Food Lover's Odyssey

Italy on a Plate - The Week in Italian Food: 9-25-2010

While people are making and jarring sauce with their remaining tomatoes and cooking the last of the sweet peppers, we welcomed the Fall season and all its flavors.  Mushroom dishes are popping up everywhere, along with stews and soups.  Be on the look out for more fall dishes with pumpkins, squash, chestnuts, grapes, pears, apples, and more.  What are your favorite fall flavors?

This week's roundup of Italian food includes many fall dishes, a few decadent desserts, and a six-course menu of recipes from Lidia Bastianich.  If you're all about eating Italy, there's enough food porn to have you buying that plane ticket right now: gelato, appetizers from a wedding in Puglia, a chocoholic's dream from Umbria, and pastries from Sicily, to name a few.  Enjoy this week's Italy on a Plate and Buon Appetito everyone!

 

My Top 10 Italian Recipes from around the web this week:

• Michelle from Bleeding Espresso gets things going with a great starter, Zucchini Flower Fritters

• From an Italian blog here is a Piadina Romagnola, street food Italian style from Croce e Delizia

• Dulcis in Furno bakes a beautiful Savory Torta with Eggplant, Tomatoes and Caciocavallo, all my favorites
  

• Lunching with Babette features Spaghetti con i finferli,  (Spaghetti with Chantrelles)  Il Pranzo di Babette

• Warning, looking at these will make you hungry:  Veal and Porcini Mushroom Cannelloni from Deb at Italian Food Forever 

• Fall flavors of Tuscany abound on this plate of Pork Stew with Vegetables from Experience Tuscany

• From Tuscanycious Castagnaccio (chestnut cake)
  

• Monica from Cook in Venice entices us with a Venetian Ricotta and Sultana Cake

• The famous Naples pastry: Sfogliatelle is featured on My Bella Vita's Recipe Wednesday post

• The grand nonna of Italian cooking in the US, Lidia Bastianich, shares the flavors of Friuli in a six-course meal: Lidia Bastianich's Friuli  Bon Appetit
  

 

Eating Italy:

• Could someone plan a wedding in Puglia (or Abruzzo) and invite me? I want to feast on the flavors of Puglia like Sarah did at this Pugliese Wedding in Abruzzo from Ms Adventures in Italy

• Aurelio the Tuscan Cook explains why Prosciutto Bazzone is so special and from where it gets its name

• For chocolate lovers in Umbria - All things Chocolate this fall in Umbria -- even a chocolate massage from Italy Magazine

• Gourmantic tempts us mercilessly with pastries from Sicily

• Love gelato?  The LA Times gives the scoop on making the best gelato from the gelato university in Bologna

• More food porn from Jeremy at DoBianchi as he shares photos from his Lunch at Zidarich Winery
  

 

Food and Wine Festivals in Italy:

• Taste of Milano is happening from September 23-26

• The Sicily Guide gives information about the Bronte Pistacchio Festival happening Sept 30 to Oct 3

• Chocoholics in Italy: Eurochocolate in Perugia October 15-24

• Four days of food celebration in Turin at the Salone Del Gusto October 21-25

• List of Fall Food Festivals Galore in Tuscany and the Emilia Romagna

 

Related Posts:

Italy on a Plate - The Week in Italian Food: 9-18-2010

Wine Tasting Along the Chianti Trail

Totano Festival and a Weekend in the Aeolian Islands

The Dish from Italy - A Taste of Sicily in Rome

The Dish from Rome: Braised Oxtail - Coda alla Vaccinara

 

Much of the food of Rome is based on cucina povera.  Offal, the quinto quarto, is a huge part of this cuisine.  The quinto, “fifth” quarter of the animal, includes the "lesser" cuts and the innards.  Rich folks took the premier cuts of meat. The poor, making due with what was left, cooked the hell out of these pieces, establishing the cuisine of Rome, that still thrives today. 

 They caressed the flavors from these tough unwanted pieces into dishes as rich as Rome’s history, with layers of flavors running as deep as the ancient cities lying below Rome.  Coda alla Vaccinara (braised oxtail) is one of these dishes.  The tail is slowly cooked, tenderizing the meat, and releasing flavors from the tailbone that give the dish an intense meatiness.

