Food Adventures

Olive oil business

2008-03-18T12:25:00.006-05:00

Recently, there have been several articles on the fraud in the olive oil industry and what that means to you as a consumer. There was this New Yorker article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/13/070813fa_fact_mueller

It discusses some disturbing practices in the olive oil industry. It claims that “in 1997 and 1998, olive oil was the most adulterated agricultural product in the European Union” and that olive oil fraud is a major international problem.

I personally found this newsletter by Silvestro Silvestori, the owner of the Awaiting Table cooking school (www.awaitingtable.com) in Lecce (Puglia, Italy) much more useful: it summarizes some of the major problems in the olive oil industry, but also provides suggestions for what we can all do to make sure we do not unwittingly contribute to the disturbing practices described:

http://awaitingtable.com/about/4menu_newsletter/2008/2008February_BananasCoffeeOliveOil.htm

While it is disturbing to know that I might have unwittingly contributed to the less-than-ethical practices in the olive oil industry, what touched me was this other newsletter by Silvestro describing the effect of those practices on the people who have spent their lives growing olives and making olive oil:
http://awaitingtable.com/about/4menu_newsletter/2008/2008January_Golfball.htm

Those of us who enjoy food tend to idealize the process of producing olive oil (and other agricultural products). While sitting at our computers and trying to meet another work deadline, we dream of green olive groves and the happy people who tend them. But, as Silvestro’s newsletter makes clear, the lives of the people who produce (or used to produce) this wonderful product are filled with hard work and some unpleasant choices. Come to think of it, it’s surprising there are still as many small olive oil producers as there are. I know I will think of this next time I decide what olive oil to buy.

p.s. You might also find this newsletter, which describes the process of making olive oil and some of the things that can go wrong, useful:
http://awaitingtable.com/about/4menu_newsletter/2008/2008February_Sulphur.htm

Pasta comfort

2008-03-07T10:07:00.001-06:00

Here is a recipe for a pasta dish that has become one of out favorites this winter: it’s easy and quick, which makes it perfect for work nights, when you want something comforting and tasty, but have little energy for cooking. It is a mix between spaghetti caccio e pepe (the Roman dish make with dried pasta, most often spaghetti, and cheese and black papper) and a grilled cheese and prosciutto sandwich, two of my all-time favorite meals.

Viktorija’s cheese and prosciutto spaghetti

Serves: 2 people, with leftovers for lunch the next day

½ package spaghetti
½ cup prosciutto, chopped
3 Tbs. half and half (or heavy cream)
1 ½ cups cacciocavallo (or other firm yellow cheese with strong flavor such as Parrano), grated
Pecorino Romano to taste, grated
Salt and pepper

Cook the pasta al dente (making sure to add plenty of salt to the cooking water). In the meantime, chop the prosciutto and brown it in a pan (Do not add oil; the prosciutto should have enough fat to brown and become crispy without burning). Add the half and half and when it’s warmed through, add the cooked pasta, and make sure it’s coated with the liquid in the pan. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the cacciocavallo, the Pecorino Romano and freshly-ground black pepper. The hot pasta should melt the cheese.

Enjoy with a nice glass of Italian red wine. We usually drink Valpolicella, our house wine.

Green Grocer Chicago

2008-03-04T16:39:00.001-06:00

It’s still winter in Chicago (this week the temps are barely reaching 30F) and spring and the farmer’s market season feel far, far away. But, there is a way to ease the winter blues and remind yourself of what’s coming when the farmer’s markets start. And, of course, it involves delicious food.

A new grocery store on Grand Avenue (1402 W. Grand) carries some of my favorite products from the farmer’s market: Mint Creek Farm lamb, River Valley Kitchens salsas and sauces, and Tomato Mountain Farm jams and preserves. They also carry a number of other local and specialty products, including Metropolis coffee. (If you live in Chicago and have not tried Metropolis coffee, go looking for it as soon as you’re done reading this blog.)

Green Grocer Chicago (greengrocerchicago.com) is owned by Cassie Green and Gary Stephens. Cassie has a passion for food and has gone to great lengths to find products that are local and sustainable. She works with a lot of local small producers and you can often find some of these folks offering samples of their products on Saturday mornings.

Speaking of Saturday mornings, there are a number of courses on everything from nutrition to the basics of yoga and pilates (check out the schedule on the website).

One of the items on the wish list (a.k.a. mission statement) is “We want all people who enter the store to leave a little happier than they were when they came in the door.” And the folks at Green Grocer Chicago have certainly done that. On a stretch of Grand that lacks fun stores, this is truly a unique and heart-warming place. The minute you walk in, you feel like you are in a different world: warm, inviting, full of positive energy, and delicious food. Need I say more?

Wild Boar (take 2)

2008-02-05T09:44:00.000-06:00

The second cinghiale recipe I made on Saturday is a stew common to the Maremma area of Tuscany. Before I discuss the recipe and my notes on it though, a short geography lesson is in order.

Maremma is the southwestern part of Tuscany, including the coastline and the town of Grosseto. It is famous for chestnuts, wild mushrooms, and game since much wild life lives in the mountains and hills. More recently, the Maremma has also become popular as a wine-producing region (more about that in a different post). The town of Grosseto is one of the most famous places for wild boar in all of Tuscany and the recipe below is one of the traditional ones.

Cinghiale alla Maremma (stewed wild boar Maremma-style)
(recipe modified from A Culinary Traveler in Tuscany: Exploring & Eating off the Beaten Track by Beth Elon; The Little Bookroom, 2006.)

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
2 pounds wild boar shoulder, cubed
1 ½ cups red wine (Chianti or other wine made in the Maremma area)
1 14-oz. can San Marzano tomatoes, chopped
20 black olives, coarsely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the olive oil and the rosemary in a heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add meat and brown well on all sides. Add salt, pepper, and wine. When the wine is reduced to about half, add the tomatoes, lower the flame and simmer covered for about 2 ½ hours, until the meat is very tender. Add the olives, taste for salt and pepper and serve over polenta.

Polenta:
8-10 cups water
2 cups coarsely-ground polenta (found in the bulk section of grocery stores)
salt

In a heavy pot, bring water to a boil, add salt and slowly whisk in polenta (to avoid lumps). Lower heat and simmer slowly for about 3 hours. If polenta dries out too much and is in danger of burning, add a little more water throughout the cooking.
Cook's Note: most recipes for slow-cooking polenta say to cook it for 40 minutes. This is not nearly enough. The polenta might be o.k. to eat after 40 minutes, but the flavor really develops after at least 3 hours. I am grateful to Bill Bufford (the author of Heat) for confirming my intuition about polenta; in the book, he explains that in restaurant kitchens the polenta cooks for hours. This encouraged me to try the ‘put it on the stove and forget about it’ approach, which works beautifully.

The recipe is perfect for Saturday or Sunday dinner: you can put both the sauce and the polenta on the stove in the mid afternoon and enjoy the fantastic smells for hours while you’re doing other things.

Cinghiale (wild boar)

2008-02-04T13:09:00.000-06:00

When Chicago looks like this (picture taken on Friday), there is only one thing to do—cook wild boar! And that’s exactly what I did on Saturday. I cleared my schedule for the afternoon, consulted my trusty cookbooks for new recipes to try and the cooking fun began.

The first recipe was for pappardelle with wild boar sauce by Duccio Bagnoli’s recipe from the Apicius cookbook Innovations: New Appetites in the Tuscan Kitchen. Duccio (who was my instructor in the two courses I took at Apicius in the summer of 2007) offers a variation on the traditional Tuscan recipes for wild boar pasta sauce. Wild boar pasta sauce is usually tomato-based and made with red wine. Duccio’s sauce uses no tomatoes and uses white wine instead. All of this sounded intriguing and despite some misgivings I had while cooking, the sauce didn’t disappoint!

Pappardelle al Cinghiale (modified recipe)

Marinade:
1 ½ pounds of wild boar shoulder, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk, coarsely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 sprigs rosemary
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup white wine vinegar

Combine all the ingredients and marinate meat for at least 4 hours in the fridge.

Sauce:
Marinated wild boar
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium carrot, chopped finely
1 celery stalk, chopped finely
1 medium yellow onion, chopped finely
2 juniper berries
1 cup dry white wine
½ cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp. flour

Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over medium high heat and sauté the onion, carrot, and celery until soft. Add crushed juniper berries. Add the marinated meat (without any of the marinade) and brown well on all sides.

When the meat is browned, add the wine and increase the heat to evaporate the alcohol from the wine. When the alcohol has evaporated (when you can’t smell it if you lean over the pot), add the chicken broth and a little water. Lower heat and simmer for about 2 hours, adding more water if the sauce becomes too dry. Enjoy the sauce over fresh pappardelle.

Cook's notes: Because the sauce does not have tomatoes, it tastes clean and you can really taste the wild boar. It really lets the meat shine. If the sauce is too thick, you can thin it out by adding some of the pasta cooking water.
Order wild boar online from the Broken Arrow Ranch http://www.brokenarrowranch.com/

This is the second year that I have bought wild boar from them and it has been excellent. I order shoulder since this is a good cut for stewing.

A Mano (review)

2008-01-28T18:35:00.000-06:00

A Mano
335 N Dearborn
Chicago, IL 60601
http://www.amanochicago.com/

The menu at A Mano, the Italian trattoria owned by the folks who own BIN36, is quite extensive and versatile. It ranges from antipasti such as grilled baby octopus and marinated wild mushrooms, to a selection of salumi (cured meats), raw fish, and wood-burning oven pizza to first courses (including ribolitta, salads, and cotechino sausage), pasta and second courses (including both meat and fish). There is also a selection of side dishes and, most importantly, a gelato and sorbetto bar.

The restaurant, located in a basement space right underneath BIN36, also features an excellent selection of wines, possibly the most extensive selection of Italian wines of any restaurant in Chicago. And the wine was also the best part of an otherwise average dinner. Both the Amarone and the Valpolicella Ripasso we tried were excellent: rich and complex. The 5-page wine list contains something for every taste and will not disappoint.

Another memorable thing about the dinner was the wild boar, shredded and cooked in its own juices with sweet raisins. It was flavorful without being heavy and the fact that it wasn’t surrounded by a sauce made it stand out and make an impression.

The pasta (pappardelle) the wild boar was served over is a different story. It was somewhat leathery and didn’t combine well with the wild boar. The other pasta we tried, the gnocchetti with sweet butter and parmigiano, was equally unimpressive. The gnoccheti were somewhat slippery and didn’t have any flavor. The most flavorful ingredient on the plate, the shavings of parmigiano, was in short supply, which made the dish as whole quite devoid of flavor.

The pizza is good, but not great. The dough is a little too thick for my taste and the flavors of the pizza we had (Prosciutto di Parma with arugula and mozzarella) were unremarkable. The prosciutto, which should have been the star of the show, was overpowered by the cheese and could have been mistaken for any ham. For my taste, Spacca Napoli and even Frasca have much better pizza.

The meal was somewhat redeemed by the finish, a combination of three sorbetti: lemon, cranberry-apple and blood orange. The lemon was very lemony (even too lemony), but mixed with the blood orange, it yielded the perfect combination of sweetness and refreshing tartness. The cranberry-apple sorbetto was surprising, with a somewhat less even texture than the other two, and the prefect balance of the two fruits.

Overall, the experience was not inspiring, but I would go back for the rotisserie whole lamb (special on Thursdays), the whole roasted fish of the day, and more sorbetto. And, of course, the wine!

Tip: try to go early as the noise level is pretty high later in the evening.

Baccalà (salted cod)

2008-01-25T16:02:00.001-06:00

Salted cod (baccalà in Italian) is one of those things people either love or hate. I had heard very few positive things about it; most people ate it around Christmas as kids (and some still do) and would rather not discuss the experience. Well, I have to disagree with them and put myself in the category of those who love it.

Until last July, I had not tried salted cod. Since it is one of the typical Italian ingredients (particularly popular in and around Venice), we studied it in the Tradition of Italian Food II course. Related to salted cod (baccalà) is stockfish. Baccalà is made from cod that has been cleaned on the boats right after it’s caught and then submerged in barrels of salt so it can be preserved for a long time. Stockfish, on the other hand, is dried on wooden grills at low temperatures (about 0 degrees Celsius or 32F), exposed to cold air and the occasional winter sun in Northern climates. As a result, stockfish (dried cod) is a tougher and tastes quite different when cooked.

I prefer baccalà: it is softer and juicier, with none of the texture of jerky. There are, of course, many ways to prepare baccalà and, while I liked all three that we tried in class, my favorite (perhaps because it was the most unusual one) is baccalà all vicentina. Baccalà alla vicentina (from the town of Vicenza in the province of Veneto) is cooked in milk. When I first learned this, I thought that maybe the people who hate baccalà had a good reason for doing so. The recipe calls for baccalà sandwiches, stuffed with parsley, garlic and parmiggiano. You sauté some red onions, add the baccalà sandwiches and, after browning them on both sides, add milk to cover them and simmer for about an hour. Easy enough! But baccalà and milk?!? Well, my first bite of baccalà alla vicentina convinced me to count myself amongst those who really like baccalà.

So, for my first baccalà-cooking experience at home, I decided to go with baccalà alla vicentina. It seemed like the perfect comfort food for a freezing day in Chicago: the milk becomes creamy and infused with the aromas of garlic and parmiggiano.

Since baccalà is very salty, before cooking it, you need to soak it in water for anywhere between 24 and 48 hours (depending on how salty it is), changing the water several times. In a pinch, you can leave the fish under running water for several hours; this does the trick. I put the fish in water in the fridge about 24 hours before I was going to cook it. I changed the water 5 times in the course of 24 hours. It was perfect!

After sautéing the baccalà, onions, garlic, and parsley in a little bit of olive oil, I added the milk (about 2 cups for .75 lb of fish) and simmered everything for an hour. Then, I sprinkled some parmiggiano and a little bit of ground nutmeg and put the baccalà in the oven so the cheese would melt.

