A year of Italian cooking

[redfox]

This thread is lots of fun! I look forward to reading it all year. My experiences in Italy have been limited to central Italy (Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzi, Les Marches, and Rome), though one of my best friends is a historian specializing in medieval Sicily -- but alas, though he enjoys food very much, he doesn't know much about cooking it and so hasn't been picking up recipes when he visits. Of course at the end you should go on an enormous trip to Italy and visit all of the regions you've cooked from.

Edited February 4, 2005 by redfox (log)

[albiston]

For February, the region I'll be cooking from is The Veneto. 

.....

As always, discussion on experiences in travelling and cooking in this region is welcome.  Any must-have dishes?

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Kevin,

looking forward to Veneto. A few recipes that in my mind are closely connected to the region and classics are baccalà alla Vicentina, actually not baccalà at all, rather stockfish; an fish in saor, fried and marinated in a vinegar and spice mixture; bigoli, a thick handmade spaghetti often served with a rich anchovy or duck sauce; the many rice dishes, risi e bisi, risotto al radicchio; casunzei the beet stuffed ravioli from the Belluno province; anything with radicchio, Veneto is the main production area with radicchio di Treviso, di Verona, di Castelfarnco...

just a few ideas .

[Kevin72]

Hathor: That meal sounded really good. Venice, like Trieste, was historically a trade centerpoint so it reflects many influences beyond Italian. Boiled meat is a Northern Italian classic. The vegetables all sounded impressive. I'll be doing lots of cicchetti-style meals (some of our fondest memories from the trip) since you do get good vegetarian dishes. I think we were on Via Assassini when we were there: I remember thinking it was an odd name for a street!

Redfox: Thanks for the input. Stay tuned, many of the regions you talked about will be used later this year! Friuli would definitely find its way into a subsequent trip.

Alberto we appear to continue to be thinking along the same lines. Alot of those dishes will be coming up. I've done saor variations before and in fact just did shrimp in saor for the Christmas Eve Vigilia, so I'm not sure if I'll be repeating it so soon. We do not get stocafisso here (I've heard it's a bit . . . umm . . . fragrant) but I can probably dig up baccala.

[Kevin72]

I'm at a loss why my pics are suddenly so blurry.

At any rate, the inaugural meal was risotto with radicchio, sausage, and beans.

Halfway between a soup and a risotto the first night, subsequently it's been more solid.

[DaleJ]

Kevin: FWIW, you cah get stoccafisso from Corti Brothers, Sacramento.

800 509 FOOD and ask for Darrell who will be stunned (as I am) by your noble efforts.

[Kevin72]

Thanks for the resource tip Dale. You're making it hard for me to take shortcuts!

Do you find stocafisso to be dramatically different in flavor from baccala?

[DaleJ]

I recently bought baccala from Conti, but haven't tried their stoccafisso. Darrell sent, along with the baccala, a stapled-together little disseration on both baccala and stoccafisso. Just incredibly interesting stuff including an argument that the discovery of the new world was demonstratively aided by the use of stoccafissa as principle foodstuff of Columbus' voyages. BTW, the same pamphlet warns that stoccafissa, unlike baccala, not only requires a week or so to become pliable but that it exudes a powerful aroma in process. It also costs about $25 per pound. I think the adventure must be done and I'm going to invest when my baccala is gone.

[Kevin72]

Hmm. Hopefully this doesn't discount my endeavor any in your eyes, but I think I'll go without stocafisso then. Besides, by the time I order it and reconstitute it, the month would be over!

[DaleJ]

FWIW, in a recent phone conversation with Darrell Corti, he noted that baccala served in Venice is really stoccafisso. I find this interesting since I have produced baccala montecatto from a reliable recipe with baccala and find it very like that enjoyed in Venice.

BTW, my appreciation of your efforts is undiminished.

[albiston]

FWIW, in a recent phone conversation with Darrell Corti, he noted that baccala served in Venice is really stoccafisso.

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One of the fantastic, confusing tricks Italian dialects can play on us is how names for the same food Item change from region to region . Baccalà always means stoccafisso in Vento, Friuli and Trentino. In a similar way merluzzo (cod) means baccalà in Lombardia. I guess that if you lived in land-locked Milan 100-150 years ago baccalà would have been the closest thing to fresh cod you would taste.