 

 

One August afternoon, I chatted with the chef at Capo di Ferro in Trastevere about La Coda.  I had their version, served as a rich ragu with rigatoni. I became an instant fan.  Over an after-lunch limoncello, the chef told me how he makes it, emphasizing that a main ingredient is patience. The dish requires four hours to cook and a lot of stirring,” he warned.  Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day, so a truly Roman dish should take some time.

This recipe is adapted from Capo di Ferro’s Rigatoni alla Vaccinara. It's delicious by itself, but also a great ragu for pasta.

 

 

 

Roman-Style Braised Oxtail

(serves 4)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 pounds oxtail, cut into 2-inch sections

1 tablespoon salt

1 small onion, roughly chopped

1/2 carrot, cubed

2 celery stalks, roughly chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and halved

1/2 cup red wine

28 ounces tomatoes, peeled and chopped

About 3 cups beef stock

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 cloves

 

In a heavy-bottom saucepot, heat the olive oil.  Season the oxtail pieces with salt, browning each side of the pieces. Remove; set aside.  Add the onions and a pinch of salt to the pan.  Sweat the onions until they are translucent, 5 minutes.  Add the carrots, cooking until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the celery and garlic. Cook 3 minutes more.  Add the oxtail pieces back to the pot.  Deglaze with the wine over high heat, cooking about 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes; bring to a boil.  Continue boiling to cook off some of the tomato water. Add the beef stock just to cover the meat, then the pepper and cloves. Bring to a boil.  Once it boils, lower the heat to simmer, cover with a circle of parchment paper, and cook for 4 hours (stirring occasionally).

Once the oxtail is tender, remove the pieces to a serving dish. Cover with aluminum foil; set aside.  Strain the sauce, pressing down on the vegetables to extract all the juices.  Skim all the fat off the top, and pour into a smaller saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook, reducing by 1/4.  Taste for seasoning.  Pour the sauce over the oxtail and serve. Buon Appetito!

 

This post has been entered into the GranTourismo HomeAway Holiday Rentals Travel Blogging Competition.

 

Related Posts:

Roman Pasta Dishes and Ten Places to Eat Them in Rome

Food in Rome: Taste of Testaccio is Offal

Pizza al Taglio at Bonci's Pizzarium in Rome

Pasta all' Amatriciana

Cacio e Pepe in a Parmigiano Bowl - Inspired by Roma Sparita

Potato Gnocchi for Gnocchi Giovedi

Fettuccine ai Funghi - Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Autumn in Rome

Caramel Gelato and Five Favorite Gelaterie in Rome

Best Picnic Spots and Picnic Fare in Rome

Rome at Night in Photos

Rome with a View - Five Favorite Spots for Photo Ops in Rome

Villa d'Este in Photos - A Day Trip from Rome

Gnocchi alla Sorrentina Guest Post at Napoli Unplugged

 

 

During my recent visit to Naples, I was fortunate to meet the awesome couple behind Napoli Unplugged,  American expats that call Naples their home.  Their website is a treasure trove of information on Naples, its history, museums, events, and transportation information, all helping to make it easier to plan and navigate your way in Naples and the surrounding Amalfi Coast.  Not only was their website useful for planning my visit, but Bonnie treated me with a personal tour of some of the sites suggested walks.  Now that I've returned, every morning I check their daily photo blog, see the beauty of Naples through their eyes, and make a virtual revisit to Napoli.

I was honored when they asked me to write a guest post about one of my favorite foods of the Campania region.  I picked one of my favorite Italian pasta dishes, and one that highlights the best of the ingredients of the region.  You can find the recipe and a little of my reminiscing about Sorrento here: Gnocchi alla Sorrentina.

Italy on a Plate - The Week in Italian Food: 9-18-2010

 

 

Benvenuti to Italy on a Plate, a new feature on Food Lover's Odyssey.  Everyday I see a great Italian recipe, read about an upcoming food festival or find a great new site for Italian food lovers.  Although I share many of these finds on my Facebook page, Twitter and StumbleUpon, I wanted to bring my favorites together in one place and share them with you. Every Saturday, I'll post this weekly roundup of Italian food from around the web. 

