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I have a block of high quality (and expensive) reggiano. Would it be a waste to use this as the cheese in a homemade pesto sauce? I'm just wondering if the flavors will be lost in the sauce. Maybe it's better to use a cheaper supermarket cheese in the sauce itself - and use the good stuff for topping later? Any thoughts or opinions? ~WBC

Not to bore anyone with the not so gory details of my currently non-existent love life, but... last week I broke things off with the gentleman I'd been seeing for the last 8 months. It wasn't particularly ugly, but at age 40 (almost) I'm feeling like a relationship failure again. The first night after the breakup , I went out and had the ceremonial drunk- sambuca is good for this. The following day, I went to a book store, bought some new cookbooks and also purchased a hand-crank pasta machine (atlas, $50, at bed bath and beyond) I also bought a nice little bottle of vinho verde, got a new hairdo, bought makeup, etc-all with the money I was going to spend on a weekend away with said former boyfriend. Long story short, I spent a therapeutic, labor intensive 3 HOURS making portobello mushroom raviolis. My yield was about 6 pathetic looking blobs of glutanous mess, but I didn't think about HIM the entire time. All pasta tips aside (I'm sure there's a thread already) please share your tales of broken relationships and the cooking binges that have followed.

One of the best thing I had in Rome was the fried zucchini flowers, I'm trying to make a tempura version of this, but so far has failed to get it nice and crispy. I was told that you need 6 inches of oil, a copper pot and cold loose batter, which to me sounds terribly complicated, so does anyone out there have a simpler way of doing this? Or, any tips that may help?

Many thanks to Alberto for all the work and useful information!

Looking for somewhere special to take Dad for his birthday. He loves Italian. Other than Maestro, and Laboratorio what else is can't miss? Thanks!