[hathor]

Sorry...I was out fooling around too much in Venice to check in! My, what a party Carnevale is!!

Somebody...anybody....what's a recipe for the sardines that are so popular for chichetti??? They are marinated in sweet onions, pine nuts, raisins and are completely addicitve!! Incredibile! I know one of you knows what I'm talking about.

Ciao from eteranlly grateful and sardine hungry Hathor!

[Kevin72]

En saor. Any variety of fish can be used, the most common being sardines or sole.

Dust the fish with flour and brown it in oil. Meanwhile cook down some red onions in olive oil, then add pine nuts and currants or raisins. Pour in red wine vinegar and some sugar and reduce to a still-runny consistency and then spoon over the fish and let sit for several hours before serving.

This a dish particularly popular also during the Festival of the Redemption or Redeemer in July, when they celebrate the end of the plague in Venice.

[Kevin72]

And, Hathor, we WILL get a write-up of the trip on this board, right?

[Kevin72]

Superbowl food and its leftovers kept me off-track for the week, so Friday was the first excursion back in.

Antipasto: Mussels da Fiore

Primo: Gnocchi di zucca

Secondo: Rottolo of tilapia

Contorno: Blood orange and cardoon salad

I'm a bit more familiar and comfortable with the cooking of the Veneto than I was with FVG so I do a bit more improvisation when cooking in this region.

The mussels dish, though, is directly from the da Fiore cookbook. Mussels are steamed with basil, tomatoes, and brandy.

A quick word on the da Fiore cookbook: it is beautiful; nearly every recipe has a picture accompaniment. It doesn't of course get into the cooking of the Veneto as a whole but does give an excellent picture of what is great and unique about Venetian cooking. Regrettably we did not go when we went to Venice, though browsing the Venice restaurants thread, it appears it has become outrageously expensive.

The gnocchi were made from butternut squash and were very wet--I wound up adding twice the flour as normal. Mario Batali made them on his show and sauced them with butter and julienned radicchio. I opted instead for a chocolate and cinnamon sauce he made on another episode for Carnevale Gnocchi as a little nod to Lent beginning.

The secondo of tilapia was rolled around a stuffing of tomatoes, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, and poached shrimp. Baked in the oven and finished with prosecco, which gave the sauce a nearly floral taste. Tilapia isn't traditionally Venetian, and it's not particularly well-looked on here in the States, but I like its delicacy.

No pics of the salad but it was arugala tossed with blood oranges and cardoons. Blood oranges have really taken off here in the past few years: just a few years ago when you got them they were oranges that had faint pink color or the occasional red blotches in their flesh. Now they are full-on, gushing deep red and readily available at standard grocery stores. Cardoons, while not as popular, finally made their way to Dallas a few years back and I'm still tinkering with how to cook them right. Normally I under-cook them and they wind up to fibrous, this time I'd almost say they were overcooked and a little bland.

[lielow]

Frico are a cheese crisp. Coarsley grated montasio cheese is sprinkled in a little pile on a hot griddle. The cheese melts and browns; then you flip it and cook it briefly just to set the other side. Other versions call for a longer cooking time and you virtually coat the bottom of a small skillet with the cheese and cook and melt it slowly. To stuff them you sprinkle the filling over a bottom layer of cheese, then a little more cheese on top. Let it melt and brown a little and flip. The pickle ones were the favorite.

you forgot the most important ingredient: potatoes!

The old way of doing frico, was to grate the potatoes and cook them in a skillet with salt & pepper till almost brown then add the cheese ( in the old days they used the Montasio rind as well as the cheese) in the same amount, cut it in small cubes. Stir in the cheese vigorously till it melts together and a compact paste it's formed. Let it cook till a crost it has formed on the surface, flip it (I always use a lid to perform successfuly this operation!) and do the same on the other side.

The easiest way is to boil the potatoes first , mash them and then procede as above.

I'll suggest to use different type of cheeses.

If you really want to treat yourself try to find a bottle of CLIVI GALEA BIANCO 2000 or 1997 a spectacular blend of Tocai and Verduzzo; Azienda Agricola di Ferdinando Zanusso.

[hathor]

And, Hathor, we WILL get a write-up of the trip on this board, right? 