My choice for top 10 Italian recipes from bloggers this week:

• For a savory starter, we have Slow-Dough Onion Focaccia from Madonna del Piatto

• These Sweet Pepper Roll-Ups from Cook Italy make my mouth water just looking at them

• The Italian Dish dishes up Tomatoes stuffed with Bread Crumbs, Capers and Pine Nuts

• Judy at Over the Tuscan Stove shares some of her friends in Tuscany and a recipe from a Florence Trattoria Spaghetti di Vino

• Lucia gets us ready for Autumn with Porcini Mushroom Risotto at Simply Italian Food

• Handmade Fettucine from Frutto della Passione

• From Le Marche region in Italy, Paula serves up some screen-licking good Braised Chicken with Onions and Chili Peppers at Bellalimento

• Giulia from Jul's Kitchen makes a Tuscan dessert for her guest post: Tuscan Zuccotto on Mowielicious

• A sweet and simple dish of Fig and Ginger Zabaglione from One Tribe Gourmet

• Rich and creamy meet tart and tangy with this Panna Cotta in a Berry Sauce from La Tavola Marche

 

Eating Italy

• Jeremy from Do Bianchi seems to be eating his way around Italy.  I'm turning greener with envy from each of his posts.  Two of my favorites for the week are the Porchetta Porn from Tuscany and The Salumi Bar Roscioli's in Rome

• I've been getting a lot of pizza-making questions lately.  Italian Food Net TV has videos to show you how to make many Italian dishes, pizza dough and Pizza Margherita included

Upcoming Food Festivals in Italy:

• The Italian city of Parma opened its doors this week for the Festival del Prosciutto di Parma

• Besides the Prosciutto Festival, the Emilia Romagna region is full of Fall Wine and Food Festivals

• Tuscany also hosts its share of Fall Food Festivals

• For pastry lovers, the city of Pisa is celebrating all things sweet at Dolcemente 2010 on October 2 and 3

• CousCous in Sicily? Yes, it's a popular dish in the Trapani area and celebrated yearly at the Annual CousCous Festival in the beautiful beachside city of San Vito Lo Capo
  

• Pizza, Mushrooms and Music are amoung the Autumn Events in Calabria

 

Related Posts:

The Dish from Italy and Naples: Pizza Margherita Napolitana

A Day at the Verrazzano Castle and Winery

Best Picnic Spots and Picnic Fare in Rome

Best Ways to Savor Venice

Foods Not to Miss in Sicily

 

 

 

The Dish From Italy and Liguria - Fish Ravioli in a Seafood Sauce

Is it only people in the food industry that have in-depth discussions about the dishes that would be part of their last meal?  Maybe.  After one forkful of this dish, Ravioli di Pesce ai Fruitti di Mare, maybe even after one sniff of the dish, I knew it would forever be included in my last meal menu.

The ravioli di pesce (fish ravioli), black and white ravioli (the black coming from the nero di seppie), enrobe a flaky fish filling.  The ravioli were good on their own, but what pushed the dish to "most memorable" status were the fruits of the sea and the sauce.  The juices, released by the opening of the shellfish, were the main flavor of a sauce of pure simplicity.  Only a little herbs, tomatoes and maybe wine were added.  The waitress brought it to me in a covered metal bowl.   The dish was recommended to me by locals, so I didn't know exactly what was under the lid. Scents of the sweet and salty sea floated up as I lifted the lid revealing ravioli mingled together with mussels, clams, calamari, and shrimp.  It's a feast of all my favorite things; pasta, seafood, and the sauce brought it all together.  I used all of the bread they gave me to mop up the last drippings of sauce.