Please, do not add replies to this thread, which is intended as collection of ongoing digests of the Gambero Rosso magazine. If you wish to discuss any particular article or theme please start a new topic. To go the digest of the most recent issue just follow this snapback link ← April '04 Issue In this month's Editorial: introducing the new GR layout. More wine articles and degustation notes and a new price oriented division of wine and restaurant reviews Daniele Cernilli's Wine Editorial attacks the EU, for its blindness, and the Italian political class, for its inactivity, on the denomination problem. (The EU has recently decided that while local denominations are to be protected, like Valpolicella and Montalcino, the same doesn't hold for non strictly terroir connected ones, like Amarone, Recioto and Brunello. These latter ones can eventually be protected from the wine consortiums in question.) Cover story: Il panino - The origins and today: The history of panini and the reasons for today's panini trend. -Milan, the Italian panini capital: A critical view of Milano's panini scene. The virdict: a few really good addresses but also a lot of confused ideas and all at quite high prices Young Italian Chefs: an ongoing series presenting the most promising Italian young chefs -Paola Budel,Galleria dell'Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milano. After a working history Gualtiero Marchesi and Gavroche, just to name the most important, Paola Budel leads the kitchen of the Hotel Principe di Savoia, trying to replace the somewhat old-fashioned with a more modern style. Recipe: L'oca nel piatto (goose on the dish) a creative dish using breast, leg and neck of the bird to create a play of textures and flavours -Davide Oldani, D'O, Cornaredo (MI). Oldani is Gualtiero Marchesi's former sous. His recently opened restaurant D'O, situated in the Milanese hinterland, bravely tries to match high end cooking and low prices (lunch menu starting at 11,50 Euro) by focusing on cheap ingredients and hard work. Recipe: Caramelised onion with warm and cold Parmesan cream -Niko Romito, Ristorante Reale, Rivisondoli (Aq). A self thought cook who recently attracted lots of attention from reviewers and foodies around Italy. Recipe: destructured Pancotto (a classical recipe from Abruzzi) Indovina chi viene a cena: Vyerat and Cracco Episode of the GR organised series of meeting between French and Italian chefs. Vyerat, the king of mountain herbs and holder of 6 Michelin stars and 2 20/20 from GM, meets Cracco, chef of the acclaimed Cracco-Peck in Milan. Vertical degustation of San Leonardo (Trentino) The history of the vinyard and the Guerrieri Gonzaga family Great wines: Barbaresco A chronological tale of Barbaresco's history. From the origins in 1893 till today, passing through the founding of the Cantina dei Produttori di Barbaresco, the first signs of success in the '70s, Gaja's worldwide recognition in the '80s, the growing number of successful high-quality producers in the 90's from Bruno rocca finishing with the Rivetti's brothers La Spinetta. Portraits of emerging producers: Piero Busso,Ada Nada, Lequio Donne del vino, ongoing series of articles presentig portraits of Italy's wine women In this issue Luisa Averna (of the famous Amaro Averna grouo), working at Villa Frattina in Friuli talks about the emotion of working with wine. Chiara Lungarotti describes growing up in her family vineyard and her work today as wine-maker. Elena Perdomini (Podere San Giorgio, PV) about her work as marketing director for the family vineyard and her plans for the future. Wine stories: Chianti Rufina. A look at the less-Chianti like of the Chianti DOCs discussing if the region should remain inside the Chianti denomination or not and how new combined agronomic-enologic studies might bring a change in the wines produced here Food itineraries -Val Venosta, Sudtirol/Alto Adige. -Pollino, Calabria. Parma Special: -Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano: moving towards higher quality? The article analyses the situation for these two famous Italian products, between pleasant but average "mass products" and the few producers going for top quality. -High quality food industry: A portrait of a the food industries, some of the very few in Italy, producing high-end base products for the restaurant business, -The best salumi from Parma: an article on the best "less known" salumi of the Parmesan traditiond from culatello to lardo, from4 different salami (crespone, gentile, verdiano and pallavicino) to spalla cruda. -The other face of Parma, Oasi di Neviano and its organic products -Eating out: The review of Parma best eating spots portraits a city still much anchored to it's traditional regional cooking, often well prepared, but in most cases excessively priced Wine tasting -Top range wines. In this issue: Langhe rosso Sefile (Nada) '99, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo Villa Gemma (Masciarelli) '99, Moscato passito di Pantelleria Martignana (Murana) '99, Trento Giulio Ferreri riserva del fondatore (Ferrari) '93, Montiano (Falesco) '01, Batar (Querciabella) '01, Collio Chardonnay Selezion (Borgo del Tiglio) '01, Amarone della Valpolicella Acinatico (Accordini) '01, Acininobili (Maculan) '00, Pelago (Umani Ronchi) '00, Montevetrano '01 -Wines under 30 Euro: focus on Veneto -Wines under 8 Euro: focus on Toscana -Beer tasting: British ales Luciano Di Lillo's Contrappunto on Lupicaia and Maremma wines Chef's recipes -Luciano Pompili, from the restaurant Symposim in Cartoceto (Ps) cooks Castelluccio lentil soup with squab breast, tacconi di biada (home made fava flour pasta) and baccala', Cardamom flavoured chocolate tartlet with toasted coffee sauce -Agata Parisella, from Agata e Romeo in Rome, cooks Viole di bosco (ravioli made from bluberry flavoured dough with mushroom stuffing), Rabbit loin with aubergine puree, Sharon fruit and yogurt mousse. - Angelo Troiani from Il Convivio in Rome prepares a gourmet sandwich with coppa di testa (cured headcheese), mayonnaise, scamorza, anchovies and puntarelle (a typical Roman salad) "Tastes" In this issue Cheeses presented by Alberto Marcomini, Italy's first maitre formagier: mountain and goat cheeses with many cheeses form Veneto Book reviews: Davide Paolini (Sole 24ore gastronomic critc) Pasta an Bread A to Z books, Anjali Mendes Indian Cuisine (presented as not only Tajines (sic)), La Crisi di crescita, a book on Fair Trade, Cucinare nelle Dolomiti, aboutSudtirol's cuisine, and two music and food books: Ensaladas e Pasticci (Rollin), a book about classical music and food anecdotes, and Canzoni da magiare (Raganin) between rock and pop and recipes Nutrition A very unflattering article demolishing the Atkins diet As usual the issue includes many restaurant, bar and food-shops reviews.