The traditional way of serving the dish is on squares of fried polenta.

Olio nuovo

2008-01-11T10:12:00.000-06:00

It’s January and the days are short, cold and often gloomy. The spring is far away and the memories of sunny places and meals full of sunshine seem unreal. There aren’t too many green things that taste natural, but one never fails to put a smile on my face and remind me of sunny days in Italy, great food, and beautiful vistas—olio nuovo. For those of you who have not heard me gush about olio nuovo and have not had the pleasure to come over and share some, here is a brief explanation of what it is:
Olio nuovo (literally ‘new oil’) is the (extra virgin) olive oil just pressed from the 2007 olive harvest. The olive harvest happens in November or early December (depending on the region and weather) and the olives are almost immediately pressed into olive oil. The fresh oil (which is often not filtered) is strong, pungent and greener than any extra virgin olive oil I have ever seen. Because it is unfiltered, it contains some solids, which are partly responsible for the vibrant green color and the cloudy appearance that give the oil its charm. It is by far the tastiest extra virgin olive oil you will ever taste.

For the past two years, I have ordered my olio nuovo from Casa de Case (http://www.casesf.com/CasaDeCase/index.html), a SF company that imports olio nuovo directly from Frantoio Olivestri in Umbria. The arrival of the 5-liter can is always a much-anticipated and joyous event. I immediately contact my friends who appreciate the oil and the list of visitors grows. It’s hard to resist this green nectar that tastes like nothing you’ve had before and cannot be compared even to the best of extra virgin olive oils that are not freshly pressed. It’s strong, pungent, peppery, and complex. For me, it brings back memories of green Tuscany (the oil is technically form Umbria, but the property is very close to the Tuscan border and the oil has some of the features of Tuscan olive oils), vineyards and olive groves and tasty dish after tasty dish.

Because the oil contains solids, it is less stable than regular oil and is best consumed quickly, which is not an issue for me. I enjoy it at least once (and often twice) a day, with some crusty Italian bread and good wine.

Nothing makes winter meals tastier and more cheery than olio nuovo and daydreams of the next trip to Italy.

Cupcakes

2008-01-10T08:46:00.000-06:00

Today is a very special day—the first day of 2008 that Sensational Bites, my favorite Chicago bakery, is open. They are always closed the first week of the year (something about the employees and the owner taking vacation) and I have spent the past week trying not to think of the luscious custard in the Boston cream pie cupcakes, the fluffy, light cupcake and the way the two combine to make even the worst of days bearable.

Yes, you guessed correctly: my favorite thing to have is the Boston cream pie cupcake. Saying that is my favorite treat doesn’t come close to describing exactly how much I enjoy this custardy dessert. This is what helps me get through the endless months without bomboloni (to better understand my fascination with bomboloni, read some of my posts on these perfect Italian breakfast pastries). Yes, the Boston cream pie cupcake makes being away from Italy just a little brighter. This probably explains why I have a cupcake every single day and why I am so excited to be able to get one today after a week. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, in the past week I have not been without custard (that would not be possible). I made sure to save a couple of cupcakes in the fridge and even the freezer. They were not nearly as good as when I get them fresh, but they got me through a tough week. I also paid a visit to a Sicilian bakery in Andersonville (more about that in another post) and had a treat with Sicilian custard. But nothing compares to the Boston cream pie cupcakes made by Gina and her friends.

To start with, this is the lightest, tastiest cupcake I have ever had. The batter is light without being insubstantial and even though I am not the biggest fan of yellow cake, I can eat this kind of yellow cake any time. The middle of the cupcake is hollowed out and filled with thick, smooth, heavenly custard unlike any other I have ever tasted. If you are lucky enough to have a cupcake minutes after it has been filled with fresh custard, you will never think about what is essentially a cooked mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, flour and vanilla the same way again. On days when I get to Sensational Bites as the cupcakes are being brought out of the back, I have been known to have two instead of my usual one. It’s an experience impossible to put into words.

It is not unfair to suggest that my favorite part of the whole cupcake is the custard itself (I believe by now my love of custard is well-known) and I have been known to just scoop out the custard on days when I am too full to eat the entire cupcake (I am never too full to have custard). Another thing that shows just how much I adore Gina’s custard is the fact that most often I will simply skip the chocolate ganache the cupcake is glazed with. Me skip chocolate?!? Now, there is something I never thought I’d do, but the custard is simply so good that everything else, including the chocolate, fades in comparison.

Even the coldest, gloomiest, most stressful day can be turned around by Gina’s heavenly custard and the fluffy pillow of yellow cupcake that is its vessel. Cheers to that!

To experience one of these delectable cupcakes (or any other delicious dessert), go to

Sensational Bites
3751 N. Southport Ave.
Chicago, IL 60613
773-248-2271
(closed Monday)

Vino Italiano

2007-08-30T18:07:00.000-05:00

I love learning about wine, especially wine that pairs with what I cook. But until a couple of weeks ago, most of my wine knowledge came from trying out different wines and deciding what I like or don't like or from going to wine tastings, where you can more easily compare different wines. Reading books about wine was not something I found useful; most books about wine are written in a language I find too technical. That has changed!

I recently discovered Vino Italiano by Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch, a wonderful and very readable book on Italian wine. Not only is the book written in a language that I find accessible, but it also presents information about the different wines in context: it talks about the region, its climate, food and people, and offers stories of both cooks and wine producers. The stories make the wine and grape information more memorable and easier to understand for people like me who do not enjoy the technical jargon of the wine world.

The book discusses the wines of all 21 Italian regions, including the most significant grapes grown and the most significant producers and types of wine. It also offers suggestions for wines to try (ones you can get in the U.S.). The discussion of each region ends with a brief discussion of the food of the region and a representative dish and provides the recipe, a perfect way for people like me to broaden their wine knowledge.

My favorite new discovery so far: Amarone. This more complex relative of Valpolicella, which has become the house wine around here, is made from grapes that have been dried a little, so it tastes a lot richer. The bitter note that gives it its name is subtle and pleasant. It's a wine that demands attention. Try it with meat dishes or cheese. It's divine.

So, whether you are just beginning to learn about wine or would simply like to know more about Italian wine, get this book and happy sipping.

Adventures of an Italian Food Lover

2007-08-18T17:50:00.000-05:00

I have been busy reading a number of books on Italian food and wine. First, let's talk about the new Faith Willinger book, Adventures of an Italian Food Lover.

This is part travel guide for food lovers, part storybook, part cookbook. Willinger tells stories about her friends (chefs, restaurant owners, wine consultants and couple of her family members), describes the food-related establishments they are associated with, and provides the recipes they make. Her masterful story-telling is combined with a great deal of useful information on interesting places to visit, ingredients to look for, and things to do.

The book can easily serve as a travel guide for foodies: there are enough restaurant recommendations to keep even the most dedicated among us busy for years. I look forward to planning many itineraries around the farms, restaurants, and food stores described in this book.

For now, the most interesting part of the book are the recipes. They range from simple to quite complex and from familiar (arista) to completely surprising (pasta with chicken bone sauce). Many of them have their origins in peasant cuisine and use leftovers and simple ingredients in new and creative ways. I can't wait to try the leftover beef and potatoes and the pasta with chicken bone sauce.

My favorite part is that Willinger is not afraid to adapt these recipes so they are more accessible to the home cook. For example, in the recipe for eggplant puree, she cooks the eggplant in the microwave, something many Italian chefs would disapprove of, but a technique that will make the home cook more likely to try the recipe.

Many comments about the ingredients and potential substitutions reveal once again Willinger's focus on quality and tradition. She not only describes the ingredients she uses and explains why they are appropriate, but also suggests what you can substitute if you are not lucky enough to live anywhere close to Italy.

What is the first recipe I tried? Tuscan brownies, of course. They are made with extra virgin olive oil and come out very moist and gooey, but also light. Because they are made with olive oil, they are supposed to stay fresh longer, but I won't have a chance to report on that because this first batch will not last long enough.

Stay tuned for more comments on Willinger's recipes!

Cooking for One

2007-08-14T11:40:00.000-05:00

I am currently reading a book titled Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, a collection of essays, edited by Jenni Ferrari-Adler, about cooking for one and dining alone.

The authors recount periods when they frequently ate alone and tell of some interesting rituals they engage in when eating alone. Many of the essays also provide recipes. While all the authors seem to enjoy food (enjoy it enough to think and write about it), what struck me was the spectrum of attitudes toward cooking for one: from utter enjoyment (one essay discusses all the comfort foods that can be made using an eggplant) to something resembling discomfort, eating only to survive and barely remembering the meal. Many of the writers admit that they do not like eating alone and tend not to cook for themselves when alone. They see cooking and eating as a communal experience and, when alone, seem to get by on food that does not require much preparation. Now, I can understand that not everyone likes to cook and, if you are in that category, it is perfectly understandable that you will enjoy it even less when there is no company. But I am surprised when people who otherwise enjoy cooking—some even having built a successful career as chefs and cookbook authors—see dining alone as less worthy of their effort than cooking for company.

I also enjoy preparing food for others and will go to great lengths to construct a menu that I think my guests will appreciate and shop for the best ingredients I can find. But I also don't mind cooking for one and dining alone. Good food is one of my favorite pleasures and I refuse to forgo it because I happen to be alone. So, when Michael is out of town and all of my friends are busy, I gladly cook lunch and dinner for myself, complete with wine, dessert, and great relaxing music. I have been known to make risotto for myself and even pasta from scratch (with a sauce also made from scratch). Even on nights when I simply have a grilled cheese sandwich, I make it fancy: Tuscan bread brushed with high-quality extra virgin olive oil, good prosciutto, Cambozola or Parrano cheese, green olives, and a glass of Valpolicella. I sit down at the dining room table for 12, make myself comfortable, and toast to the day and to my ability to prepare a great dinner for 1 or 12.

Which reminds me: off I go to make pasta caprese for one.

Pasta Caprese (for one)

Note: I use durum wheat spaghetti because their simplicity pairs well with this simple tomato sauce and the rich buffalo mozzarella. Use the best ingredients you can find for this dish as there are only a few ingredients and, when they are of high quality, they can really shine and make a very satisfying dish (that is also incredibly easy to prepare).

100 gr. durum wheat pasta
1/2 14 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes, chopped (about 3 tomatoes)
1 clove of garlic, sliced thinly
2 oz. buffalo mozzarella (or the best quality cow's milk mozzarella you can find), cubed
3 leaves basil, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
salt
pinch of sugar

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two, until the garlic becomes fragrant (make sure the garlic does not start to brown as that means it is burnt and it will overpower the dish). Add the chopped tomatoes and the sauce they were in. When the sauce comes to a boil, lower the temperature and simmer for 15 minutes. Add salt to taste and a pinch of sugar.

In the meantime, bring to a boil a quart of water. When the water starts to boil, salt it with coarse sea salt and add the pasta. Cook until the pasta is al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce. Toss and serve topped with the mozzarella and basil.

Enjoy!

Summer fare

2007-08-01T09:24:00.000-05:00

Now, I know many of us have gotten used to having access to zucchini year round, but summer is the season for zucchini. Zucchini features prominently in Italian cuisine in everything from marinated zucchini salads to fried zucchini flowers to stuffed zucchini. Below is my recipe for stuffed zucchini. Note that many recipes for stuffed zucchini do not specify to boil the vegetable before stuffing it. That leaves the zucchini half raw and crunchy since the cooking time is not long enough for it to soften. For me, in this dish the zucchini needs to be soft, so I boil the zucchini before stuffing them. I also stuff them with ground turkey for a lighter dish. It is the perfect summer comfort food. Enjoy!

Stuffed Zucchini

4 large zucchini, boiled and cut in half lengthwise

1 pound ground turkey

¾ cup of fresh bread crumbs

2/3 cup of grated pecorino romano cheese

3 eggs

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. freshly ground pepper

freshly ground nutmeg

Sauce:

12 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ cup water

Preheat oven to 350F.

Boil whole zucchini in water until a toothpick goes through to the center of the vegetable. Cool zucchini under running water and, when they are cool enough to handle, cut in half lengthwise. Hollow out the halves with a teaspoon (or melon baller) and set aside.

In a bowl, combine meat, cheese, and eggs being careful not to overmix. When the ingredients are combined, add the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Distribute the meat mixture evenly among the 8 zucchini halves. Press meat mixture down into each zucchini half and shape it with your fingers, so it is smooth.

In a small bowl, break up the tomatoes, add the garlic and water, and stir. Pour the tomato sauce into a baking dish and place stuffed zucchini halves on top. Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes. Enjoy hot with some grated cheese.

Back home and cooking

2007-07-30T18:08:00.001-05:00

Aaah, it's great to be back home even though the month spent at Apicius in Firenze was magical and full of excitement and learning. As you might imagine, the classroom learning was supplemented heavily with more experiential types of learning: walking through the market every morning and enjoying the smells, colors, and sounds, seeking out great food (good food is easy to find in Firenze, so I have raised the bar and now only seek great food), and tasting as many pastries, cheeses, gelato, and other delicacies as 24 hours in a day would allow.

Even the flight back was a gastronomic experience. I flew business class from Amsterdam to Chicago (thank you KLM!) and got treated to excellent service and some surprisingly good food and wine. Everything from the appetizer (smoked salmon with marinated cucumber and a 'Eigenheimer' potato salad with mini shrimp) to the main course (chicken medallions with tarragon sauce served with turnip, a red pepper compote, pasta and white beans) to the choice of desserts (fresh strawberries with whipped cream, cheese, or an apricot ice-cream treat in a shell of white chocolate) was excellent. Even the pizza with smoked salmon and crème fraiche was relatively good.

