briciole

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a pretty combination The tenth stop of our World Culinary ABC1 is Antarctica (Antartide). Hostess Brii obtained from McMurdo Station2 the menu for one week to give us a sense of what the researchers who spend the fall and winter in Antarctica eat. Spicy Ethiopian Red Lentil Stew caught my attention because I like it and has been on my to-make list for a while. Getting berberé, the traditional Ethiopian spice blend3 to make the dish, took longer than expected and then I realized that, contrary to my belief, I didn't have... Read more →

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] fagiolina comes in two varieties: white and "rainbow" (the beautiful bicolor linen tablecloth is from La FABBRICA del LINO) When I visit Perugia, the city in central Italy where I was born and grew up, I always bring back some fagiolina del Lago Trasimeno a local variety of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)1. Besides being pretty, fagiolina is a pleasure to eat: tender, buttery and flavorful. Good things come in small packages. I buy fagiolina at the Antica Spezieria e Drogheria Eredi Bavicchi2 one of my favorite stores in the world. The owner is... Read more →

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] not your typical strawberry scones In The Feast Nearby by Robin Mather, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, the author tells the story of how she built a new life for herself in a lakeside cabin in Michigan after back-to-back divorce and lay-off. Following the seasons of one year, she describes her food sources, meal plans and preservation efforts, and provides some recipes. I already do a fair amount of food preservation in the form of freezing and fruit preserves. I also bake bread, make cheese, kefir and broth.... Read more →

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a soup bright in color and flavor (cranberry-flax ciabatta by Beck's Bakery, linen napkin from La FABBRICA del LINO) The ninth stop of our World Culinary ABC1 is Egypt (Egitto). My original plan was to make ful medames2 again, this time using the traditional small fava beans, which I found in a newly discovered store in the Bay Area. Then two things happened: 1) I read about Moloukhiya3 soup, and 2) my spring CSA share at Redwood Roots Farm4 started. This soup features the leaves of a type of jute (Corchorus olitorius)... Read more →

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] western-style broth meets eastern-style rice noodles The eighth stop of our World Culinary ABC1 is Vietnam. To celebrate our virtual visit I made bun rice noodles from scratch. Making an Asian pasta had been on my to-do list for a long time. Having found a detailed recipe from a reputable source2, I went to work: the process was interesting and the result quite nice. The original recipe calls for a pound of rice flour, but I applied the rule I repeat in each of my pasta posts3 and quartered the quantities. Please,... Read more →

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a simply good soup (linen napkin from La FABBRICA del LINO) Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer1 is the protagonist of Cheap Novelties, The Pleasures of Urban Decay2 by Ben Katchor. The collection of black and white strips reads like a collection of short-short stories simple on the surface, yet haunting like the dripping of a faucet that prevents us from falling asleep. Julius is out all day in a solidly urban landscape of tall buildings grouped into blocks drawn up by roads. Instead of the sun, a myriad light bulbs (lampadine) of... Read more →

spindle-shaped, delicate cecamariti (literally, husband blinders) No husband was hurt in the making of this pasta. Blinding here is used in the sense of dazzling. Cecare is a dialectal form of the verb accecare. Mariti is the plural of marito, husband. In Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl, the current selection of our Cook the Books Club, there is a good amount of one person trying to dazzle another (not necessarily a husband). While reading the book, I remembered seeing an entry for cecamariti 1 in the Encyclopedia of Pasta by Oretta Zanini De Vita: it was time to learn... Read more →

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] painted pony beans (table runners from La FABBRICA del LINO) The seventh stop of our World Culinary ABC1 is Mexico. To celebrate our virtual visit I made a personal version of frijoles refritos. [Note that the prefix re- in this case means "very" or "well".] I had some pinto beans and that's the variety I used initially for the recipe. According to wikipedia2 "In northern Mexico and in American Tex-Mex cuisine, refried beans are usually prepared with pinto beans, but many other varieties of bean are used in other parts of Mexico,... Read more →

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a flavorful flower (place mat from La FABBRICA del LINO) Cara Cara oranges1 from the farmers' market and an invitation to a potluck inspired this crostata. The success led to encores. Citrus season (la stagione degli agrumi) is the perfect time to make this tart, which brings the sun to your table, regardless of what the thermometer says. Choose sweet, flavorful oranges. Their juicy freshness contrasts the buttery crust. The peach preserves offers another layer of flavor and texture. There is enough sweetness to please the palate without overwhelming it. In the... Read more →

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] a layered fish stew in the pot The sixth stop of our World Culinary ABC1 is Brazil. The dish I chose to celebrate our virtual visit is called moqueca de peixe. This dish comes in two flavors moqueca bahiana from Bahia and moqueca capixaba from Espírito Santo. Most recipes online are for the former, characterized by the use of coconut milk (latte di cocco). I came up with a personal version of the latter, inspired by some readings and this recipe from the May 2007 edition of Gourmet. To make my rendition... Read more →