Click here for 1999 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino

2000 Castello d'Albola Chianti Classico Tuscany, Italy Medium ruby red to rim. Aromas of cherries, plum, brown sugar, and earth. Medium bodied with cherries and sour red fruit. Short finish, ~20s, slightly hot. 83 points (03/28/2004). 1997 Castelli del Grevepesa Chianti Classico L'Alberello di Lamole Tuscany, Italy Crystal clear ruby to slightly oranging rim. Aromas of cherries, strawberries, sliced red plums, orange peel, and finocchio frawns. Medium-bodied with cherry and red plum replays. Well integrated tannins and a moderate-short finish, ~20-25s. Slightly over the hill. Drink up. 86 points (04/16/2004). 1996 Frescobaldi Castello di Nipozzano Mormoreto Tuscany, Italy 60 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc. Deep garnet opaque colour to a ruby/ruddy rim. Aromas of blackberry, tar, varnish, toasted vanilla/oak, black licorice, kirsch, sweet red fruits, and a bit of herbaceousness. The nose seems more in line with a Chateauneuf-du-Pape than a Cab. Medium-bodied with sweet red fruits and a very prevalent green pepper/herbal note on the palate. Very present tannins, and I don't think they'll ever resolve. The fruit is falling apart too. A very drying finish with barnyard, glycerin, and bing cherry are met with more green pepper notes, about 30s in length. This wine is on the downhill slide and would likely have been better a couple years ago. 85 points (04/27/2004). 1997 Michele Satta Vigna Al Cavaliere Tuscany, Italy Opaque garnet/black colour. Aromas of grilled meat, smoke, pancetta, earth, empire apples, and herbs. Medium-full bodied with minerals, fresh figs, and leather. Short finish with apple notes, ~15s. Would have been better a couple years ago. 86 points (04/27/2004). 1998 Vignamaggio Obsession Tuscany, Italy Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah blend. Opaque garnet/purple colour. Aromas of cinnamon, cola, plums, nutmeg, dark chocolate, maraschino cherry, and cassis. Medium-bodied with vanilla, black cherry, and mushroom. Short finish, ~15s. A non-descript expression of terrior in this wine. It could come from anywhere in the world. 85 points (04/27/2004). 1997 Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Piemonte, Italy Crystal clear ruby red to an oranging rim. Aromas of bright cherry, earth, mushroom. Simple, clean Barbaresco. Fresh, with cherries and candied orange peel. Short finish, ~ 20s. A definite food wine. 86 points (04/29/2004). 1999 Tedeschi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Veneto, Italy Tasted over two nights. First night, straight out of the bottle. Clean, ruby red/garnet colour. Fat, thick, slow legs. Evolving nose with aromas of cherries, espresso, mushrooms, sweet red fruits (sliced plums and raspberries), briar, mocha, glycerin, and balsamic. Medium-full bodied, showing a lot of restraint and mouth-searing tannins. Behind the wall of tannin there are hints of cherries, mushrooms, thyme, and cinnamon. Dry, tannic finish, about 30-40s. 86 points right now, mostly for the nose. (04/28/2004) Second night. Decanted two hours the previous night, poured back into bottle and vacu-winned. Stored overnight in my cellar. Seemed to darken with air, becoming almost opqaue with purple tinges to the dark ruby/garnet colour. Aromas of Asian 5-spice, sweet red fruits (plums, cherries), glycerin, and vanilla. Medium-full bodied with sweet red fruits, white pepper, earth, and bannana. Moderate finish, about 30s, with allspice notes. This will be better in a few years, but never be a 90-point wine. 88 points (04/29/2004). 1997 Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale Gold Label Tuscany, Italy Decanted ~ 30 minutes. Dark ruby red to rim. Aromas of vanilla, black cherries, black plums, earth, smoke, raspberries, and currant. Medium-bodied, fresh tasting, clean wine with cherries, a hint of spice and a bit of milk chocolate. Tannins are fully integrated. Short finish, ~15-20s, with spice and orange rind notes. Slightly disappointing; was expecting more. Drink now with food. 86 points (05/01/2004).