Now, it's time to start testing all the recipes I learned in class or imagined and adapting them so they can be prepared with the ingredients available in Chicago. After a night out on Friday, I immediately got back to cooking on Saturday night with some fresh made pici (a thick handmade pasta without egg, resembling irregularly shaped spaghetti) dressed with nduja (http://www.nduja.info/index-en.html). I brought back a little jar of nduja after tasting it at a restaurant in Firenze, where it was served as part of the meat-and-cheese appetizer. The spread I brought back contains a lot less meat than the salami-like product we had at the restaurant, but it was perfect for dressing the thick pici, especially when reinforced with grated pecorino romano. Nduja is very spicy since it is mostly hot pepper paste mixed with pork fat and some pork meat. The fat coated the pasta and the heat of the peppers was perfectly counterbalanced by the think, chewy noodles and the salty cheese. What a divine meal!

Last night, I tested a trick I learned in class: roasted potatoes, restaurant-style. I love roasted potatoes and often make then on Sunday nights. But, in the past I used to cut them up and roast them in the oven in evoo. Depending on the oven temperature and the roasting time, sometimes they would dry out (unless covered with foil) and develop sharp edges, thus becoming less delicious. One of the tricks Duccio shared with us is that you blanch the potatoes first (cook them for a couple of minutes in boiling salted water), toss them in a pan with olive oil and bread crumbs, and then simply finish cooking them in the oven. Not only does the process take much less time than roasting in the oven, but the end result is much tastier: the potatoes are creamy and soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside (without being dry or difficult to chew). They are also less oily as you only use oil to quickly toss them in the pan. Another winner! With thin center-cut pork chops with a shallot balsamic sauce, some sautéed broccoli rabe, and a glass of good Sangiovese, it was the perfect Sunday-night dinner.

Interesting fact: according to Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking, broccoli rabe (http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/broccolirabe.htm) is not related to true broccoli. It is a bitter green in the cabbage family, often used in Italian cooking. In my Sunday-night dinner creation, it complemented perfectly the sweetness of the roasted potatoes and the balsamic sauce for the pork chops. As McGee eloquently says, it provides a "civilized dose of bitterness."

To sautée broccoli rabe, heat a couple of teaspoons of evoo over medium-high heat, add a half a bunch of the greens and quickly toss to cover the greens with the oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes, tossing regularly, so the greens cook evenly. Serve sprinkled with salt and a couple of drops of balsamic vinegar. Enjoy with a friend!

School (part I)

2007-07-21T10:29:00.001-05:00

It's 10 am on a hot July day in Firenze. There are 10 of us in the Advanced kitchen of Apicius. There are pots stewing on every single burner. The contents of each pot look very different even though we're using the same main ingredient: one looks like spinach tomato stew, another one has ground beef, still another looks like tomato sauce. The main ingredient is the star of Florentine cuisine and something tourists take pictures of every day at the market and the brave ones occasionally taste in restaurants—tripe.

That morning, we were greeted by a large mound of tripe on the stainless steel table of the classroom. It looked huge for an organ that resides in the stomach of an animal, yet it was only a piece of the whole thing. It had been cleaned, scrubbed, and boiled and was grayish-white in color and rough to the touch. As Ducio talked about tripe and its place in Italian cuisine (Florence and Tuscany are famous for it, but it is also used in other regions), many of us were trying to imagine tasting the dishes we would prepare at 11 am on a very hot day. Most of us, myself included, have no problem eating tripe; it's the thought of having 5 different versions of it at 11 am in 100F+ that was not very appealing. But once we started working on the different preparations and the aromas of the stews filled the room, others started peaking into the classroom to see what we were cooking. Many of them would come back later for a taste of the different versions. (The photos are of two different tripe stews, one with spinach, the other with tomatoes, and a tripe salad.)

This is my first course of the day: Tradition of Italian Food II. It focuses on the main ingredients used in Italian cuisine: truffles, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cured meats, cheese, honey, tripe, fish, etc. Each day, we talk about an ingredient (e.g., parmigiano or pecorino cheese, olive oil, truffles, etc.), taste several variations, and then prepare two or three dishes with it. It allows us to think about how that ingredient has evolved, how it differs from its close relatives, and how it can be prepares so it shines. Our instructor, Ducio Bagnoli, a native Florentine, is passionate about high-quality authentic ingredients and shares that passion with us every day: I can now distinguish not only prosciutto di Parma from that of San Daniele and Tuscan prosciutto, but also taste the differences in Pecorino cheese that come from the method and length of aging. (I have been using Ducio's book of Italian cheeses, which contains the descriptions of no fewer than 293 different cheeses produced in this country, to taste 2-3 different cheeses a week. It has been a great research project.)

Some of the ingredients we are learning about and working with are very famous, others less so but equally crucial. The first day of class, the perfume of truffles filled the room as we smelled, tasted, and used all types of truffle products (truffle oil, truffle paste, preserved truffles, truffle honey, truffle butter). Another day, it was prosciutto and we learned the method of production and differences between Prosciutto San Daniele and Prosciutto di Parma, for DOP products, strictly controlled with special designations from the EU, produced in a particular way in a limited geographic area. We also tasted a prosciutto di Norcia, a less famous, but equally delicious relative, and a local Tuscan prosciutto, dryer than most and with a stronger flavor.

Then there was the day we tasted cheese (probably my favorite) and talked about the differences between Pecorino produced in different areas and aged for different amounts of time. Pecorino is a sheep's milk cheese Tuscany is famous for (think Pecorino of Pienza), but depending on which part of the region it comes from and how long it is aged, it varies greatly in flavor. It is featured on the menus of most Tuscan restaurants and usually served with honey or pears. It is a great start to a meal, but I prefer it as a finish. It pairs wonderfully with a good Chianti. We also tasted and cooked with cheeses from other regions: parmigiano reggiano, grana padano, bitto, fontina. The flavor of each of there cheeses contributes greatly to the overall dish as we saw most clearly the day we prepared risotto with horse bresaola and bitto. Some of us made a variation of the recipe using fontina and parmigiano instead of the bitto and the differences were very obvious: the risotto with fontina was more flavorful and more unique, as the combination of the two cheeses perfectly complemented the flavor of the horse breasaola (Yes, cured horse meat is a delicacy and it has a distinct flavor that can't be compared to anything else and a tenderness and moisture that are somewhat surprising.)

While I get very excited about tasting and comparing balsamic vinegar, cheese, and even cured horse meat at any time, some days are less glamorous and it is harder to get excited about tasting the main ingredient that early in the morning as the memory of the cappuccino and bombolone is still fresh. Like the day we tasted lardo, lard that has been cured in spices in marble caves. Lardo is one of the stars of Italian cuisine and it is also becoming famous and appreciated in the U.S. Several famous chefs (e.g. Mario Batali) use is in their recipes and even make their own lardo with a unique blend of spices. It is usually served very thinly sliced on warm toasted bread, so the fat starts melting onto the bread, but sometimes it can also be served on bread that is not toasted. The lardo carries all the aromas of the spices it has been treated with and lardo from different regions and different producers has particular flavor combinations. Unfortunately, I find it hard to get excited about lardo (even great lardo). I can appreciate it when it is used in a dish to add flavor, but lardo by itself on a piece of bread is not something I would seek out. There are too many other tasty things to focus on.

Stay tuned for some stories about my other course, Tradition of Italian Food III (advanced).

La Pentola dell'Oro

2007-07-18T09:19:00.000-05:00

Every day, I think I'll be able to write about my classes and the things we're cooking, but then I discover another restaurant and have to write about it. These days, I am not easily impressed with restaurants. Not only am I in Firenze, where there are four restaurants on each corner, but I am also cooking a lot and tasting some great dishes. Sometimes, even when I eat at good restaurants, I realize that I could make those dishes myself and it's hard to be impressed. So, the list of restaurants I return to more than once is short. But last night I found a place I would definitely revisit, and soon.

I have a list of restaurants I have made over the years and this year I added La Pentona dell'Oro (http://www.lapentoladelloro.it/). What I didn't write down is what I had read about this restaurant that made me want to try it. So, I might not have gone if I hadn't gotten an e-mail for Ryanna, an e-friend of mine who spent June in Firenze and highly recommended the osteria. She was right—this place is wonderful!

It's on a quiet street in the Santa Croce neighborhood (via di Mezzo 24-26/r), a short walk from the church. The minute my two dinner companions and I walked in, we knew we were in for a treat. One look at the place lets you know that your food will be prepared by people who care about tradition and quality. The stone walls are decorated with art and various objects from past centuries in a way that is tasteful and not done simply to please the tourist. Everyone, from the women in the open kitchen to the owner and the waitress greeted us kindly, with a smile, and the service throughout the evening was excellent.

The basement dining room with vaulted ceilings is peaceful, cool, and relaxing. There was music playing and that helped drown the noise of the conversation from the other tables, but not to the point where we could not hear each other. So, we settled in for a most pleasant evening and great food.

The menu is well composed and the descriptions of the dishes show the same respect for tradition as the rest of the restaurant. For example, one of the first courses, Crema de' Pomi d'oro, is not described, but rather explained with a quote making a reference to how much good this dish does to the stomach and health in general. Several of the recipes are described as being Etruscan, descendents of the ancient people inhabiting Tuscany. Others, such as il peposo del Brunelleschi (Brunelleschi's beef stew) also uses an old recipe where the beef is stewed with three types of peppercorns and pears. Many of the dishes make references to the Medici and other noble Florentine families and combine flavors in a way typical of those times. A true surprise for the palate and a reminder of the rich history of this marvelous city.

We started with Ouverture Pentola dell'Oro, the house appetizer that includes several typical products: Tuscan salami, finocchiona (the fennel salami typical of this area), Tuscan prosciutto, thinly-sliced pecorino cheese with zucchini salad, and four crostini (with chicken livers, olives, tomato paste, and herbs).

My pici di Montalcino were served in a sauce of cinta senese, the tasty heirloom pork that is making a comeback in Tuscany because of its exceptional quality. The sauce was full of flavor without being heavy and the raw cubes of tomato served not only to make the dish more pleasing to the eye, but also to cleanse the palate.

One of my dinner companions ordered the lasagnole al savor di noci, flat noodles about an inch wide in a sauce of ginger, fennel, and other spices, masterfully blended to give the dish sweetness without making it taste like a dessert.

The list of second courses (16-18 Euro) looks very good, but we had no more room. Maybe next time. Peposo (beef stew), porco cinghiale in dolce-forte (wild boar stew with pine nuts), cosciotto di agnello in coppo (lamb in aromatic spices), and pasticcio Mediceo (veal with aromatic herbs and fresh peaches in green ginger sauce) all sound very intriguing.

The wine list offers a number of choices and we enjoyed our meal with a bottle of Chianti Classico. The restaurant also has bottles of the house wine, both white and red.

The waitress spoke great English, explained the menu well, and was gracious to answer any questions. She was also the most pleasant waitress I have seen in a while: nice and attentive without being overbearing, with a smile that never left her face. She joked around with us in a way that made us feel like regulars. The finished the meal off with some lemon crostata and limoncello (on the house), both great.

On our way out, I told the owner that this was one of the most pleasant meals and promised to return. I will keep my promise.

La Giostra

2007-07-16T11:20:00.001-05:00

As I am enjoying a quiet Sunday morning by the open window of my apartment, overlooking the cupola of the Duomo, I am still thinking about the wonderful dinner at La Giostra last night. This restaurant has been reviewed multiple times and all he reviews are glowing. But it one of those places to which no review (mine included) can do justice. It is an experience more than a place, something that has to be savored with all the senses.

After a long day of walking the hot, crowded streets of both Firenze and Bologna, I wanted a good dinner in a relaxing place. I was not in the mood for a loud trattoria with communal seating, which I usually love; I wanted a quieter meal. I remembered walking by La Giostra the previous night and thinking that it was a pleasant atmosphere with tables outside on the street (the street is closed to traffic). So, at 7:30, I called to see if I could get a table. The hostess said that unless I came over immediately, I would have to wait until 10:30. Not one to hesitate when it comes to good food, I said I'd be over right away. The restaurant is a 5-minute walk from my apartment, so I changed quickly and off I went. On the phone, the hostess had said that she only had a table outside, which I thought was perfect. It would give me a chance to people-watch, which is especially enjoyable when eating alone.

I was seated next to a young woman studying the extensive menu. The menu takes some time to study not only because of the extensive wine list and food choices, but also because it includes a brief history of the restaurant. I had already studied the menu online and knew what I was going to order. Still, going through the 15-page hand-written menu would require some time, so I settled in and started reading. In addition to the story of the restaurant, the menu includes a personal message from the chef/owner. I knew I would love this place, when I read the very first line: "Very Slow Food…! The Best!!!"

Five out of the 15 pages are dedicated to wine and one look at the list lets you know that this place is serious about wine. Unfortunately, no wine is served by the glass. When the waiter told me this, my face fell and my excitement about this dinner was somewhat dampened. He noticed that and said that he would see if he can get me a glass of red wine. "It might have to be Chianti," he added. I am not one to turn down a good Chianti, especially not when in Firenze, so I said that would be great. It turned out that Katie, the woman at the table next to mine, was also looking for wine by the glass. It also turned out that she is in the wine business, so she offered to order a bottle and share it. Even better, I thought, someone in the wine business ordering wine for me. I could go along with that! She told the waiter which wine she wanted and he was visibly impressed. Later he said that when someone orders Cabernet Merlot Insoglio, he knows they know their wine.

The wine list includes Barolo, Barbaresco, Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Riserva, San Giovese, Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino, San Giovese Merlot, Cabernet Merlot, and Cabernet Franc-Sauvignon, ranging from 25 to 3,000 Euro, most in the 50-200 Euro range. There is also a selection of white wines, including Sauvignon, Pinot Bianco, Gewurtztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and some bubblies. The menu consists of a number of appetizers (from land and sea), about 25 first courses (again, both from land and from the sea), as many second courses and a number of vegetarian and side dishes, and, of course, desserts.