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Grazie for the 'saor' recipe...its pretty much what I thought it was, but I was a bit curious about the type of vinegar...and the fish prep. Thanks!

You know...it was a funny trip. It was Carnevale and we went to balls the 3 nights that we were there....and catered food, is well, mass produced and probably not indicative of much.

We did have one outstanding lunch at a small restaurant near the Arco di Paradiso.

Unfortunately there were no business cards available so I"m going to have rely on my sense of direction and intuition to find it again!

We started with the best sarde de saor of the trip...very fresh with just the right accents of sweet vs. sour.

Then my husband had an absolutely incredible lingune con seppia. The best I have ever tasted.... buttery and full of intense flavors.

Our primi was a house special platter of mixed fish is a slightly, perfectly piccante red sauce. We practically licked the plate clean.

By this time, we had discussed world politics, Venetian politics and why her boat was sinking outside the front door...and the grappa had come out...and you know how it goes!

But, we are going back when Venice is a bit quieter so we can really poke around. It was far too crowded during Carnevale to do too much serious eating!

ciao!

[Kevin72]

you forgot the most important ingredient: potatoes!

If you really want to treat yourself  try to find a bottle of CLIVI GALEA BIANCO 2000 or 1997 a spectacular blend of Tocai and Verduzzo; Azienda Agricola  di Ferdinando Zanusso.

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I was debtating doing a potato variation on frico for that meal but with the gnocchi added in there I felt it may have been to heavy.

Thanks for the wine recommendation!

[Kevin72]

Trip sounds good, Hathor. I'm not much for crowds and as cool as Venice sounds during Carnevale, the thought of it makes me a little twitchy.

When we went it was late October so a lot of the tourist crowds had died down, and it was cool enough to where the canals weren't as . . . "ripe" as they are in the warmer months. I did plenty of research after hearing some not-too-glowing reviews of the place from those who had been and I really think we lucked out and got to enjoy the city to the fullest. We also explored alot of the less tourist-intensive areas, like the northern perimeter along the Miserchordia canal and the eastern part of the city. We also had great meals there, much against the general perception that Venice is rife with tourist trap places to eat. Just took alot of digging and in one case, blind luck.

[Kevin72]

For lunch on Sunday I did a tribute to Cantina do Mori, the famous Venice wine bar that's been around longer than my country. It is standing room only except for maybe three or four bar stools, and above you swing ancient, dusty wine bottles. Classic place to go for cichetti (I can never get the spelling right, sorry) the various antipasti served around the Veneto region in a similar vein as tapas or mezze. We wandered in at the tail end of the lunch rush, and in the span of ten minutes we went from relegated to the back, pressed against the wall, to being among maybe six people there.

Left to right: Aged Asiago Cheese, Baccala "Mantecato" on grilled polenta (but at do Mori it was a sandwich ("tramezzino"), and marinated artichokes.

Baccala mantecato is baccala cooked slowly with onions and garlic (some recipes call for celery and/or anchovies as well) until it is nearly collapsing. Then you "pound" it (that's what mantecare means, I believe) by stirring it vigorously or pureeing it in a food processor (guilty) when pouring in milk or cream and olive oil.

The artichokes were from De Blasi's Regional Foods of Northern Italy cookbook and she says it is based on do Mori (in fact it was her cookbook where I first read about and decided to go to do Mori). But when we went they served the entire base of the artichoke intead of the baby 'chokes I used.

In the vein of the stocafisso/baccala discussion upthread, I'm wondering if stocafisso is much stronger in flavor then? At do Mori it was punch-you-in-the-face fishy; in fact I think the bar guy hesitated when he saw this turisto ordering it. I had mantecato in Tuscany on the same trip and it was much milder, more like what I made yesterday, though I think part of the reason is that it was undoubtedly made with lots of cream.

To add to our homecoming heartache, the night we came back home we were flipping through channels on TV and Smart Travels with Rudy Maxa was profiling Venice, of course, and when we tuned in he was standing in do Mori!

[Kevin72]

Valentine's Day!

Part of what got me thinking about doing this yearlong endeavour is that when I make our Valentine's dinner, I'm inevitably inspired by Venetian dishes, which in turn kind of influences the whole month of February. This dinner was a lineup of dishes from years past; I used to tinker and try to do a different menu each year but some dishes just had to become fixtures.

