The Cooking and Cuisine of Lazio

[natasha1270]

I just wanted to add another book recommendation to this thread. I checked out several cookbooks from the library last week, specifically Cucina Romana by Sara Manuelli (ISBN 1566566258). As per the title, the book is devoted to Roman cuisine and she has specific chapters dedicated to areas within Rome and the vicinity. I haven't read many of the previous cookbook recs so I can't say how it compares but many of the recipes have caught my eye: Pappardelle al pesto frascatano, pasta alla checca, cappuccino di ricotta, etc. I may have to get a copy of my own.

enjoy!

N.

[Pontormo]

Eden, thank you or do gratium teum or whatever the case may be:wub:

Wonderful to see how the Ancient Roman dish doesn't seem so very distant and removed from our own time after all!

[Shaya]

Gotta work fast and cook a meal out of the Downie book before the month is up, Shaya! Let us know what you think of the book.

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I really like this book. While I haven't got much more time before the month is out, I know I will use it a lot in the future.

Tonight we started with a saffron risotto. Then I made beef involtini with proscuitto and peas. I Followed Downie's instructions and put one stick each of carrot and celery inside each one, and added mint as well. I have made these before with a mince of carrot, celery and onion and parmigiano - I think I might prefer that version. The mint came on a little strong and was not a hit with the kids. But the rest of us enjoyed it.

[NYC Mike]

A little late post, was traveling all last week.

Tomorrow we are going to have a Roman feast with a bunch of people over to end the month so last Sunday we did a run through (reads: great excuse to make lots of good food )

Everything was great. We had Carciofi ala Hathor's walkthrough up thread, we used baby chokes, bite sized goodness. I think I need to try them ala Romana now for comparison.

Next up was our version of all'amatriciana. I used spagetti since I couldn't find bucatini and pancetta. I went a little heavy on the red pepper and learned the ol "you can always add more" rule from the wife. I am in Pancetta Envy of Foodman's home cured, that is living well, WOW!

Last up was a Budino di ricotta, I could only find candied orange but it was pretty good. I am a huge fan of ricotta cakes, especially over ny style cream cheesecake. This one was really good.

My Cooking the Roman Way by David Downie arrived yesterday with a whole 2 days to spare!! It has completly changed the menu for tomorrow. What an awesome book, thanks for turning me on to it!

-mike

[azureus]

I had a small, Lazio-inspired lunch on Friday: Rigatoni con Asparagi e Ricotta

accompanied by Pizza Bianca

Both recipes are from David Downie's book. The pasta was quick and easy. I really was able to make it in the time it took to boil the water and cook the pasta, as promised in the book. I feel inspired to make variations on this--I'd bet it would work with fresh favas or shelling beans, peas, or even broccoli.

The dough for the pizza bianca took forever to rise with only 1/2 teaspoon of yeast in it, far longer than the 2-3 hours called for in the recipe. I resorted to setting the bowl of dough on top of a heating pad. To increase the heat in my oven, I put all of my stone baking dishes on the top oven rack, and my pizza stone on the middle rack. I rolled out the dough and baked the pizzas directly on the stone.

As you can see, the first pizza was wrinkled and uneven, while I totally forgot to dimple the dough on the second disk, resulting in something resembling the surface of Mars!

The pizza was tasty, and made a nice complement to the pasta.

April

[Kevin72]

What was the texture like? It looks quite different from the version I made (using Downie's recipe) last year. Mine came out pretty much like a Focaccia. Your's looks almost crisp.

See you in Liguria, everyone!

[azureus]

What was the texture like?  It looks quite different from the version I made (using Downie's recipe) last year.  Mine came out pretty much like a Focaccia.  Your's looks almost crisp.

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The parts that aren't dark brown were soft and focaccia-like. I think that I just stretched the pizzas too thin, especially the first one. Probably the texture would be different if I had dimpled the dough properly.

April

[Kevin72]

Actually, I like the looks of your version better; they look more consistent with what's in Downie's book and what we ate in Rome.

[Pontormo]

I agree with Kevin. I think your pizza bianca looks quite authentic, April.

From what I understand, focaccia is one of the earliest types of bread from the Italian peninsula. (While the Greeks were baking loaves, the Romans were stirring porridges.) Also, Downie acknowledges that Romans produce pizza bianca of varying textures, heights or thicknesses. I presume this means some are not all that distinguishable from focaccia, a specialty of Liguria.