I ordered the Tortelloni all Mugellana con Ragu' Toscano and a salad of arugula and tomatoes, a perfect combination. The tortelloni were filled with potatoes and the meat sauce complemented them perfectly—rich and flavorful, without being heavy or overpowering. The evening started with a complementary glass of prosecco and an appetizer which the chef himself brought out and explained. On a large plate, there was a piece of salami (as he explained, made of beef only, with no pork), a piece of buffalo mozzarella served on top of a slice of tomato, a Tuscan crostino with rabbit liver pate (my favorite piece), a ricotta fritter, a slice of marinated eggplant and some marinated roasted red peppers, a slice of tomato bruschetta, and a piece of stuffed zucchini. All excellent and a wonderful way to start the meal.

The evening was spent in conversation with Katie, who turned out to be very interested in food (and wine, of course!), sipping wine, and having a very slow meal, just as promised on the menu. Unfortunately, after all that great food I had no room for dessert. Maybe next time!

A three-and-a half hour meal, a great bottle of wine, and an interesting new acquaintance—the perfect Saturday evening in Firenze.

Bomboloni

2007-07-13T09:28:00.000-05:00

My great love for this fluffy, rich pastry filled with pastry cream is well-known by now, so it's just right that I should post an update on my bomboloni research. Since I arrived in Italy 2 weeks ago, I have eaten at least one bombolone a day. I have limited myself in this way only because there are so many other delectable things to try, but the limit is not easy to abide by every day.

Despite my regular consumption of bomboloni and other Italian pastries, I have not managed to learn the art of gracefully holding a pastry in one hand, sipping a cappuccino, and chatting all at the same time, while getting no sugar on my face. I guess I am not truly Italian after all. While Italians seem to have to problem eating their pastries very gracefully while standing at the bar and having a discussion about one thing or another, my research involves a lot of lip licking and whiping sugar off my chin. Clearly, I need more practice.

Last year, I ate my bomboloni at Robiglio in Via de'Servi in Florence and this year that was the case until last Friday. That day, we had packed the suitcase and cameras as we were going to Giglio for the weekend and, when we left the apartment, Michael started looking for a taxi. "Without breakfast?!?," I asked, horrified. I am sure he thought we would stop somewhere once we picked up the car, but I was not ready to run the risk of not getting a bombolone. So, as he rolled the big suitcase down the cobblestone streets of Firenze, I decided to 'compromise' and have breakfast at the closest place I knew had bomboloni, Rivoire. What a breakthrough in my research work! One bite of Rivoire's bomboloni made it clear that they were better than Robiglio's: better ratio of dough to pastry cream and more yellow, sweeter dough. When fresh, they are like little clouds, fluffy and soft, and every bite is a real pleasure.

I could not believe that we made this important discovery by accident and decided to test further to make sure that our impressions had not been affected by the fact that we had dragged a heavy suitcase on cobblestone for several blocks. So, after returning from Giglio (where I also did some bomboloni research), as soon as Rivoire was open again (they are closed on Monday), I went back and I have returned every day since then.

In the mornings, Rivoire belongs to the locals: as Piazza della Signoria is waking up and people are going to work and deliveries are being made, the locals gather at the bar and chat just like in any Italian small bar. Later, Rivoire and Piazza della Signoria will be full of tourists speaking a variety of languages, but for an hour or so in the morning, there is a feeling of calm and the divine smell of pastry. As I stand at the bar and observe the exchanges between the barista and the regulars, I know that these will be some of my fondest memories of Italy and this magical city that is starting to feel like home.

Apicius revisited

2007-06-25T08:52:00.000-05:00

Some people go on vacation to lie on the beach and do nothing. I seem to want to go on vacations where I will be in a hot kitchen in the middle of July, sautéing, baking, and frying in 100 degrees. So, this year, once again I am going to Apicius (www.apicius.it), the Culinary Institute of Florence, where I got my first taste of professional cooking courses last summer. I will be spending the month of July in Florence, taking 2 courses on Italian cuisine. Admittedly, July might not be the best time to visit Florence (because of its location, Florence is the hottest city in Italy, hotter than Rome), but I am not discouraged by the prospect of cooking in hot kitchens. I know I will enjoy it and learn a ton, so I am looking forward to it.

Michael is joining me for the first 10 days and we will spend the first weekend of the trip on a farm in the mountains north on Prato and Florence (www.agriturismocorboli.it). This will allow us to relax after the long trip, get over jet-lag, and spend some time in a cooler place before we brave the busy (and hot) streets of Firenze. Also, we hope to have some homecooked food as the owners have a small restaurant on the property.

The second weekend, we are going to Isola di Giglio, a small island off the Southern coast of Tuscany (www.giglionews.it). One of my instructors from last year and a dear friend, Marcella Ansaldo, is originally from the island and will be there. I have always wanted to see the Tuscan coast and visit some of the islands and this is the perfect opportunity to do so and have the advantage of being introduced to the island by someone who knows it. What an adventure!

So, stay tuned for more cooking school stories and recipes. And get ready to help me taste test some new recipes when I come back.

Crust

2007-06-08T16:39:00.001-05:00

If you have had a hard time finding out about Crust, the new pizza place in the space where Settimana used to be, you're not alone. Despite the fact that we knew the place was set to open on May 24, on the day of the opening we could not find any information about whether it was really going to open. I certainly could not find a phone number to call, which was discouraging. (By the way, the phone number is 773-235-5511)

But, we decided to take a risk. When we arrived, it looked like the restaurant was open, but we were told that it would take a couple of minutes until we got served. It was shortly after 5. In fact, we did not get seated until close to 6 pm. By that time, there were at least 15 or so other people waiting to be seated. Since the restaurant was technically open and we could smell the food being prepared in the wood-burning over, it might have been a good idea to offer those of us waiting a taste of something, but alas! At least the atmosphere didn't feel rushed and stressful. Everyone seemed calm albeit a bit disorganized.

Crust, which touts itself as "the first certified organic restaurant in the Midwest," has a menu of 5 salads, 4 sandwiches, and 10 pizzas, or as they are called here 'flatbreads'. The flatbreads are described as "pizza's big brother, worldly and without boundaries." I was not sure what that means (even though I found the description somewhat intriguing) and, after trying the flatbread/pizza, I am even less sure I know why you'd call it that. The flatbread is a smallish pizza (10 inches or so): the toppings taste rather fresh and vibrant, but, for my taste, there isn't enough cheese (I could barely taste the cheese). But, it is cooked in a wood burning over and it tastes good. In addition to some rather traditional combinations, such as the Italian sausage and shroom, there are also somewhat surprising ones such as clambake (fresh clams, béchamel, fresh-pulled mozzarella, caramelized onion, wild herbs) and b.l.t. (slab bacon, beefsteak tomato, amish blue cheese, tossed arugula). Many of the flatbreads are made with béchamel, the flour-butter-milk sauce usually used in lasagna. The prices range from $10 to $14.

The sandwich choices seem to cover both vegetarians and carnivores: pulled pork, grilled cheese, tallgrass beef, and Californian. The pulled pork sandwich is served on a brioche bun, which adds to the sweetness of the pork and the sauce. It was also supposed to have Asian slaw, but I only found some pepper strips in mine in addition to the hoisin sauce. The pork was tasty, but not even close to impressive.

The most exciting part of the menu might be the cocktails, many of which contain interesting vodka infusions. The grapefruit mojito is truly a must-try. The drink list also features local beers, white and red wines, martinis, and several vodka infusions.

On opening day, the service was a little uneven: most of the waiters seemed quite inexperienced and nervous albeit well-meaning. There were some snafus, but nothing offensive. If the food were more memorable, I would go back.

My New Year's resolution

2007-01-03T18:02:00.000-06:00

Yes, I did make a New Year's resolution—to make (and eat) more pasta! That said, a word is in order about home-made fresh pasta and its vast superiority over dried pasta (for most recipes) as well as store-bought 'fresh' pasta (How can anything that has an expiration date two months away be called 'fresh'?). Now, this doesn't mean that I do not from time to time resort to dried pasta because I do. In my opinion, there are recipes for which high-quality dry spaghetti works best (e.g. Neapolitan pasta with a simple tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella).

I will also purchase fresh pasta others have made, but only the kind that is really fresh and could not possibly last in the fridge for more than a couple of days. I usually buy fresh pasta either to eat it immediately (because I don't have time to make my own) or to freeze it immediately for those 'emergency' situations when I really want fresh pasta, but have no time/energy/will to make my own. Fresh Pasta on Harlem (just a half a block North of Belmont) has some excellent fresh pasta (as the name of the store implies) and Terragusto's tagliatelle (especially the kind with Swiss chard) is also very good.

But, for me, the best fresh pasta is the one I make at home. There is something about the time and effort that goes into it, the process of taking flour, salt, water (and sometimes eggs) and turning it into sheets of pasta that smell so heavenly fresh that you can barely wait to cut and cook them. The 10 or so minutes of kneading the dough requires provide a nice escape and an occasion to daydream. After a long day at the computer, there is no better way to transition into the evening and the pleasures of dinner and rest. The kneading helps work out all the stress that has accumulated during the day and, even though it's hard work, leaves me invigorated (and hungry!).

So far, I have kneaded and rolled out all my home-made pasta by hand. The giant rolling pin (shown in my blog of December 5) makes things fun and easy, but it does require some practice. My upper body took a little while to recover from wielding such a heavy piece of equipment (taking it out of the cupboard is a feat), but now we're friends.

It's not that I am opposed to pasta machines. I simply haven’t decided what kind I want to get; in the meantime, making and eating fresh pasta has been too important to put on the back burner.

I hope none of the people who will eat pasta at my house are like certain Italian foodies described in Heat (by Bill Buford): they travel out of their way to eat at a restaurant famous for its fresh pasta, take one bite, declare it has been rolled out using a machine, and promptly walk out the door. We might have to do some blind taste tasting to see who can tell the difference.

Well, all this writing about fresh pasta is making me hungry. I better go make some pasta!

Cappuccino is official!

2007-01-02T11:14:00.000-06:00

I was very entertained by this article about my favorite drink

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,1980914,00.html#article_continue

Kudos to the Italians for liking their cappuccino so much to make it official.

Here is a photo of the only cappuccino I have ever had in Chicago that tasted exactly like cappuccino tastes in Italy. It was made by Gianluca at Café di Maggio on December 24, 2006. I still dream about it and hope to have another one soon.

Cinghiale is here!!!

2007-01-02T09:20:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things to eat when in Tuscany is cinghiale (wild boar). I seek it out and enjoy it both over pasta (usually pappardelle) and as a stew. Last summer, I enjoyed the cinghiale stew at Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco in Florence (the pasta with cinghiale was much less impressive). Cinghiale is not very common is Florence (it is more characteristic of other parts of Tuscany), and I suspect that it is considered a touristy thing to order, but that has never stopped me from enjoying this great meat.

Cinghiale has a stronger flavor than pork, somewhat gamey, but not overwhelmingly so. It is darker in color and firmer than pork, so many recipes using cinghiale include extended marinating time (12+ hours) to tenderize the meat. The marinade often contains juniper berries, which help make the meat less gamey. Slow cooking in a liquid (usually wine) over low heat also works very well. The meat becomes tender and falls apart and the flavors concentrate. The wine accentuates adds a new dimension of flavor and makes the meat taste less gamey.

For a while now, I had been trying to locate a website where I could order cinghiale since I could not find it in any meat market in Chicago. I tried Zingermann's and a couple of other websites, with no luck. Finally, a friend of mine recommended the Broken Arrow Ranch in Texas. He had ordered some cinghiale from them and made delicious pasta sauce with it that reminded me of just how much I like cinghiale.

For a while, The Broken Arrow Ranch was out of the cut I wanted (shoulder, of course). When they finally got some, I quickly put in my order. I also ordered some stew meat, chili meat, and sausages. When my order shipped a day later, I was ecstatic! It arrived the next day still frozen and I immediately started collecting recipes and trying to decide which ones to try first. I located recipes for cinghiale in agrodolce (sour and sweet), cinghiale stew and multiple recipes for pasta sauce.

I decided to go with the pasta sauce recipe first. I used the stew meat since the 4 ½ pound shoulder was frozen solid and I didn't think the two of us would be able to eat 4 ½ pounds of cinghiale in a reasonable amount of time. So, the shoulder will have to be enjoyed with friends.

The stew meat, meanwhile, made an excellent pasta sauce. Cooked very slowly with some onions, carrots, and celery in red wine and tomato paste, it turned out to have that richness I remember and the strong flavor that wakes up my taste buds and reminds me how much I appreciate strong and unusual flavors. To make the experience as authentic as possible, I made hand-made pappardelle, the perfect vehicle for the rich sauce.

I used the recipe courtesy of Gioco, where I had eaten cinghiale, but decided that my preparation was better than the one at Gioco. Maybe it was the fact that I thought Gioco's was undersalted or the fact that I like my own hand-made pasta better. Either way, this one dinner made ordering the cinghiale all the way from Texas and paying the shipping charges worth it.
And now some photos: first the pasta dough and the beginnings of the cinghiale sauce and the pasta dough tunred into pappardelle and then the finished product. Yum!!!

2006-12-05T16:39:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken on our balcony last Friday, after the first big winter storm of the year. If it seems a little blurry it's because I was in a hurry to take it since it was freezing outside. For those of you not living in Chicago, what you see is nothing compared to how it will be in January and February. You ask why some of us are crazy enough to live here? Well, I am not sure I have a good answer.

Now that it is really freezing, it seems only appropriate to make some winter foods. So, on Friday, I decided to try and recreate the Bolognese I had at Terragusto on Thursday night (see previous post). It might not be fair to call what I tried to do 'recreate' since I used a recipe from Mario Batali's cookbook, so I knew that the sauce was not going to turn out exactly like Chef Theo's. I was really surprised to see that Mario's sauce uses olive oil, instead of butter. I am pretty sure that real Bolognese is made with butter (and lots of it!), but I decide to trust Mario and try his recipe if for no other reason then because I'd be able to critique it. (My vegetarian friends can stop reading here because what follows will not make them very happy.) I used ground pork, ground veal, and ground beef and despite the fact that I used half the meat that Mario's recipe calls for and the full amount of liquids (wine, milk), after about an hour and 15 min, when the sauce was done, it was somewhat drier than I expected. I like dry sauces, but I can see how for someone who likes sauces a little saucier, this might not be enough. I didn't want to randomly start adding either wine or milk because I didn't want to change the flavor (for some reason, I thought that adding one or both the liquids at the end of the cooking might significantly change the flavor; I guess we'll never know now).