Thought I'd get another discussion going. What's your favorite "Red Sauce" Italian place in the Denver area? My favorite is the Gondolier in Boulder. I've been going there since high school for the all you can eat spaghetti special that they have on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Homemade noodles and (to me) a great sauce. Plus, in their new location, they have a great patio. Thoughts?

Recently I was in Sicily for a week or so, on of the food products I brought back was "Ricotta Salata" (salted ricotta). Although I didn't actually see any evidence of it, it is apparently used by Sicilians as Parmesan would be used by Northerners. Although, it seems to be aged in general, at the markets you can buy fresh to old versions. The cheese that I bought from the Syracuse market was somewhere in the middle. Tasted on its own it isn't that interesting, but on pasta it is excellent. Almost a creamy flavour develops and currently I am usin it to the exclusion of parmesan!. A good product which I would recommend trying.

I'm planning to offer store-made pasta in the new retail section of my bakery. We're going to do a basic egg, a spinach and a tomato basil. The plan is to make sheets, then cut them at the counter for the customer. Problem is - the cut pasta is sticking to itself and doesn't always come apart when put in boiling water; some of it clumps. We tried 100% semolina and 50% semolina - 50% all-purpose. We've tried chilling the pasta before cutting, using lots of semolina when sheeting and cutting, but nothing seems to work. We'd love to hear thoughts about how we can improve our product. Cheers,

I am on a quest for finding the best Italian Sausages in town, ones that are spicy (piccante) and ones that are not. Currently I get them at Bianca Marias on HAstings St. and also at the butcher on Granville Isl. (can't remeber the name but by the toffee/fudge place). Also for a great butcher, I seem to be all over the place currently and have just found out that Columbus meats debone chickens and turkeys for you.. do all butchers do that? Need some 'meaty' advise.

I was thinking of trying an Italian restaurant while in the Vancouver area next week. An acquaintance who operates some Italian restaurants in town here speaks highly of Pino's restaurant Cioppino while his chef mentioned Bis Moreno. Comments?

I've had variable results with this classic baked pasta dish, but somehow mastery and consistency has eluded me. When served on the day of its preparation, it's quite often soupy and formless, whereas reheating on subsequent days yields a firmer yet still moist result. May I assume that baking the dish uncovered and/or draining the ricotta mitigate will the soupiness but without making the final result too dry and brick-like? I avoid most commercial, curly edged noodles because I find the result unacceptably thick, heavy and gummy, and have had some decent results from the thinner Barilla-type layers. The one disadvantage to use of the latter is, when layered dry, they tend to curl up unattractively. Would it be better to pre-boil them briefly? And can the uncooked pasta method be used with homemade pasta? I would heartily welcome any suggestions/hints/etc. you may care to offer.

and if breaking dry pasta is a food crime, why is it so? thanks, joey

I am hosting a Sunday brunch party and my friends have requested an 'Italian' themed one. I don't want to make the Tiramisu (it's everywhere now). I want to bake a (stunning ... ha ha! ) centerpiece cake as well as one other dessert (maybe Plum Crostata). I appreciate any ideas. Oh and also, if you have a non-alcoholic beverage suggestion. Thanks. edited to add that this brunch thing will be poolside so I don't fancy making anything that needs to be kept refrigerated.

I have the same problem everytime I make "Escalopes a la Milanese". I sprinkle veal cutlets with lemon juice and keep them in the fridge for one hour. Then I pat them dry, put them in beaten eggs, then in breadcrumbs before frying them in a large non-stick skillet with olive oil. During cooking, the breadcrumbs coat detach itself from the meat and when I turn the cutlets, it breaks down. I tried putting the cutlets first in flour before beaten eggs without better results. Could someone help me ?

