he has recently become the coordinator of the Professional Cooking Courses organized by Gambero Rosso. From 2001 he has also taken part and starred in various progras produced by the Italian national Television RAI and by Gambero Rosso Channel among others. Two collections of his recipes have been published last year, both in Italian. Gribaudo collected Corelli’s favorite game recipe in the book “Selvaggina” while Gambero Rosso brought out “In cucina con Igls Corelli” a collection of Corelli’s best recipes. For anyone interested to get to know Corelli’s cuisine better “In cucina con…” is a good starting point. From the classics of Il Trigabolo to the latest creations, this recipe collection is a fascinating journey through his inventive reinterpretation of tradition and his curiosity for new ingredients and dishes. The book benefits from Corelli’s teaching experiences: the recipes, thought for home cooks, are well explained and the initial basics section covers all the prep work needed to successfully replicate the recipe. The only limit for the home cook wanting to replicate the recipes lies in the occasional use of uncommon ingredients such as game birds. Yet a book of Corelli’s recipes without game would be terribly incomplete, lacking an important part of his repertoire. The comments to many of the recipes throughout the book, explaining inspirations and ideas behind the dishes manage to permeate the book with Corelli’s warm personality and cooking philosophy. Sapere e Sapori From 1989 onward, the Sapere e Sapori festival has brought together chefs, top products, gourmets and art. The event’s highlight is the gala dinners: the guest chefs, from 3 to 5 every evening, each prepare one or more courses, inspired to the theme that is annually assigned to the event. The festival has hosted many of the best Italian chefs, (Pierangelini, Vissani, Iaccarino. Marchesi and Cedroni, just to name a few) and given the opportunity to Italian gourmets to discover the cuisines of top chefs working abroad, as Winkler, Vergé and Senderens. Occasionally the event has showcased the cuisine of particular countries. Some of the highlights include US cuisine (1993) with the likes of Susan Spicer, Mark Miller and Lydia Shire as guest chefs, and Spain (1994), with a group of young emerging chefs; among them the still relatively unknown Ferran Adrià. The next edition of Sapere e Sapori is planned for this year in Rome.

Moby, completely original it is not. I got the idea from Gualtiero Marchesi, one of the most important Italian chefs of the 80s. He mentions the idea in a book of his about gastronomy: no recipe whatsoever, though coming up with a satisfying one was much easier than I thought. Let us know how they come out.

Great idea. What kind of lettuce? And do you puree all the ingredients raw, or par-cooked? ← I often use Romain, it really depends on taste though. You want something that has a hint of bitterness, maybe even a bit more than that just as long as it does not become too much. Peas and lettuce are braised together: I first make a little spring onion soffritto, add the chopped lettuce and shelled peas (OK, I'll admit it, more often than not frozen ones) stir a bit then add some white wine and maybe a little chicken stock. When the peas are done, I strain most of the liquid out, puree everything with the stab blender, add some parmesan to taste and adjust the consistency with the leftover liquid if needed. You could strain everything through a tamis if you wanted an even smoother filling. I usually serve these with crispy pancetta or diced prosciutto and butter.

A great stuffing is pea, spring onion and lettuce, pureed together, with maybe some parmesan added in. The sweet pea and the slightly bitter lettuce balance each other's tastes nicely. Plus you really need to develop the muscles needed to roll the dough by hand. Those Northern Italian ladies, who work as sfoglina -- she who rolls the sfoglia, i.e. the pasta sheet-- have biceps a body builder could be proud of. I tried to roll pasta myself under the supervision of one of those ladies once: let's just say that after a while she moved me by side saying I was too scrawny... an adjective nobody had ever used referring to me in the last 20 years .

Have fun! I would worry more about eating on Monday in Puglia than on Sunday. Just checked the informations I saved before my last trip and noticed that many places are open on Sundays, either all day or lunch only, while a good percentage close Mondays. Anything else, just ask.

Never thought of that! It does indeed sound like something from Harry Potter. Mugwort is Artemisia vulgaris, a relative of wormwood, called Beifuss in German. In this part of Germany it is a must for the Christmas goose or duck. If you want more info there's plenty here.

Kevin those pasuticce are making me hungry! I'll have a go at them on the weekend. About the picture info: you can reduce your pictures, but you'll have to do that on your computer before posting the images. And no, unfortunately there is no way to post the images directly from hard disk.

Wild origano is fantastic, extremely intense and rich in aroma, but I've seen it rarely in Italy (in Sicily maybe? Ronald?). I'll remember to take a photo next time, but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until February-March, I won't be travelling to Italy sooner than that . Would a picture of of Mugwort from Germany do ?

Lucy, I've rarely seen origano sold as fresh herb, like basil or parsley, and more often than not only because I had ordered it in advance from my greengrocer. On the other hand potted oregano plants are quite easy to find, so those who use it often grow it on their kitchen windowsill. What can be a problem is finding real oregano plants. Oregano is closely related to marjoram and there are many wild and cultivated varietals that, aroma-wise, land closer to one or the other. When you buy one of these plants in Italy plant the name on the shield should often be taken as a possibility of what it is, not as a guarantee . Slightly OT but herb-related: I was wondering if giving herbs off to customers as a gift is common where you live. In Naples it is pretty much the custom and I was a bit confused the first time I went shopping in Northern Italy, a few years back, and had to pay for my basil. I miss my greengrocer. . .