Of course, I couldn't serve the Bolognese with just about any pasta, so I made some fresh pasta, using my new rolling pin (it's serious rolling pin!). Now that I have a rolling pin that does half the work for me, I will be making pasta even more often that before. J

Everything tasted delicious although the sauce tasted nothing like the Terragusto one. You couldn't even have guessed that it was supposed to be the same sauce. I think the Terragusto sauce has more butter and milk (and it's certainly not as dry). Next time I make Bolognese, I will have to try a different recipe (or make up my own).

2006-12-01T16:00:00.000-06:00

Last night, Michael and I managed to get a table at Terragusto, for the first time since the show aired. For those who might not have gotten one of my many emails about my recent appearance on Check, Please! (http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,5), I recommended Terragusto because of the quality of the ingredients and the fresh pasta.

You can read a summary of the review at http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?erube_fh=wttw&wttw.submit.CPRestaurantDetail=1&wttw.RestaurantID=180

The pasta at Terragusto is the only pasta in town that tastes the way real pasta should taste: fresh, perfectly cooked, and dressed just enough to enhance its flavor (not drenched in sauce). It's also perfectly seasoned, enough salt to enhance the flavor and make it linger in your mouth. Since my first visit to Terragusto in the spring of 2006, I have returned many times and always have the pasta (since I started making pasta at home on a weekly basis or so, Terragusto is the only restaurant where I order pasta).

Of course, after the show aired, Terrausto was packed and the couple of times I called they were completely booked up. So, it had been a couple of months since my last visit and the call of the Bolognese sauce was too loud to ignore. On a cold, wintry night like last night, with the entire city bracing for a huge snow storm, we decided to warm up with pasta Bolognese and some good red wine at Terragusto.

I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure how the "Check, Please! Effect" had affected my favorite new restaurant, so in the interest of full disclosure when the waitress asked us if we had ever dined at Terragusto before, I told her that I had recommended the restaurant for the TV show. She was very nice about it as was Chef Theo who came out of the kitchen to meet us right after our waitress informed him of our presence. It was a pleasure to finally meet the chef whose pasta I admire so much and have a chance to chat. He's very pleasant and friendly and seemed to appreciate the fact that I had recommended his restaurant for the show. I told him how happy we were to be back and how much we enjoy his food. We even talked about risotto (as those of you who might have read this blog know, I have been trying to perfect my risotto and, in the interest of doing that, Michael and I have been dining on risotto a couple of times a week for the past several weeks).

The pasta, as expected, was divine! The waitress had told us that there were only two servings on the pasta Bolognese left, at which point I begged her to put in my order for one of them. The Bolognese sauce and the pork sauce are my absolute favorites at Terragusto and both are served with perfectly cooked fresh pasta. Last night, the Bolognese sauce was over their Swiss chard pasta, which is my favorite Terrausto pasta (I often buy it to make at home). It was a perfect combination of some vegetable flavor (from the pasta) and a rich, smooth, heavenly-tasting meat sauce, the perfect food for a cold winter night. Michael's pappardelle with vegetable ragu was also very good and it was good to have two such different dishes to share. Throughout the meal, we kept commenting on how great the food was and how glad we were that Terragusto had opened (and so close to our house). The meal was so wonderful that I could not eat dessert (despite the fact that the crème brulee looked good), and those of you who know me even a little bit will be shocked to hear this.

I am determined to try making Bolognese sauce at home again. Last time I made it, I used venison in an effort to recreate a great venison Bolognese that we had tried at Enoteca Roma (next door to Letizia's bakery), but the venison seemed too lean and it dried out a bit. This time, it will be an authentic Bolognese, following Mario Batali's recipe. Stay tuned!

2006-09-22T09:49:00.000-05:00

How many ways can you cook a chicken and still make it interesting? Well, I have at least one new way that adds spice to chicken (both literally and metaphorically). It's Mario Batali recipe for spicy Sicilian chicken in the Molto Italiano cookbook, which (deservedly) won the James Beard Award. The recipe is easy to make, quick (it can all be done in about an hour, including the chopping), and flexible enough to allow for modifications should you find yourself without eggplant or anything to substitute for it, like I did.

I omitted the eggplant and this spicy, rich stew still tested great. In addition to a whole chicken (cut up), there are potatoes, carrots, onions, bell peppers, black olives, capers, tomatoes and eggplant as well as the requisite red wine and olive oil. First, you brown the chicken in olive oil, then you take it out of the pot, and add all the vegetables and the wine. After a couple of minutes, you add the chicken back in, lower the heat and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Voila! With some crusty Italian bread and the rest of the red wine you used for cooking, you have a perfect fall meal.

I do not often see recipes for chicken cooked in red wine and, having tried this one, I wonder why. The combination is perfect and the red wine lends the stew a richness and robustness that makes it the perfect comfort food. The red pepper flakes add a kick and make the stew more interesting, perfectly complementing the saltiness of the olives and capers.

Not to even mention the fact that this one-pot dish, with a variety of flavors and textures, is perfect for reheating.

2006-09-21T11:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I finally posted my review of Apicius on the Slow Travel website. When I was researching Apicius, I could not find any information on Slow Travel (or any other website) from people who had taken courses there, except for a comment that the school serves mostly "American college kids." Since my impressions were very different and very favorable, I decided to share my impressions of the school and potentially help others who might be considering it.

For now, the review is posted on the message board because it is waiting in line to be posted in the review section of the website (that is likely to happen in late October).

Check it out
http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/862600685/m/9611021591

2006-08-15T12:51:00.000-05:00

Risotto #3:

First, an explanation of the risotto number. To give us confidence about making risotto, Andrea Trapani told us that you need to make risotto 20 times to get it right. I had made risotto before studying at Apicius, but in light of everything I learned there, I now think that those experiences do not really count. So, I will start my count with the risotto that we made in Andrea's class. Since our first effort was not very successful, he had us make risotto a second time. This time, most teams did better, but there was still a lot of room for improvement. So, counting those two risottos, now I will recount my third experience making this velvety comfort dish.

My third risotto try was a recipe from one of the cookbooks published by Apicius. The book, titled Innovations: New Appetites in the Tuscan Kitchen, contains recipes by Duccio Bagnoli and Simone Riani, two of the talented chefs and instructors who make Apicius a special place. Both provide new and original interpretations of a number of traditional Tuscan recipes, using their individual cooking styles and preferences. The book provides the traditional recipe first, followed by the reinterpretation of each chef. Each reinterpretation recipe is accompanied by a mouth-watering photograph and suggested wine pairings. The photography makes you want to try even recipes that you would normally not care about. The risotto photograph made me want to try it even though the temperature outside is somewhat high.

I tested Simone's recipe for risotto con piselli e prosciutto (risotto with peas and prosciutto), with slight modifications. I did not use the pea puree on which the risotto is supposed to rest for two reasons: I didn't have any peas and time was short and my dinner companion, and faithful taste tester, is not really enamored of peas (although, to his credit, he has agreed to try the risotto with the pea puree also). So, no pea puree for now. I also had to resort to using rosemary prosciutto cotto from Trader Joe's as regular prosciutto cotto is not easy to come by (not the good kind anyway). I find Trader Joe's rosemary prosciutto cotto very flavorful, but it is sliced somewhat thinly. This is perfect if you're making sandwiches, but for this risotto I'd like to try prosciutto cotto in somewhat thicker slices for the chew factor. The prosciutto is sautéed for more flavor and to make it crispy, a nice contrast to the smooth and creamy risotto.

As you might have read in some other posts in this blog, my cooking partners and I had some difficulties with risotto in Andrea Trapani's course. To be more specific, we had difficulties reaching the level of perfection Andrea aspires to. Our risotto was quite decent, but it was very far away from the standard set by Andrea: a perfectly cooked, creamy risotto, where every grain of rice seemed wrapped in its own little shell that gave the dish a perfect consistency and chewy-ness. Some of the more serious errors included boiling the rice and undercooking the onions. So, I was trying to be vigilant and avoid these errors. I used my new Le Creuset pan to provide enough cooking surface and enable the wine and broth to evaporate more quickly. The surface was great, but the pan is too heavy and the rice started sticking to the bottom, which made me lower the heat somewhat (this, in turn, affected the consistency of the risotto). The risotto was perfectly flavored and creamy (because of the butter and parmiggiano added at the very end), but the rice did taste somewhat boiled. Of course, we ate every single grain of rice, but I think next time I will try a different cooking vessel.

As you probably know, there are several things to be careful about when making risotto: the choice of rice, the temperature of the pan, and the timing of things.

Choice of rice: I usually use arborio rice (which I get at Trader Joe's). Arborio has short and fat grains and it contains a great deal of starch. It is one of the types of rice most frequently used to make risotto and is widely available in the US. It takes about 17-18 minutes to cook al dente.

Cooking temperature: One of the things I did not realize before studying at Apicius is that the cooking temperature needs to be quite high, so as not to boil the rice. High temperature allows the rice grains to form and keep that external shell that gives risotto its unique consistency. It also makes the wine and broth evaporate properly (a large enough cooking surface helps with this, as well). If the temperature is not high enough, when broth is added, the rice will lose the boiling point, which will cause the risotto to have the consistency of boiled rice.

When browning the onion for the risotto (or onion and garlic, if you're using garlic), make sure to cook it at a somewhat lower temperature, so it doesn't burn. When the onion is soft and almost done, add the rice and toast it. Remember that the onion will cook some more after you add the rice, so make sure not to overcook it. There are very few things that make a dish lose flavor the way burned onion does.

When the rice is toasted, add some wine and make sure to evaporate it completely before adding the warm broth. When you start adding the broth, add a little bit at a time (enough to cover the rice) and make sure the risotto never stops boiling. Wait till most of the broth has evaporated before adding more. Remember that the rice should never lose the boiling point, so make sure the broth you're adding has been heated. It is important to stir the risotto while it's cooking, but Andrea Trapani suggested that you stir less and 'flip' it instead so as not to break the rice grains. 'Flipping', of course is easier said than done: it requires a relatively light-weight pan and the risotto has to be somewhat wet (otherwise, it doesn't move easily).

Towards the end of the cooking process, taste the risotto for salt. The broth will likely add a great deal of salt (as will the parmiggiano that you will add later), so be careful not to oversalt. When the risotto is ready (the rice is al dente and most of the broth has evaporated), take it off the heat and add some butter and parmiggiano. Voila!

Risotto #4:

While I am not in a particular hurry to get to risotto #20, I did want to have risotto for lunch the very next day after risotto #3 and, not having any leftovers, decided to try it again. This time, I used a different pan, still with a large enough surface but not as heavy as the Le Creuset one. I used my brand new All-Clad sauce pan and it worked like a charm. It allowed the onions to cook well and nor burn, provided enough surface to properly toast the rice and later evaporate the wine and broth (especially since I was making risotto for one) and it distributed the heat evenly so nothing burned. Because of the heat distribution and the lightness of the pan, I could move the rice around successfully and make sure that it was cooking properly. The result was a risotto with a much better consistency (a risotto-like consistency, not that of boiled rice). The rice had toasted well and had formed that outer shell that makes you taste each grain of rice separately and gives the risotto its characteristic chew.

Only 16 more to go until the perfect risotto! (Maybe I should have a risotto party when I reach #20).

2006-08-06T14:12:00.000-05:00

Saturday:

This is how I spend my Saturday mornings now: cornetto in one hand, cappuccino in another, talking to Italian people who like to talk about food and Italy as much as I do. Notice Rosario in the background, examining some of the cookbooks I brought back from Apicius.

I look forward to the day when Rosario and I fry up some bomboloni and make corentti for all of our friends. This day is coming up soon, so get ready. It's likely to be in early October, once things get just a little cooler.

In the evening, we went to Terragusto, one of my favorite restaurants in the city. I had been looking forward to going back since I vividly remember the wonderful flavors of the tagliatelle with Bolognese sauce I had there last time.

As some of you know, I also recommended Terragusto for Check, Please! and the show airs this October. So I had to go back for more research. I am nothing if not thorough in my food research. This time, unfortunately, the experience was a little less than exceptional. The food was very good, but it did not reach the level we had experienced at Terragusto before. The beans in the sausage and beans antipasto were slightly undercooked and not seasoned enough. The sausage was excellent and perfectly grilled. Michael's pasta, potato-filled ravioli with pancetta, was excellent. The pancetta provided a perfect contrast to the soft ravioli and, unlike one of our dinner companions, I did not think the potato filling was too wet. The dish was excellent! My tagliatelle with asparagus was very good, but it lacked a little something. The asparagus was cooked perfectly and the tagliatelle were very good, but for my taste the dish tasted somewhat 'light', more like a lunch dish than a dinner one. At dinner, I like to eat foods with more robust flavors, so maybe I just didn't order the right thing. The chocolate pound cake that we shared for dessert was very moist and served with fresh Italian meringue, a good complement to the cake. However, there were three pound cakes on the dessert menu. I hope to try something different next time I go, which happens to be Wednesday of this coming week.

Sunday:

Today, Michael and I took a trip to Puglia, the heel of the Italian boot. Puglia is Italy's largest producer of olives and olive oil (50 million olive trees!). It also grows a great deal of grain and is famous for the bread (pane pugliese) and pasta (in particular orecchiette), both made with hard wheat flour. I had been wanting to try the orecchiette that we made with Marcella and today I finally got to do so. Making the pasta itself was a relaxing experience. After grading research papers all morning, it was a pleasure to work with the dough and then press the little balls of dough with my thumb onto a towel (the towel is used to give texture to the outside of the pasta, so the sauce will adhere better). The orecchiette are made with 1/3 hard wheat flour (semolina) and 2/3 white flour and it never ceases to amaze me how flour, water, and a little bit of salt can lead to a thing as tasty as fresh pasta.