The restaurant, Il Desco dei Fieschi, is in Lavagna.  Lavagna is one of the coastal towns I visited in my attempts to find one as charming as any of the Cinque Terre.  In terms of charm, Lavagna, which means slate and chalkboard in Italian, lives up to its name.  Maybe that was a little harsh.  Lavagna has its required stretch of an umbrella lined beach, grand old villas with flower box windows, ornate door and window trimmings, and Tromp L'Oeil facades.  Placed anywhere else, Lavagna would sparkle.  But, when it's next to gems like Camogli, The Cinque Terre, Portofino, etc. it doesn't shine.  They do have one very interesting festival every August 14, the Torta dei Fieschi. It's a colorful medevial celebration through the streets and ends under the Torre Fieschi (Fieschi Tower). There a gigantic cake (torta) is sliced and handed out to those who have found the matching half of their tickets, to symbolize finding one's anima gemella (soul mate).

I have to thank the very kind people at Hotel Stella di Mare in Lavagna for suggesting I try out the restaurant and this dish. Even though Lavagna doesn't win in the charm category, I will return, if only for the ravioli di pesce ai frutti di mare.  In fact I have to return again, because it’s now on the menu for the last meal I’ll ever eat.

 

Il Desco Dei Fieschi is located in Piazza della Liberta, 42 – phone: 0039 0185 392765

Lavagna is an hour train ride from Genova and  a 30-minute train ride from Monterosso.

 

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What dish would be part of your last meal?  Where would you want to eat it?

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Related Posts:

Dish From Italy and Liguria - Risotto alle Due

Dish From Italy and Liguria - Trofie al Pesto

Camogli - One of the Many Picturesque Towns in Liguria

Good Views and Good Eats in Taormina

 

Dish from Italy - A Taste of Sicily in Rome

 

 
 

I was in Rome. It's one of my top three food cities in Italy.  Believe me, I ate more than my share of Roman dishes, but I also had a craving for some Sicilian food. I wanted an authentic cannolo (singular for cannoli) Siciliano, some granita, and an arancino (rice croquettes).  Unfortunately this trip wasn't going to include the island at the toe of Italy's boot.  Thanks to a friend in Rome, I knew of a place where I could get a taste of Sicily….in Rome.

 

Mizzica, it’s a Sicilian word that means nothing.  It’s an expression, used like Americans would say “wow!” or “OMG!”  (I wonder what the acronym for Mizzica would be?) This Mizzica is a bar and Tavola Calda (hot table with already prepared foods).  The owners are from Catania and all the food is typical of the city and the island.  Their arancini are as good, and maybe better, than many I have tasted while circling Sicily. An arancino is a pyramid (or round if you're in Palermo) shaped rice "ball".  Traditionally, they form day-old risotto around thick meat ragu with peas, and at its center is cheese, melted when fried, and flowing into each messy bite.  All your food groups are in one arancino—carbs, protein, fruit (tomato sauce), veggies, and dairy. 

 

Their savory treats are good, but I could come here for the Sicilian sweets alone. They have a complete array—cannoli, cassata, almond paste biscotti, Frutti di Martolana (marzipan), gelato and granita.  My favorites are the cannoli and granita.  Ingredients are brought up from Sicily weekly, ensuring authentic flavors and the cannoli are filled with the creamy sheep ricotta from the Sicily.  The granite are a celebration of the flavors of Sicily—pistachio, almond, lemon, chocolate, caffe con panna (cream), gelsi (mulberry), peach, fico di India (prickly pear) and other daily selections.

Instead of trying to eat gracefully while standing (impossible for me), I shared a table outside with a Sicilian living in Rome, who also had a craving for Sicilian food. 

Mizzica has two locations in Rome, one near Piazza Bologna on Via Catanzaro 30 and one on Via Lucrezio Caro 14 behind Piazza Cavour.  For just a few euros (around 10 euros for a filling lunch and dessert) you can satisfy your Sicilian craving, or if you’ve not yet traveled there, you can get a little taste of Sicily while in Rome.

 

Related Posts:

Pizza al Taglio at Pizzarium in Rome

Foods Not to Miss in Sicily

Cassatella alla Siciliana

Good Views and Good Eats in Taormina

Best Picnic Spots and Picnic Fare in Rome

The Dish from Italy and Naples - Pizza Napolitana