* * * *

Looking through Molto Italiano last night in search of Ligurian dishes, I came across more Roman specialties clamoring to be made, such as suppli al telefono.

I also treated myself to one of those exquisite long-stemmed globe artichokes that Nathan probably can find easily, but for me, are rare treasures. The introductory photograph in Cooking the Roman Way is of a table set on a balcony looking across the rooftops towards the monuments and churches of the city. Fat, tight bulbs of these artichokes are in the foreground, their stems rising like the columns and towers in the background. Pale green fava beans. A thick wedge of Pecorino.

The weather is beautiful. I have a rooftop terrace even if the marble around here wasn't quarried quite so long ago.

I think it's going to take a while for this thread to sink to page 2.

[FoodMan]

Looking through Molto Italiano last night in search of Ligurian dishes, I came across more Roman specialties clamoring to be made, such as suppli al telefono. 

I also treated myself to one of those exquisite long-stemmed globe artichokes that Nathan probably can find easily, but for me, are rare treasures.  The introductory photograph in Cooking the Roman Way is of a table set on a balcony looking across the rooftops towards the monuments and churches of the city.  Fat, tight bulbs of these artichokes are in the foreground, their stems rising like the columns and towers in the background.  Pale green fava beans.  A thick wedge of Pecorino. 

The weather is beautiful.  I have a rooftop terrace even if the marble around here wasn't quarried quite so long ago.

I think it's going to take a while for this thread to sink to page 2.

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Well, I made those a good while back but here are the Suppli from Molto Italiano, they were addictively good:

I agree about Lazio staying on the first page. Only yesterday my local store (HEB) had the most amazing looking artichokes in both green and purple and with a good 5 inch stem! I have to try those. They were labled long-stem chokes and sold for the hefty proce of 2.99 each.

[Pontormo]

Well, I made those a good while back but here are the Suppli from Molto Italiano, they were addictively good:

I agree about Lazio staying on the first page. Only yesterday my local store (HEB) had the most amazing looking artichokes in both green and purple and with a good 5 inch stem! I have to try those. They were labled long-stem chokes and sold for the hefty proce of 2.99 each.

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1) Sorry, I forgot since the polenta sandwiches stuck in the mind.

2) Povero bambino! Mine cost $4.99 !!!!!!

ETA match appropriate emoticon to its intended phrase.

Edited May 1, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[FoodMan]

1) Sorry, I forgot since the polenta sandwiches stuck in the mind.

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Nah, you did not forget...I made those a good while back, not in this thread

[Pontormo]

So, this is the reason I asked about mozzarella in carozza earlier in the thread.

Vittorio de Sica's Bicycle Thieves (1948) is a favorite film that I probably will never see again in its entirity because it was so painful to watch. Just in case any of you reading this has not seen the movie, I will not spoil anything by even describing the scene where father and son share in the pleasures of this Southern Italian take on grilled cheese.

Mario Batali gussies up the dish a tiny bit by adding thyme and nutmeg to the eggs and cream in the batter, and specifying mozzarella di bufalo which would have been too much of a splurge and therefore not in the spirit of the Neo-realist drama.

However, I made a version that gets a nostalgic write-up here in Italian on the Slow Food site for Rome. The author, Andrea Monti, grew up in a northern part of Rome associated with di Sica's film. He includes anchovies in his version of the crustless sandwich, so I did too, although I was a little too hungry to press the assembled bread, fish and cheese in the batter for an hour to allow the flavors to merge.

Edited May 1, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[Kevin72]

I really enjoyed Rome as well. And I didn't even get to make carciofi alla romana or bucatinia all'amatriciani! That can only mean I'll have to borrow a day this month and do a proper Roman send-off meal.

[NYC Mike]

5 bucks per!! Fairway nyc had green ones this weekend for 3 bucks per. All things equal though, the produce we get here isn't the greatest quality. I would pay the extra 2 bucks for really great quality!

I think this food will have a special place with me since I really did make some high quality tasting food for the first time without being intimidated or frustrated or afraid. I can see myself going back to the well over and over again happily! After this month I can tell you why the Pope lives in Rome!

Our Roman send-off meal was great, 6 small plates and dessert, I needed to be rolled to bed afterwards! There were some misses like the bruschetta classica that never really got a crust since our NYC oven doesn't have a broiler, they were soggy. But then there were some amazing moments with the pastas we made, especially the Fettuccine alla Romana from Downie's book. I can see us easily cooking through this entire book. We even gave the Frascati another chance and found a really good bottle that could become one of our everyday white drinkers for under $10.