Aperitivo: Blood orange and prosecco.

Antipasto: Scallop gratin

Primo I: Crab and cardoon soup

Primo II: Valentine's "ravioli"

Secondo: Shrimp with ginger, paprika, and prosecco

Dolce: Banana-ricotta gelato

Not sure if there is a formal name for the aperitivo. I only recently learned that Bellini can only refer to a white peach and prosecco cocktail. If you use strawberry in place of the peach, it's called a rossini, and if you use pureed grapes (really outstanding), it's a tiziano.

I always associate scallops with Venetian food. Regrettably where I live we can only get them shucked and not in the shell with that beautiful orange roe attached like I had many places in Venice. The gratin was simply scallops dusted with breadcrumbs, parsley, coarse sea salt and moistened with a few drops of white wine, then thrown under the broiled for only a couple minutes, then finished with lemon juice as it comes out.

(The pink piece of paper in this picture is the menu!)

The soup is a tinkering on a recipe in the da Fiore cookbook.

The Valetine's ravioli are essentially casonsei "inside out"--instead of stuffing a regular pasta with beet puree, the beets are mixed in with the dough to turn it pinkish red. It's inspired by Michele Scicolone's comprehensive book Italian Holiday Food; I think she even suggested casonsei is a color-appropriate pasta for Valentine's.

Sauced with butter, scallions, and poppyseeds.

The shrimp is another much-tinkered with dish that I originally cooked with langoustines (scampi) on a special order from the store a few years ago. Sear shrimp on one side in a hot saute pan with garlic and ginger (like Friuli, ginger is a not-uncommon flavor element in Venetian cooking). Then dust the whole thing with parsley, paprika, and prosecco and throw in a full-blast oven for 10 minutes, remove and squeeze lemon over. I think I may do orange next time instead.

Dessert was banana-ricotta gelato, a dish I've been making for my wife as long as we've been together, based originally on a recipe from Cucina Italia magazine. I can't even remember what it started out as except there was bananas and ricotta in it; I think it was zabaglione. At any rate it has mutated over the years and finally I got it decadently right when we got our gelato maker. The bananas on top in the picture are sauteed in butter, rum, and brown sugar and then poured over before serving.

[DaleJ]

Kevin: SMASHING!

[hathor]

mmmmm....rossinis..... now, those I got to taste in Venice!

The meal looks fabulous, as usual. Carini ravioli!

(what's a cardoon?)

[Kevin72]

Hathor:

Cardoons are a stalky vegetable in the same family as the artichoke. They look like fat, silvery celery. Very mild taste. You have to peel their fibrous outer layer on the stalk, then cook them for 30-45 minutes in simmering water to soften them. Frequently they are battered and fried or baked with bechamel. When I was in Italy, when we saw people's gardens it and kale or cabbage were the only things growing as it was late October by then.

[hathor]

So that's what that is!! I've been seeing it at the market, but its too bloody cold here right now to stand around chatting about it!!! Will keep an eye out. Thanks.

[Kevin72]

Hathor, one last note on saor: I'd be reluctant to say there is one authoritative type of vinegar used, though the most common one I've seen is red vinegar. In the da Fiore cookbook, however, they give a saor recipe with lemon and orange juice in place of vinegar and I'm itching to try it, although I'm not sure I will get the opportunity. I can't believe it's the last week of the month already and there's so, so much left I'd still want to cook.

The only other new dish this week has been bigoli con salsa. Bigoli are traditionally a fresh whole wheat pasta that is extruded. In one of my books they show an old fashioned bigoli press which is attached to a bench and you screw down a large press that forces the bigoli through. They come out very rough-edged. The more "modern" method is to put them through a meat grinder with the grinder parts removed. Lacking both, I instead got standard, dried, whole wheat pasta.

Salsa is a sauce of anchovies, diced onion, and parsley. Further inland, bigoli are sauced with duck ragu.

I ordered these in Verona and was very disappointed to be served a plate of standard dried semolina spaghetti, so I didn't get the opportunity to have the fresh, fat, whole wheat strands.

No pictures, brown pasta with a brown sauce isn't very photogenic. And Adam's fantastic compositions in his Tuscan thread are intimidating me.