My wife was recently in Florence for a few weeks and I asked her to bring me back a bit of fennel pollen, which would be about the only thing she could fit in her luggage (I know it's easy to obtain via mail order.) She couldn't find any. Not only that, she couldn't find anyone who even knew what she was talking about. She didn't hit all the markets, but she did a fairly thorough search, and asked all her friends. Some qualifiers. My wife is not excactly a food enthusiast (Just my luck to find the one Italophile barely interested in food.) But: she speaks fluent Italian and she knows Florence well. She's spent at least a month per year in Florence for over thirty years and has lived there for uninterrupted periods of up to two years. Also, she has many dear friends there, and, in one case, is so much a part of the family that she has a key to the house and her own room. This friend's cousin has a neighborhood trattoria. In other words, her Florence credentials are good enough that I have to believe that fennel pollen is not all that popular there, which comes as a surprise to me given that it's marketed as being from Tuscany. Some theories. It's more popular in other regions and is not that popular in Florence. Or, traditionally people just gathered it themselves (e.g. for salumi) and it hasn't yet spread as a consumer product. Or, though used here and there in Tuscany, it's not all that common and it's been pretty much created for the American market. Do any of these theories make sense? -michael

I feel a little confused on this dining event we are doing at work this week. Venetian night in my city (suburbs of Chicago) usually means people acting crazy and decorating their boats with lights and parading them past the on lookers from shore. But Venentian night at work seems to mean an Italian buffet, pool side where they are getting someone to float a gondola in the pool. Being a untraveled person nothing in particular comes to mind with the word Venetian other then gondolas..........it doesn't even shout Italian to me, sorry (I've just never seen a place call an Italian night a Venetian night). Anyway I need to come up with something visual with my sweets and I'm feeling blank. I was wondering if any of you cake artists have done anything creative in this theme? I'm looking for a few good ideas. It could be making a centerpiece, or a edible centerpiece, or chocolate gondolas floating in something. I feel fairly confident with my Italian recipes..............it's the visual aspect I can't seem to develop. Any thoughts, anything you've seen done thats cool on this theme? Thanks in advance

I found this today when nosing around at a new Mediterranean market in my town. It's a carbonated, non-alcoholic Italian product. The bottles are 100 ml in size - just a bit over 3 ounces. I almost think one could duplicate this using good bitters (as in Angostura), some soda water and perhaps a bit of grenadine for that hint of sweetness. It does in fact taste bitter but in a really good way. I suspect it would be complemented nicely by a dash of fresh lime juice but I have none in the house today. My digestif / apertif of choice has long been tonic water with just a splash of Rose's lime (or a few ounces of fresh lime in a tall glass of tonic). I could easily see this as a suitable replacement. Does anyone know of other beverages like this?

Here is my predicament: I love limoncello, but the yellow sugary syrupy stuff sold at most restaurants in NYC (notable exceptions: Babbo and Girasole) and at liquor stores is totally undrinkable. Where can I find the good stuff? (I live in NYC, but any recommendation would be appreciated). Let me also add that I have been too lazy to make my own, but am starting to think that is my only option. Please, please help me.

I seem to remember reading something (good) about an Italian restaurant somewhere close to the art museum. Can someone help me out? THANKS