One thing that was missing was Roman cocktails for the antipasti, does such a thing exist? I am sure it must. Can someone point me to a book or site for specifics?

-Mike

[hathor]

Ciao tutti! Arreverderci Roma! What a lovely month. We had some carciofi giudea last night as a sendoff. Remind me to drain them better before they hit the oil. Delicious but boy did I make a splatter-fest mess!

We've been moving things around and I haven't had internet all week...and my eGullet settings somehow got screwed around and no e-mail messages from anyone. Ach! It was lonely without you guys!! Sorry, I needed to bellyache for a minute.

Now I'll go back and check up on what I've missed and start doing the Liguria research. Geez....seems like a month wasn't long enuf for Lazio!

[FoodMan]

I'll add my comments to praise the cooking of Lazio/Rome. I had a blast, learned a lot, and made the my best food in this series. I am also sad to see it leave with several items in my note book still to be made, like Tripe alla Romana, oxtails and the semolina gnocchi and more artichokes as well as a proper carbonara (am I the only one who did not make a carbonara?...oh well.) On to Liguria.

[NYC Mike]

Anyone ever make the Pope's Chicken from Downie's book? Its calling me....

-mike

[Chufi]

Well, I know I'm very late with this, but tonight I had a friend come over and cook Roman for me

This weekend, he came home from from Rome (where he spends a lot of time) and brought me this as a birthday present:

part 2 of the present was that he would come over and cook for me.

carbonara;

and saltimbocca:

the spaghetti was so good. I must confess I often just buy cheap brands of dry pasta, thinking it doesn't matter much, but I never tasted a spaghetti as good as this one. It does make a difference!

Proportions for 4: 100 grams pancetta, 4 yolks and 2 whole eggs.

[Kevin72]

Lucky! Did he use pancetta or guanciale? And did he bring all that with him or buy it local?

[Shaya]

the spaghetti was so good. I must confess I often just buy cheap brands of dry pasta, thinking it doesn't matter much, but I never tasted a spaghetti as good as this one. It does make a difference!

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Klary - it's never too late to see great food! What a nice meal, and an even nicer friend!

A few years ago I discovered that good pasta makes all the difference - and I've never looked back. The cheap stuff has a smooth surface so sauce cannot cling to it, while the more artisanal pastas are forced through old bronze dies and are dried very slowly, which gives them a wonderful rough texture that the sauce loves to cling to. The cheap stuff also has a gummy quality to it and no flavor - good to have another convert!

[Pontormo]

Yes, this is one of the major lessons I learned from a friend in college who spent a semester studying in Rome. I didn't believe her at first, but listened and learned.

What puzzles me here in the States is the success of Barilla, now ubiquitous. The pasta is no better than Ronzoni. When I lived in Italy, and my housemates didn't realize that De Ceccho was imported to the U.S., one of them picked up a box of Barilla and said "Never, ever buy this, it's no good," and then recommended the De Cecco instead.

* * *

Klary, you spoke about your friend coming back from Rome with his presents in your recent food blog. What's puzzling to me, at least, is the fact that the meat isn't rolled the way pancetta usually is. Thus, the question about guanciale.

Edited May 4, 2006 by Pontormo (log)

[Chufi]

Lucky!  Did he use pancetta or guanciale?  And did he bring all that with him or buy it local?

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pancetta, pasta, and cheese were all brought from Rome..

Klary, you spoke about your friend coming back from Rome with his presents in your recent food blog.  What's puzzling to me, at least, is the fact that the meat isn't rolled the way pancetta usually is.  Thus, the question about guanciale.

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I don't know.. he called it pancetta.. I know nothing about pork products, except that I love to eat them I'll ask him!

[Kevin72]

Guanciale is a different product made from pig's jowl instead of belly (as pancetta is).

Pancetta is sold rolled or flat, like standard (American) bacon, in Italy. Not sure which regions the flat kind is more prevalent in, though.

[Chufi]

you know.. old-fashioned Dutch butchers sell something called 'kinnebakspek', which, literally means 'bacon from the pigs'chin'. Does this mean you can buy guanciale in Amsterdam . I'll try to find some and post a picture.

edited to add: yesterday was defintely pancetta, belly...

Edited May 4, 2006 by Chufi (log)