The orecchiette are cooked with broccoli and tossed in some olive oil, garlic and anchovies. At the last minute, you add red pepper flakes for some heat and grate pecorino romano (my favorite pasta cheese!) on top. The orecchiette were perfectly chewy and the broccoli provided a lighter texture. Both were dressed to perfection in the oil, garlic and anchovies sauce and the dish was very satisfying while also being summery and light. The peppers were cooked in some olive oil, garlic, and anchovies, then spiced with a little sugar and some vinegar. The sweet and sour contrast made the whole dish come together nicely and have a very fresh flavor.

I know anchovies have somewhat of a bad rep in the US, but when you use good anchovies and use them properly, you can barely taste them. They simply add a layer of saltiness and flavor to the sauce without overpowering the dish. Michael claims to not like anchovies, so I might have omitted to mention that there were anchovies in the pasta as well as in the red peppers Puglia-style (pepperoni all pugliese). Once he had started eating and was liking everything, he asked what was in the dish and learning that there were anchovies didn't stop him from finishing everything on his plate. So if any of you out there think you don't like anchovies, let me know. I have made it my mission to prove to people in the US that anchovies are a wonderful thing.

Our meal was a real feast for the senses and well worth the cooking and cleaning effort. The semolina that I can feel under my feet when walking through the kitchen reminds me of how wonderful everything was.

2006-07-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

As I promised, I will continue to update this blog as I try out the recipes I studied this summer and continue to explore and enjoy the many facets of Italian food. Every time I return from Italy, I go through a period of adjustment during which I usually do not eat Italian food as nothing tastes as good as it does in Italy. This applies to cappuccino as well to the point where in the past I have had to switch to tea for a couple of weeks because coffee does not appeal.

Well, this year it is different: on Friday, barely 5 hours after I had landed in Chicago, Michael and I went to Frasca, our favorite vine bar. In the couple of months since Frasca opened, we have eaten there at least a dozen times and not only because it's 5 blocks from our house. I have shared with many of you my feelings for their bricked chicken with Tuscan white beans as well as the chocolate panna cotta and several other items. I started with a glass of their excellent proseco while also helping Michael with his flight of reds. We shared an appetizer plate with coppa, sopressata, pecorino and white bean/balsamic vinegar bruschetta and a flight or olive oil. Yes, Frasca has an olive oil flight with an Umbrian, Tuscan and Sicilian olive oil: light and sweet, peppery, and quite spicy, respectively. All three go really well with Frasca's freshly baked bread (which goes well with pretty much everything as well as on its own). Of course, we could not possibly leave Frasca without having the bricked chicken, so we made some room for it and, as always, it did not disappoint.

The Italian feast continued on Saturday morning, when we drove to Harwood Heights to have cornetti con crema. I have introduced some of you to my friends at Café di Maggio and their excellent pastries filled with pastry cream and if you have even glanced at this blog over the past month, you know how I feel about pastries with cream. Well, as if to make me feel better about no longer being in Italy, Rosario's cornetti this morning were better than they had ever been before. Both the pasties and the cream were super fresh and as we took the first bites, we were transported back to Italy. We could not talk, but did continue to make noises that were correctly interpreted as complete happiness. Our enjoyment was only enhanced by the excellent cappuccini Edita pulled.

I shared with Rosario some of my pictures and experiences and he was so excited about the pastries I had made in baking class that we agreed to organize a pastry party (featuring mainly bomboloni and cornetti); he and I will make the pastries together and all of you are invited to help us enjoy them. The day has not been set yet, but it will likely happen when it gets just a little cooler (late September or October). For those of you familiar with the concept of sagra, it will be a Sagra del Bombolone (if you're not familiar with sarga, here is a link that provides some info http://italianfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa010798.htm).

The Italian feast continued all weekend, with lunches of rotolo, bruschetta, prosciutto, mozzarella di buffala, ciabatta, and a somewhat successful attempt on my part to recreate without a recipe a white bean Tuscan soup I had at Trattoria de Benci (the effort was only somewhat successful because the soup tasted good, but it was not quite as good as the one I had; no surprises there).

Today, I recreated my first recipe, the gnudi al burro a salvia (naked ravioli with butter and sage). Complete success! The hand-dipped ricotta at Whole Foods was too fresh to resist and decided to risk it and make the recipe even though I am still researching kitchen scales and had to eyeball the quantities (sorry Andrea!). My new (and very sharp!) knives did an excellent job of chopping the spinach really finely and in 20 minutes I had a very fragrant and most delicious lunch. Not too much flour on the outside of the gnudi this time. ;)

Already looking forward to trying my next recipe. Stay tuned for the report; I promise to be honest and report successes, partial successes, and utter failures. Next time, I will try to remember to take a picture of what I make before it's too late.

2006-07-27T09:06:00.000-05:00

Wednesday:

Well, the practical exams are now over and, as it happens at the end of every great learning experience, I feel I have barely scratched the surface. Now my desire to dedicate myself to Italian cooking is stronger than ever. The past month has been a life-altering experience: it has been humbling, but also encouraging, challenging, and utterly thrilling. Every time I have made a mistake, I have learned several things from it. Tasting my successes and mistakes has helped me develop a deeper appreciation for the art and science of cooking, the perfect blend of skill, knowledge and experience that produces sublime culinary experiences. Working with three of the most wonderful teachers (and personalities) I have ever met has taught me how new techniques and helped me develop my cooking intuitions. It has inspired me and made me even more passionate about food (I know you didn't think it was possible for me to get even more excited about food—I might have thought so, too—but it has happened).

Andrea Trapani opened our eyes to what a huge difference technique makes even in the simplest of dishes and his perfect blend of guidance and letting us learn from our mistakes has been a tremendous learning experience. I will never forget the day my cooking partners are and I tasted our zucchini sformato with self-satisfaction only to find out that we had undercooked the roux ("don't undercook the roux" became one of our mottoes, together with "don't undercook the onions," "don't boil the rice in risotto," and "salt more"). His patience, grace, and unique sense of humor make him an extraordinary instructor and role model. As I watched him handle an avalanche of questions (most of which we had asked multiple times) with a smile, I thought of how fortunate we have been to have the opportunity to work with him. He intimidated us, but also made us try harder and do better. We wanted our dishes to be perfect, and even though they rarely were, his critiques were fair and exactly what we needed to learn.

Marcella Ansaldo's passion about food captured us from the very first day. Her inspired and insightful descriptions of the regions and their products transported us to those regions for three hours a day and inspired us to taste new things and experiment with new cooking methods. Her encouragement to communicate with the foods we were cooking and use our sense made us laugh, but also helped us cook better. She helped us overcome our discomfort about eyeballing things and not always using the scale, but gradually we stopped wanting to use the scale. We could make a pasta dough by feel and taste how much vinegar and sugar we needed for an agrodolce. She helped us feel confident and her enthusiasm about tasting our food and finding something to praise about every dish helped us figure out what flavors we like best and not be a slave to the recipe.

And then, there was Andrea Bianchini who often teased us about our technique and resisted our efforts to get him to tell us exactly how much time short pastry should spend in the oven and at exactly what temperature. We admired his skill and experience, but also his ability to change a recipe that we thought was already perfect and make into something even better. How can something as good as a great crème brulee be made even better? By infusing the cream with lavender, orange and fennel, or star anice. It takes crème brulee into a whole new galaxy and makes you want to discover other flavors. His ability to 'save' things we had thought ruined and get us back on track astounded us and his insistence on perfection in everything from chocolate to pastry cream did not stop him from praising our less than perfect products (like my overcooked pastry cream in the practical exam).

With teacher like this, even the worst of days—when I had been on my feet for 10+ hours, cooking in temperatures well over 100 degrees and frustrated that what I was making was not turning out better than it was—were a thrill. At the end of each day, I felt elated and excited, ready for another day of cooking and learning. I only wish I had had more time to prepare the recipes outside of class for practice, but I am inspired to do that in my own kitchen (keep visiting this website for reports of how the recipes turn out).

Today, we were all strangely nervous about the practical exams even though grades are not really important to any of us. We kept second-guessing ourselves and tasting and retasting to make sure we had seasoned the dishes properly. We kept trying to remember how we had made things in class and, of course, our recollections often differed significantly. After all the fretting, we all did very well and got high praise. In the baking class, we got to choose what we would make for the final. You won't be surprised to hear that I chose to make pastry cream. I was a little hesitant about choosing a recipe that is relative easy, but it turned out to be a good choice, especially since after the instructor and I had tasted it and talked about it, all of my classmates got to enjoy it as well.

I enjoyed my cooking school experience so much that after all the exams, I stayed to help with a class for a group of high school students. Helping with those classes has been a tremendous learning experience since I get to teach the recipes to others and explain them. I also have to make things interesting as high school students are not necessarily interested in making their own diner on a trip to Florence. Tonight, I was in charge of the pasta making stations and the pasta, so it was flattering to hear that some of the students pronounced the sauce the best pasta sauce they had ever had. It's the little things!

Here is a picture of me in my cooking attire and one of me and my cooking partner, Greta, being silly one day in class.

After I leave Apicius, I want a glass of wine, so I stop by a trattoria in my neighborhood that I know has some really good wines by the glass (not an easy thing to find as most restaurants serve the house wine and only bottles of other wines). I get a glass of my favorite wine and some crostini toscani (pieces of bread with chicken liver pate). This is the second time I have had their chicken liver crostini and I still think they're the best I have ever had. The pate is very smooth and rich, with the perfect amount of salt. It goes wonderfully with my glass of wine. The doors and windows of the trattoria are wide open and I can hear Benigni read Dante in Piazza Santa Croce. A perfect moment: a warm summer night in Firenze, Benigni, Dante, fantastic food and wine (pause to appreciate for a moment this blend of experiences).

To add to the enjoyment, I am looking through the cookbook I got. It includes recipes from my three teachers and as I am admiring some of the best food photos I have seen, the owner of the trattoria comes over and asks about the cookbook. He wants to look at a picture of one of Andrea Trapani's dishes. He admires it and even shows it to the chef. They're looking through the rest of the book and talking about the chefs they recognize and they admire Andrea Trapani's recipes; it turns out they know of Andrea, my instructor for Tradition of Italian Food, and tell me he is quite famous. We have an animated conversation about Italian food and cooking schools and as I am leaving, I promise to come back next year. This trattoria, Pallottino, has been a real find: affordable, pleasant, and—as they say here—si mangia molto bene.

Thursday:

My last morning in Florence—a heavenly bombolone and another life-altering cappuccino. Then a visit to the markets, as always mesmerized by the million things I wish I could take home. It takes all my willpower not to buy the sweet-smelling melons and peaches, the picture-perfect figs, the pastries and fresh schiacciata sandwiches smiling at me, the wonderful crusty loaves of Tuscan bread, the fresh porcini. I say good-bye to all of these wonderful things that linger in my imagination no matter where I am and promise to come back soon.

I stop by my favorite bakery in Via Guelfa and get some of my favorite cheese biscuits to snack on later, exert the last of my willpower and only buy 4 bottles of balsamic vinegar, surrender to the temptation to buy truffle honey even though I know it is impossible to find in Chicago the kind of pecorino cheese it goes best with, stop by my favorite bar in the market where they not only have a Rancilio machine, but also use Illy coffee for another coffee and then pay my last visit to Mario's, a loud and lively place in the San Lorenzo market where you share tables with strangers and cannot go wrong no matter what you order. When I have coffee at my favorite bars, I say good-bye to the baristas who already know my order and they wish me a good trip. I tell them I hope to be back soon. The thought of not being able to enjoy real cappuccino and macchiato makes me sad, but I comfort myself with the thought that with some more practice, I might be able to coax Silvia and Rocky Rancilio (as my espresso machine and grinder are affectionately known) into producing a decent shot of espresso. I know that it's impossible to reproduce the Florentine atmosphere that makes every cup of coffee a drop of bliss, but I hope to infuse my espresso with a unique hint of Chicago.

Finally, here is the view from my balcony. This is what I have woken up to for the past month. I will miss it.

And the Florentine sunset on my last day.

Ciao, Firenze! Hope to see you again very soon.

2006-07-25T15:41:00.000-05:00

At the bar this morning, I overhear two men discussing the benefits of sugar for the brain. As one of them is pouring sugar liberally in his small cappuccino, he turns to the other one and explains that the brain needs sugar. The cappuccino, of course, will serve to wash down the sweet pastry covered in powder sugar. No Atkins diet! This is just one of the reasons why I love this country!

In the morning class, we make tiramisu and an orange cake with chocolate sauce. It's interesting that we make tiramisu, probably the most famous Italian dessert worldwide—on our last day of cooking. I had not really missed tiramisu, but it was good to make (and taste!) one. In the next class, we proceed to make a fritto misto, a collection of fried everything: veal liver, carrots, lamb brain, sage, zucchini, balls of semolina cooked in milk. It all tastes delicious (yes, even the brain), but it's difficult to appreciate it on a day when the temperature is over 100F and the humidity seems equally high. In the afternoon, we go to Andrea Bianchini's chocolate shop for our last day of baking class. The shop is across town from the school, so I have to run in the rain (the first rain I have seen so far in Firenze), all the while making sure I don't slip and fall on the stones since the bottoms of my tennis shoes seem to be covered with grease. I arrive drenched, but we do get to taste some divine chocolate. We learn the technique of tasting chocolate: take a small bite of chocolate (well, if you can ever take a small bite of chocolate), spread it all over your mouth with the tongue, take in some air through your mouth and pay attention to what happens in the back of your mouth as you're swallowing the chocolate. Yum! My favorite is the milk chocolate with sea salt. We taste Palomino, a very rare Venezuelan chocolate, produced by a single estate, but we all prefer the other types of dark chocolate as the Palomino tastes somewhat acidic. We get an intro of the process of producing chocolate and even make some bars as I try not to lean against the 18,000 euro pieces of equipment.