I've looked for a similar thread, but couldn't find one. My apologies if this already exists somewhere. Last night, we went to Il Boccalone (Ebisu 1-15-9, 3449-1430). It had been recommended by friends, but I had been skeptical, as I had read elsewhere that the price exceeded the merits and that it was sometimes "filled with boistrous stockbrokers" (per Tokyo Food Page). Given the location -- Ebisu bordering on Hiroo -- I could see both charges being accurate. I don't have time to write a full review right now, and a friend was paying so I can't directly address the tariff, but I will say I was mighty pleased. Understand that I have been in the western food desert of Seoul for the past few years, so I am probably primed to have positive reactions to even moderately good Italian. (I love Seoul -- enjoyed living there, absolutely in love with Korean food, will happily spend time and money to travel there again and again. However, despite the arguments on another thread in the Elsewhere in Asia forum, there is NO good western food in Seoul. There is literally one Western restaurant in the entire city that I would cross the street to eat at in another country. Again, I love Korea, but it is an Italian food desert.) Zucchini blossoms are shun right now, so one of the app specials was battered and fried zucchini blossoms filled with mozzarella. This is one of my favorite dishes, so I am picky about it and I was thrilled with the result. My wife (similarly picky about Italian food) also ordered it and was exultant. The couple dining with us each had a simple insalata misto. My wife is the world's biggest risotto perfectionist, damn near impossible to please. Her next course was a very simple risotto seasoned with nothing more than good light stock, a well cooked soffrito, and a touch of parm. She split this with the lady from the other couple. I think she regretted having to share. At the same time, I was digging into a plate of rabbit tortolone in a butter sage sauce. Flavor was awesome, with a slight hint of earthiness to the rabbit seasoning, but not much to obscure the nice, almost sweet young meat. I might have had a touch more sage in the sauce, but the proportions were classic. It is my own debased palate that wants the dish loaded up with sage. My one criticism is that a few of the tortoloni were ever so slightly overcooked -- a minor flaw, but disappointing given how good the dish was otherwise. Unfortunately, for the life of me, I can't remember what the fourth member of the table ate. The highlight of the meal came next. As a special, the restaurant has been running a cavallo (horse) steak. I've never fabricated a horse and don't get to eat it that often, so my ability to identify cuts is limited, but it seemed to be a fairly thin cut from an area roughly equivalent to sirloin. It was cooked just to the m-r side of rare, so that it had taken on a pink tone most of the way through, but still bled generously when cut. That blood blended perfectly into the classic, simple seasoning of good olive oil to make me wish I were less constrained by convention and had the chutzpah to drink from the plate! The meat was more tender than I expected and, though not long-aged, full flavoured. I was so absorbed in my cavallo that I was unable to focus on what my wife or our friends were eating, though I know my wife had veal marsala and seemed to enjoy it. Our friends ate some sort of beef. They seemed to be content as well, but I really did zone out when my carne came. Wine list seemed to have a reasonably well selected, though perhaps a little expensive, range. As I said, we knew we wouldn't be paying (and our dining partners aren't really wine people), so I went with a simple Rosso di Montalcino for about $55 US. Drinking highlight was the following exchange: me: What choices would I have in terms of grappa? maitre'd cum captain cum sommelier: Well sir, can you tell me what you might like? me: How about some nebbiolo, something from the Piemonte? him, a few minutes later: Here sir, I've brought two -- a Barolo and a Ghemme. As you can see, the Barolo is almost empty. Why don't you try both and then pour yourself a glass of whichever you like? Needless to say, that was enough to bring me back another time. Desserts were good. I had a simple spongy cake partially macerated in cinnamon liqueur. Wife had a chocolate concoction I didn't really have room to taste. Cuban friend had cake with Italian meringue icing (traditional Cuban birthday cake treatment). They were good, but I was perfectly sated by the meat and should have stopped. I certainly had little critical faculty left. In summary: Didn't see any stockbrokers...Noise was discernable, but pleasant...Don't know the full tab, but 2,800 yen for my cavallo steak was well worth it...Ghemme grappa was excellent...definitely heading back soon. What are other peoples' favorite Italian places in town? Jim Edited to correct typo that affected meaning (and a few others that were just embarassing...because I can't proofread for s---

I just had the most amazing thing, given to me by an Italian co-worker. It's only sold in winter time in Italy, but it's apparently in all of the grocery stores. It's called "Pocket Coffee". Is there anyone else in all of eGullet who has sampled this amazing phenomenon?

I'm going to alba in july, and am looking to get some bottles of barolos. I am only going to be in the area for two day, and hopfully will be going to a few winerys. I was wondering if there are wine shops that either have better selections then others or have better prices?