Dorie, thanky ou for the tip and no need to feel sorry, I can be a real klutz at times. I'll probably give the lemon curd another go, though I'm open to suggestions. My original idea was trying the pave out in addition to the lemon tart, but since my wife's grannies are visiting I won't be able to avoid baking some of the Thuringian cake specialities like Zupfkuchen and Streuselkuchen with Pflaumenmuss. I have to make my customers happy .

Scott, from my point of view, i.e. that of someone who's lived most of his life in Naples, dried basil is simply not used. The lack of fresh basil in winter is made up by a few possible substitutes: I've tried basil infused oil, frozen basil and a frozen paste of basil and EV olive oil. The oil is probably the best in keeping the flavor of fresh basil, but you really need to prepare it with loads of basil. The frozen leaves were IMO disappointing. Oregano is a different subject. It can be used both dried and fresh, and since the flavour completely changes through drying, the culinary uses do too. I like both. Also, since oregano usually survives Southern Italian winters you can have both at the same time and not one as a substitute for the other. I generally use fresh in salads and vegetable dishes, while I use the dried stuff seldom and sparingly, but then in cooked dishes that call for it, especially in sauces.

I'm not completely sure this fits in the topic, but since it has to do with a Hermè recipe it might be usefull to others too. I haven't been baking much in the past three weeks, but once I saw Patrick's pictur of the lemon curd I decided I had to try the lemon tart from the dessert book ASAP. Since my wife is celebrating her birthday today and she's a big lemon fan, the occasion could have not been better. I started setting up everything for both custard and tart shell. While the rolled out shell cooled in the fridge I started working on the lemon curd. Here is where things got wrong: thanks to a combination of bad luck and clumsieness I tipped the to-be custard into the water bath. I thought about starting again but did not have enough eggs, and my neighbours were all away. So I ended up with an unbaked crust and nothing to fill it with. I decided to freeze the crust, since I'll have to bake something for saturday, when the bulk of the family comes over for coffee. What I'm not sure about is how to handle the crust now: straight into the oven from the freezer? take it out for half an hour or so and then bake it? What would you do? Thanks!

It does indeed. AltoAdige/Sudtyrol produces some delicious yoghurt... though one could discuss whether the local cooking is Italian or Austrian, strictly speaking. In Sardinia there's a pretty tasty ewe's milk yoghurt-like product called called gioddu. Weird as it may seem, Italian yoghurt, the commercial, additive laden stuff, is really popular here in Germany, where you can nonetheless easily find perfectly good Greek/Turkish style yoghurt. Go figure.

I have to admit I never made brodetto on my own and that the sheer amount of Bordetto-recipes you can find along the northern Adriatic coastline has always confused me. Last time I made brodetto with some friends from the Trieste area I don't seem to recall any eel used. There where many different small cheap fishes, often sold as soup fishes in Italy, though the choice could have been influenced by our being students with rather empty pockets. I do recall though that one of the guys cooking made rather a fuss about using at least some of those small hairy rock crabs. He insisted they where fundamental for the flavor; we walked to the nearby beach, which had plenty of rocks, and catched a few ourselves. What are you supposed to do with the eels?

Kevin, I love German breakfast, but I usually do not have the time or the appetite to eat so much in the morning. When I feel like it, and exclusively on weekends, I really enjoy sitting at the table of my favorite cafe for an hour, getting re-fills of coffee or tea, starting with some cold meats and cheese and then moving on to sweeter items, but if I ate as much as some of my collegues do almost every day my brain would work even less than it usually does in the morning .

Kevin, definitely! A year of Italian cooking? Why would we want to miss that? Although, to cover all the regions in Italy you'd need 20 months, maybe 18 taking Piemonte plus Val d'Aosta and Abbruzzi and Molise respectively as one region... but I'm not complaining . My greatest respect to you for embarking on such a task, I doubt I would manage to keep such a resolution. Suggestions - Having lived near Trieste for two years I would take the following as musts of the regional cuisine of Friuli Venezia Giulia: Jota Triestina, Frico, Cialzons, Dumplings filled with plums or apricots (the same one finds in Austria), Gubana or Pinza if you want to do some baking (though being Easter cakes, you might want to skip these), grilled meats (there's a strong Slovenian and Croatian influence in the border areas so cevapcici and raznici are among the local specialities), Brodetto... I could go on

Granita e brioche is one of the many reason why I would seriously consider moving to Sicily. It's pure bliss in summer! I never thought of latte di mandorla for breakfast but I'll sure give it a try. Should still have some pasta di mandorle from Modica at home.

It's not us eating little breakfast, it's the Germans eating waaaaay too much ! OK, we eat little breakfast, usually one or two esperessi, especially when at home, and maybe some bread with jam, a few cookies or a pastry. Quite a few Italians have a quick breakfast on their way to work, stopping at a bar and having an espresso or cappuccino with a cornetto, a brioche (not your standard French one) or one of the typical local pastries. I usually do like Marcella and limit myself to coffee, except when on vacation or during weekends. Hotels and pensioni should always mention if they offer breakfast or not, though they don't always. The simpler places often might not even have a breakfast room so they either offer none or pay for a cornetto and cappuccino at a nearby bar.