In the evening, we go to a party in honor of two of the chefs from the school whose cookbook just came out. For each recipe, the two chefs present their own interpretations of a classic Tuscan recipe. The design and photos are gorgeous and it's hard to believe that the book was designed by students. The photos make the food jump off the page.

The last day of class is over and tomorrow and the day after we take our exams: first a written one and then a practical one. I can't believe this cooking adventure is almost over and I am sad to leave this magical city and the wonderful school. But I am glad to come home and put to use what I have learned and share the outcomes with you.

P.S. All this week, Roberto Benigni is reading Dante in the square in front of my apartment. Aaaah, Firenze in the summer!

2006-07-21T12:30:00.000-05:00

First of all, here are some pictures of things I made this week

Semolina cake with chocolate ganache

Pasta with broccoli

Stuffed apple

Marquis moka

pasta caprese and lamb Roman style

Chocolate cake

Another week of culinary adventures is over. It has been fun and exciting, full of interesting dishes: stuffed squid (with carrots, leeks, and bread crumbs)—pronounced perfect by Andrea—carrot soufflé (less than perfect), sole with bitter orange sauce, pork with apples and, on the sweeter side, apple tart, lemon cake, Bavarian cream, and a variety of cakes. Our baking instructor (whose name is also Andrea) has had us make a number of the cakes that are sold in his chocolate shop and it's been quite a bit of fun. When we make recipes such as Bavarian cream or Italian meringue, which in and of themselves are not terrible exciting, we go a couple of steps further and actually use them in cakes, learning how to layer and combine flavors and textures. Of course, the funnest part of the exercise is tasting our creations, which even when they don't look perfect taste unbelievably good.

I have also made several different types of pasta, including orecchiette, which are quite difficult to make well. We were all so slow at it, that I was starting to fear we would starve (we had not eaten for at least 2 hours!), but fortunately, Marcella showed us how to make a similar shape that is easier to make because you roll it on a towel (to give it texture), instead of trying to shape it around your thumb and then flip it inside out on your index finger. We dressed the pasta with broccoli, garlic, olive oil and anchovies and had a wonderful meal.

So, this week among other things I have learned how to clean and cook squid and also skin and fillet sole, two things I was surprisingly successful at. In one of the classes, we used the sole fillets to make pasta. Yes, you did read correctly, we made pasta dough using raw sole, bread crumbs, and parmiggiano and then ran it through a ricer (!!!) and dropped it into boiling fish stock we had prepared from scratch (let's just say we cleaned and gutted a lot of fish that day). I must admit that this has been my least favorite dish so far; the combination of fish stock and fish pasta on a very hot day just didn't excite my taste buds that much. But the experience was fun.

In addition to cooking in class, this week I also helped out with classes four tourist groups. Many agencies bring groups to the school for a Tuscan meal and I got to help the chefs cook and serve the meal. The groups were mostly high school students, who tended to have most fun with making fresh pasta. I would be assigned to a group of 4-5 students and would walk them through the recipe and help them make it (I would actually do most of the work, especially if the recipe was a dessert and the eggs needed to be beaten). Different groups make different courses and at the end of the evening, they all have a 4 course dinner that they have helped prepare. Most find it fun, even though they are not very interested in cooking. One girl from Texas was shocked to discover that pasta is actually made fresh; she had never thought about how pasta is made.

Next week, we have exams on Tuesday and Wednesday, so Monday is the only day of real cooking. The practical exams are on Wednesday, but we will be making recipes we have made in the classes, so nothing new.

Florence is warming up again and today it's over 100F. Some might think that would stop me from eating pastries stuffed with cream for breakfast and washing them down with a couple of cappuccinos, but I have a job to do and I will continue to sacrifice myself for the sake of pastry research.

Have a great weekend!

2006-07-17T15:42:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I really like my coffee and I am becoming quite particular about it. So, even in Italy, where it’s hard to have bad coffee, I prefer some coffee shops to others. On the weekends, I tend to go to a coffee shop close to the apartment that uses the same brand espresso maker (Rancilio) as our espresso machine at home. I am partial to my Rancilio Silvia and now I enjoy visiting her much bigger relative and testing the coffee. They have not disappointed me yet although they look at me strangely when I ask for my second cappuccino. What can I say, one is just not enough. They don’t even know that after my two cappuccini I usually have a macchiato before 9 am.

I am very happy it’s Monday today also because I had not had a bombolone in 2 days: on Saturday morning, I went to the usual pastry shop, but it turns out they don’t make bomboloni on Saturdays. Since they are closed on Sunday, I was forced to go to a different place and, of course, the bomboloni are not nearly as good. So, as you can guess by now, I suffered some because of that and could barely wait to get out of bed this morning to have a bombolone. the barista was surprised once again that I wanted a second cappuccino, but no one bats an eyelash when the two ladies who are there every morning have 3 pastries a piece and then take several more to go. One morning, the barista was saying to one of them that she was going to get sick from all the pastries she eats and she said, “I will worry about that if I get sick.”

Last night, I was at the school until 9:30 or so, helping out with a class for a group of about 50 American high school students and their teachers. It took a while to get the students to actually do work, but they were very excited about rolling out the pasta, so they ended p really enjoying their dinner of tagliatelle with tomato sauce, Italian meatloaf (with hard boiled eggs inside) and a Florentine schiacciata. They said it was the best meal they had had since arriving. I think part of the appeal was one of the chefs, who they considered good looking. Everyone wanted a picture of him or a picture with him and he was graceful enough to humor them all.

Anyway, the menu for the day consisted of some pretty delicious things: the morning started with asparagus risotto and duchess potatoes (mashed potatoes piped though a pastry bag into different shapes and then baked). I am disappointed to report that even though I make risotto on a regular basis at home and make it quite well, this time it did not turn out o.k. It was the worst risotto I had ever made and I choose to blame the silly electric stove and the fact that the temperature is never quite hot enough. The instructor pronounced the rice boiled and he was right, the consistency was just not right. The good news is that the seasoning was perfect, so we did something right. I am the only person in the group who likes quite a bit of salt, so no matter who I work with, we always have a discussion about salt. And of the most points Andrea makes most frequently is that there isn’t enough seasoning. Andrea also mentioned that in Italy food is salted more than in any other European country (or the U.S.). So now, my cooking partners let me salt the food and we do well. More luck with the risotto next time.

Also on the menu today a lamb dish from Lazio (the region where Rome is) and gnocchi alla romana (discs of semolina flour cooked in hot milk with some butter and parmesan; the discs are layered in a pan, sprinkled with more parmiggiano and butter and baked). What a wonderful lunch! For dessert: flourless chocolate cake as it is made in the chocolate shop of our teacher. One group made it plain and the other with hot peppers, rosemary and salt. Both were absolutely divine!

Well, I must get to bed now because tomorrow morning will be here very soon and there is a world of bomboloni and cappuccino waiting for me out there.

2006-07-15T11:50:00.000-05:00

Here are some World Cup vistory pictures

First, a tense crowd , then celebrations

2006-07-15T11:27:00.000-05:00

Today was a short day at school, but well worth attending. We made maltagliati (egg pasta cut into irregular shapes, literally 'badly cut') with a tomato-based sauce with cannellini beans, red peppers, and basil. My partner, Greta, and I had not evaporated the wine enough, so our sauce was a little acidic. Our other dish, stuffed zucchini, was pronounced 'perfect' by the instructor. This was high praise, considering that he always has suggestions for improvement. The zucchini were boiled and then hollowed and filled with a mix of zucchini pulp, ham, ricotta, egg, and pamiggiano. We could barely wait for the zucchini to get out of the oven, they smelled so good. As with any yummy recipe, they were gone in no time.

The meal we prepared in class was only topped by a wonderful dinner. It was Beth's last day in Firenze, and she wanted to have porcini mushrooms, so we went to Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco in Oltrarno (the other side of the Arno river). The Osteria specializes in cinghiale (wild boar), probably my favorite meat, but I had also noticed porcini on the menu, so we were hoping to try both. When I mentioned that they also serve fried zucchini flowers, Beth immediately suggested that we try those, too. Of course, it does not take anything to convince me to eat fried zucchini flowers.

Cinghiale Bianco is a very cozy and pleasant restaurant and the staff are very friendly and helpful. We had to wait a little while for a table, but that gave us a chance to stand on one of the bridges and watch the sun set over the river, a unforgettable sight. Our dinner was worth the wait, It was by far, the best meal I have had in Italy yet: it contained several things that we had not had and everything was prepared perfectly. We started with the fried zucchini flowers and fell in love at first bite. The flowers had been dipped in a think batter and were very light and crispy. I had never had zucchini flowers and was surprised by their sweet flavor. They were a perfect start to a meal that include cinghiale served with polenta and my first truffles ever, served over taglierini. The moment the waitress put the plate with the pasta and truffles in front of me, I knew I was going to taste something outstanding. The truffles that had been generously shaved over the pasta gave the most unbelievable smell that was only topped by the smooth, rich flavor. Those of you who have had truffles know what I mean; those of you who have not had truffles, I suggest you seek them out and try them as soon as possible. I am not sure how I have lived this far without having truffles. I must go back to this place before I leave because not knowing when I might be able to have truffles next would be too painful.

After our sublime dinner, we decided to walk around for a while and stumbled upon a concert in the Piazza della Signoria. The band sounded very interesting: the beat was Latin and they sang in a southern dialect. The music was very interesting, so we sat down at one of the restaurants and enjoyed their performance. The Piazza was full of people of all ages and everyone was moving to the beat. It was fascinating to be in front of a building like the Pallazzo Vecchio and be listening to a concert of popular music.

As we walked home after midnight, Firenze did not seem to be ready to go to sleep. There were people everywhere and it didn't look like anyone (but us) was going to bed soon.

2006-07-14T08:28:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I am continuing to research the quality of pastries in Florence and, at this particular time, I am focusing on bomboloni con crema (doughnuts with pastry cream). This morning, I decided to try a pastry shop recommended by a trusted source—I dolci di Patrizio Cosi. Well, Patrizio needs to rethink his doughnuts, since the one I had had not risen well and was certainly not cooked enough: it was very pale and too soft and after the very first enthusiastic bite I knew that this place was no competition for Robioli, the place where I usually eat doughnuts with cream in the morning. The other pastries looked o.k., even though the brioche (or cornetti) were somewhat wrinkled. A note is probably in order here about brioche or cornetti are. Italian brioche or cornetto (the words are interchangeable) is almost the equivalent of a French croissant. The dough is slightly different (a little less butter), but they are still buttery, flakey, multi-layered pastries, either empty or filled with chocolate, jam or pastry cream (my personal favorite).

O.k., now that I have provided an update on my pastry research, we can move on to other things. I think I might have mentioned a couple of (hundred) times that the classrooms are quite hot and that when the AC is not working, they are even hotter. All of us (including the instructors) have done our fair share of complaining about the temperature and wishing the rooms were cooler. Well, be careful what you wish for! Today, there was a group of people in our classroom, so we had to use one of the demo classrooms. The demo classrooms are much smaller and less well equipped than the regular ones. They are also freezing!!! The temperature today was 18C (sorry I don't have a conversion table available right now, but trust me that IS cold). After we turned the AC down and the temp climbed to 25C, it was still freezing, so we had to open a window to let some warm air in!

In more interesting news: we discussed Sardinia today and learned some interesting facts about this somewhat isolated island between Corsica and Sicily (much closer to the former). We also made some wonderful Sardinian dishes, including a dessert with pecorino, the most famous Sardinian cheese (there is also a pecorino romano, made around Rome, mostly by Sardinians). I am not eager to visit Sardinia and taste the wonderful things we learned about, except the cheese with live worms. We made mussel soup—mussels in wine and tomato broth served over toasted bread rubbed with garlic—and ravioli stuffed with a mixture of pecorino and lemon peel, fried and drizzled with honey. Yum!!!

2006-07-13T15:25:00.000-05:00

Another couple of firsts: an Italian guy stopped me on the street to ask me for directions to the library. Yes, he wanted ME to tell HIM how to get there. I didn't even have to stop and think where the library is.

Another first, less positive that the first one: the day before Michael left, we went to an osteria close to the apartment to have lunch. It was empty, but the menu looked decent, so we decided to give it a try. We ordered two glasses of red wine and thought we were dreaming when the waitress approached our table with a bottle of wine that looked like it had been kept in the fridge. Indeed, the wine was cold! This is the very first time I had been served cold red wine in Italy and I hope never to repeat the experience. Needless to say, the wine was also bad, so I am not sure the temperature made much of a difference, but still.

More about cooking school: I think I mentioned earlier that the kitchens at the school don't have AC. Well, that's what we all thought because we could not feel any remotely cool air. It turns out, we were wrong and we only discovered this today, when the AC was actually broke. We spent the morning making hot soups in a kitchen that felt like it had been constructed on the surface of the Sun. The fact that there were 12 or so burners on for a couple of hours didn't help much. Andrea, our instructor, would tell us what to do and then go sit outside (in the sun!). I didn't think I was going to be able to taste the cannellini beans and shrimp soup, especially since we had to blend the beans and the shrimp (!!!), which gave the soup the consistency of a jar of baby food. I am no lover of cooking with shrimp stock and there was certainly a great deal of that in this soup in addition to the blended soup. Think soup on a hot day! The other soup, zuppa di farro (spelt), was also thick and hearty, but at least it had a tomato base, so it was slightly less heavy (at least in my opinion). When tasting time came, I was able to taste the bean and shrimp soup Greta and I made, but could not bring myself to taste the other three. The farro soup was much easier to handle even on a hot day and I enjoyed several spoonfuls.

When I went to the bar between classes to have an espresso, I was wondering why people were complaining that it was too hot (today was the hottest day in Florence since I arrived). To me, being outside, in the sun, felt cool compared to the sweltering kitchen.

In the afternoon, the AC was back on, but we could barely feel it as we proceeded to make polenta (the kind that takes a good 30 or so minutes of constant stirring on the stove) and then fry it. Just to make things heavier on this hot day, we also fried up some cheese. It tasted marvelous, which cause me to taste it repeatedly in between bites of fried polenta and polenta with cheese. What a cheesy afternoon!

If you thought that would be enough frying for one day, you'd be surprised to hear that in baking class, we friend up some doughnuts and also some fritters. Now, as I might have mentioned, I love my bomboloni con crema (doughnuts with cream would be the translation, but that really doesn't do justice to these soft, freshly-fried pillows of perfectly raised dough filled with the most delicious pastry cream). Well, today was my lucky day because I learned how to make them! We also made some fritters traditionally served at carnival time, but that part of the lesson was much less interesting. Making the bomboloni, on the other hand, was a whole lot of fun—from making and kneading the dough by hand to the sweet smell of yeast that filled the room once we punched the dough down. It seemed unfair to wait for them to rise for 15 minutes, but the wait was worth it. I had the honor of piping the cream into the hot, fluffy doughnuts, and could barely take a picture of the finished product before arms extended all the way across the table and the bomboloni disappeared from the plate. This was the only thing we had made this far in any class that disappeared and in less than 30 seconds. The kitchen turned quiet and all you could hear were moans as my classmates and I smiles blissfully while enjoying our creations. The fritters felt neglected, I am sure.

Tomorrow morning, I continue the search for the second best bombolone in Florence since nothing can top the once we made today. On the agenda: a visit to the Dolci di Patrizio Cosi' pasty shop in the Santa Croce neighborhood with two trusted co-researchers. Stay tuned for the research results.

Other pictures of some of the more interesting dishes we have made so far:
Pasta with squid ink

Brutti ma buoni

Almond cake

Turkey roll

Eggplant and pecorino with honey

Ravioli with beat and ricotta filling

Enjoy!

Viktorija

2006-07-11T17:08:00.000-05:00

Another day started with my current favorite breakfast: bombolone con crema (a fresh doughnut with pastry cream) and two excellent cappuccinos. The folks at the pastry shop think it's a little strange that I ask for another cappuccino after I have finished the first one, but they indulge me and I am grateful.

Another exciting day at Apicius with several excellent recipes. My favorite for the day is the garbanzo soup with beet greens. It's light and fresh-tasting while also being quite filling. These days I don't eat too much that's green (except for the basil on my bruschetta), so having soup with greens was a nice change of pace. The eggplant timbale (filled with parmiggiano, tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and eggplant) was interesting to make, but it did not excite my taste buds that much. In the regional Italian cooking class, we talked about Lombardy and made risotto all Milanese and costoletta alla Milanese (a veal chop breaded and fried in butter). Yes, you guessed right: both o these dishes were a little heavy for a day when the temperature in the kitchen was easily 115, but it was good to learn the traditional way of making risotto alla Milanese (let's just say it includes bone marrow, in addition to quite a bit of butter).

If my taste buds were not excited by the timbale, they certainly woke up in baking class, where we made 5 different flavors of crème brulee (plain, lavender, orange and fennel, star anise, and coffee). What a feast! I was in charge of the star anise crème brulee and that one and the orange fennel one competed for the title of my favorite crème brulee so far. One ramekin of each might not have been enough to decide though, so get ready for some crème brulee tasting and experimentation when I get back. Plain crème brulee had thus far been more than satisfying, but all of a sudden, it tasted… well, plain.

Also on the menu in baking class—three flavors of panna cotta: plain, strawberry and orange. Once again, plain tastes a little plain. Strawberry came in as the favorite.

A new word for the day: retrolfatto (retroolfactory in English). The person who guesses the correct meaning will receive a valuable prize.

Thanks for all those who have posted comments. I look forward to hearing from you.

P.S. I promise to post some pictures as soon as I spend some time in the apartment and upload them to the computer. Thanks for the patience!

2006-07-11T17:01:00.000-05:00

The day after Italy wins the World Cup: everyone is very tired and many students do not show up. Even the teachers are tired and cut us some slack. I get 5 hours of sleep the night after the World Cup finale, so it's hard to wake up, but with enough espresso I manage to do it. Of course, this espresso-induced wakefulness has to be maintained with ever larger amounts of espresso, so I run to the bar around the corner from the school every chance I get.

Today is a day of several firsts for me: first cut and also first time I clean and cook squid. The former was not very pleasant, the latter surprisingly fun and delicious. In the morning class we make turkey breast rolls with ham and olives and also marinated eggplant with pecorino and chestnut honey. Both dishes are great combinations of flavors and I will be making them at home. The Regional Italian Cooking class provides a new twist of things: we're talking about Liguria and get to clean and cook squid, including a sauce of squid ink. The ink turns the pasta completely black. It's my first taste of squid ink and I really like it. It's hard to describe, but certainly worth the try. I eat so much of the squid ink pasta, that my teeth and mouth stay black for a while. In baking class, we all struggle with some almond paste cookies. When a giggle epidemic erupts and it's clear that it would take several hours for us to pipe the cookies correctly, Andrea has us make brutti ma buoni, which translates as "ugly but good." No piping, no particular shape. That I can do.

Stay tuned for a report of the custard and crème brulee making experience scheduled for Tuesday.

The puzzle of the day: Marcella asks me to grate some pecorino romano cheese on the penne I am dressing with squid and ink, but when my classmates try to grate some on their spaghetti, she says that on spaghetti with ink, you don't put cheese. Hmmmm. It's just the way things are done here: not only are certain pasta shapes only serves with particular sauces, but some of them get cheese and other don't when served with the same sauce. Not being Italian, I think the best I can hope for is not to have my food taken away from me at a restaurant if I make a mistake as serious as asking for cheese on my spaghetti with black ink.

To all my chocolate-loving friends: tonight I tasted some of the chocolate made at the shop of Andrea Bianchini, my baking instructor. I tried the habanero truffle and it was delicious! The ganache is rich and smooth and you only sense the heat of the habanero at the very end and far back in your mouth. There are other interesting flavors: rosemary and salt, olive oil and vanilla, cardamom and coffee, vin santo, saffron. I wish I could bring back some of Andrea's chocolate back with me but this is not the right time of the year to do so. I guess I'll just have to taste them all myself.

2006-07-09T12:29:00.000-05:00

To all my gelato-loving friends: I have been thorough in my gelato and granite research and after numerous sampling field trip have determined that the best gelato and granite are found at Gelateria Carabe (close to the Duomo). This Sicilain gelateria serves some interesting granita flavors: fig, plum, almond milk, and pineapple, in addition to the more common ones such as strawberry, mixed berry, coffee, lemon, etc. The straciatella gelato is the best in Florence, and pistachio, coffee, and almond are high on my list as well.

http://www.gelatocarabe.com

You can also find good granita at the Perche no! gelateria close to the Duomo.

2006-07-09T12:01:00.000-05:00

First of all, an apology to those who might have checked this blog in the past week. Things have been quite busy.

We spent Friday and Saturday in the mountains North of my favorite Tuscan town of Lucca, at the Argiturismo La Torre, one of our favorite places to stay in Italy. The owners, Paolo and Laura, are very friendly and nice, which makes staying at their gorgeous property even more pleasant. It was good to get away from the heat and crowds of Firenze, breathe some cooler air and enjoy the peace and quiet of the Tuscan hills.

On Friday night, we had dinner at the small restaurant on the property where Laura does all the cooking. I still remember the wonderful things we ate here last year, easily the best food I have had in Italy. Laura again wowed us with her cooking and it was difficult to not eat too much. We started with some marinated anchovies, local prosciutto, crostini with lard, and fried meatballs. Yes, these were only the appetizers. The anchovies were strong and with a zing from the marinade, the fried meatballs melted in the mouth. The only thing that I am still not in love with is lard, but who knows. After this wonderful spread, we continued with the creamiest, tastiest lasagna imaginable. I could have stopped right there since the lasagne and the Rosso di Montalcino that Paolo himself bottles were a perfect match. But just when I didn’t think I could eat any more, out came freshly fried potatoes and beef rolls with prosciutto and sage. I could not resist. The rolls were wonderful, perfectly crispy and full of flavor with a hint of sage and, as we all know, there are very few things as good as fresh, homemade French fries. The feast ended with a chocolate and coffee cake, light and creamy, coffee, limoncello and a homemade gooseberry liquor. Two hours of sheer bliss! Outside the moon was trying to peek through the clouds left behind by the rain that had fallen earlier in the day. The night was perfectly dark, quiet, and fresh—perfect for a short walk after the decadent dinner.

Unfortunately, we had to leave La Torre on Saturday morning, to continue our trip to Modena. It was another hot and sunny day and after a brief stop in Reggio Emilia where we ate a very average lunch, we continued on to Modena. Modena seemed very modern: even the old part of town is full of stores like Benetton and Sisley. After a short walk around town, we continued on to Firenze, where the excitement about the World Cup finals is growing by the second.

Walking around Firenze, all you see are people—both Italians and foreigners—wearing shits that say "Italia" in big letters on the front and everyone is talking about where they will watch the game. Should be an interesting evening on Sunday.

A brief summary of the past week:

Aaah, Firenze in July: heat, millions of tourists, and crazy traffic. Someone just told me that Firenze is the hottest city in Italy, hotter than Rome. It's best not to think about that. The heat would not be so important if the classrooms where the cooking classes are held had AC. Call me spoiled, but I do enjoy some cool air, especially when wearing a cooking jacket, hat, and long pants. And being around 6-12 stoves, all on. When I get a chance to venture outside the school in the short break between classes to go get an espresso, the outside temperature of 90+F feels cool compared to the temperature around the stoves in our classrooms. But it's best not to dwell on that. I have made peace with that fact that I will have to drink 6 liters of water before 6 pm just to stay alive.

Despite the heat, cooking school has been great fun. The courses are well organized, the instructors are excellent chefs and every dish is a learning experience. Just when my teammates and I think we've created a wonderful dish, we discover that there are always things that could be improved: more salt, better cooked roux, more water, less water, softer dough.

In the Tradition of Italian Food course, we are introduced to the history of Italian cuisine. Our instructor, Andrea Trapani, is an excellent chef and the dishes he prepares always provide an excellent standard to aspire to. I think I'll continue to hear Andrea's advice as I am cooking for a long time: salt, taste, more salt, taste again, …. So far we have made many interesting dishes: sweet and sour pork with spicy chickpea puree, zucchini sformato (zucchini flan), chicken with prunes, pizza, naked ravioli with butter and sage, zuccotto, Lady fingers.

In the Regional Italian Cuisine, a course taught in Italian, Marcella introduces us to the flavors, textures, and dishes of the different regions. We started with Emilia Romagna, one of the most famous regions in Italy food-wise. Emilia Romagna is where Bologna, Modena, Reggio Emilia, and Parma are, so need I say more. We have also talked about Tuscany, Sicily and Liguria, regions that have given rise to some of the best known Italian dishes: cannoli (Sicily), cantuci al Prato (Tuscany), tagliatelle and ragu (Emilia Romagna).

There are only 6 students in this course, so we work individually and get a great deal of advice from Marcella, who is very knowledgeable about the regional differences in Italian food. Marcella's face lights up when she starts explaining the characteristics of each individual region and the most representative flavors. Marcella is training us to develop our own way of doing things. She generally does not encourage the use of a scale and wants us to cook more by feel. She is also training our palates to notice the differences that result from our individual choices and styles.

The day we make fresh cannoli (including rolling out by hand and frying the shells) is the best day of the week. Marcella had warned us the cannoli would the best any of us had ever had and she was right: they were crunchy and delicate, and the smooth filling rich with chocolate chips and candied fruit provided a nice contrast. After exerting a great deal of energy rolling out the dough for the cannoli shells, I am reluctant to throw it out, so in addition to making the 5 shells I need, I also fry up some of the leftover dough, sprinkle it with powdered sugar and munch on it. Yum!

Stay tuned for reports about risotto, polenta, gnocchi, and many, many other wonderful things to come out of Marcella's course.

Anyone who has ever talked to me knows that I am a pastry and sweets lover and I can talk about desserts for hours. So when on day 1 I found out that we were making pastry cream, I could not believe my luck. As many of you know, I cannot resist pastry cream and seek it out every chance I get. Of course, the pastry cream Andrea taught us how to make was by far the most delicious pastry cream I have ever had and when I had to throw away the half a batch left after my partner and I made the crostata (a short pastry pie filled with pastry cream and baked), tears came to my eyes. So I hugged the bowl and finished the rest of the cream. My classmates were hesitant about trying it at first (imagine my surprise at seeing people not flock to taste pastry cream!), but were gradually convinced.

Our baking instructor, Andrea Biancchini, also affectionately known around the school as "il genio del cioccolato" (chocolate genius), owns a chocolate shop in the Santa Croce neighborhood of Florence (close to the famous Il Cibreo) and it is high on my list of places to visit next week. Andrea likes things done a certain way and insists that we follow his method. His teaching style is very Italian, full of facial expressions and hand gestures.

We have made puff pastry, a variety of sponge cakes, ganache, and profiteroles. I always make sure the product is of high quality be repeatedly tasting and retasting. What a good student!

Now I am off to write my paper on sauté. Stay tuned for more delicious news rom Firenze.

Forza Azzuri!!!

2006-06-20T11:11:00.000-05:00

Join me as I uncover the secrets of all the Italian dishes whose flavors linger in my mind and taunt me when I am away from Italy.

I am excited to share with you the results when I return to Chicago and start practicing what I learned.

Visit the cooking school: www.apicius.it

According to Wikipedia, Apicius was a name applied to three celebrated Roman epicures, the most famous of whom, Marcus Gavius (or Gabius) Apicius, lived under the early Empire and is said to have written two cookbooks. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apicius

I hope you will write and let me know how you're doing. I am also happy to eat and drink on your behalf, so send me ideas for things to try and recipes to discover.

Let the fun begin!