Aroma Cucina

Getting ready for Festa del Bosco!

It’s that time again, Festa del Bosco in Montone. A weekend long celebration of all things fall: chestnuts, truffles, mushrooms, fresh olive oil, new wine, cheeses, salumi.  Town has been buzzing all week as everyone gets ready for this extravaganza of deliciousness.

Oswaldo set up his roast chestnut stand in front of our house, as he does every year. His wife, the beautiful Giusepina, set up her fruit store in the garage next to our house, but  not just any fruits, these are all fall fruits that they either grow themselves or forage in the woods.
The Moni’s have all their pecorino sheep cheeses on display and the rest of the street is turning into a market extraordinare. Torino may have Eataly, but in Umbria, we have Montone.

If you are around, stop by the Del Verziere Taverna and say hello.  I’ll be in the kitchen, and Jeff will be in the cantina serving wine and laughter. So, let the festa begin!  Buon’appetito!

Fisticuffs in Friuli?

One of our last workshops at the Salone del Gusto was a tasting of wines from the Friuli region of Italy.  We’ve been huge fans of Friulian wines ever since our bike trip through the region and we were both looking forward to this tasting and the opportunity to hear the maker’s philosophy on wine making. Little did we know there was a rebel in the crowd and that passions were going to run very high.

Fulvio L. Bressan of Bressan winery did not mince words as he told us his particular view of the current wine world.  He vehemently believes in not tampering with the grapes. No fertilizer except that which comes from his barn. No irrigation lest the grape flavor becomes diluted.  No oak barrels because “Do you want to drink wine or eat the kitchen door?”  After the pressing, he does however keep his wine in very large wooden vats to start the fermentation process. Bressan uses only indigenous yeast, and if that retards the fermentation process and we have to wait a little longer, then so be it. In Bressan’s opinion vines need time to mature, and only after the first 25 years will you start to get good fruit from the vine. What happens if you get thirsty in the meantime? Drink beer. Bressan believes the vines have a memory and will protect themselves from pestilence while the use of insecticides will weaken the vine’s resistance.   He strives to produce the most natural expression of the wine possible.  He repeated something we had heard from a number of other wine makers: the wine is made in the field, not in the cellar.

Well.....

Although there was another vintner on the panel many of these remarks seemed to be directed at Gaspare Buscemi, an elegant gentleman and producer of artisanal wines. Buscemi does not own land and buys his grapes, so theoretically he does not control the fruit, but he is very hands on and knows his suppliers intimately.  Buscemi chose to keep his remarks to a minimum, but you could feel the tension mounting between them. About the only thing the two men agree on is that they both use natural cork.  The poor panel moderator kept trying to reel in the conversation by saying soothing, non-confrontational generalities, but it was a losing battle.

By the time the panel was open to questions from the floor, all of us were squirming in our seats wondering how this was going to play out.  A gentleman asked Bressan, “If you have this elitist view of winemaking, how do you supply the world with affordable wine.”  The guy couldn't have given Bressan a better soap box if he tried. Bressan launched into a lengthy explanation that he does not care about the elite, he only makes wine the way he wants.  He does not care about trendy. He makes pure, clean wine because he thinks it is trendy to safeguard his liver, his health and to not have a headache in the morning. He understands the need for grape cooperatives, or where people buy grapes they do not grow, but for him, this is the same as drinking a Coke.  Buscemi bit his lips and patiently waited for the panel to end. Which mercifully for the peace and sanity of the panel moderator, it finally did end.

And the wines? How did they taste? Buscemi’s wine was a clean, clear, crisp and elegant expression of a Pinot Gris.  Bressan’s wine was velvet in the mouth, it almost had the consistency of a passito wine on the tongue, nearly syrupy, but it was complex, and lush with the full ripe flavor of the harvest. Perhaps it is like Sophia Loren who is another unadulterated expression of her heritage?

Who ever thought wine tastings could be so exciting?  Viva Italia!

Zone Diet and Cocktails at the Salone del Gusto

Day 3 and we’re about to rename this event the Salone del Bust-Out because the temptation to taste is so strong, we can’t resist, and now we are about to Bust Out of our clothes! I keep hoping we are on a variation of the Zone Diet. Isn’t that the diet where you eat many small meals? If so, then we should walk out of here svelte as a Milan fashion model, but why do I feel as though I’ll waddle out like a San Daniele prosciutto? 
There is a “Cucina del Strada” or Street Food area that is the belly button of this whole event, people gazing with glassy eyes at the carnival surrounding them. Could the Street Food, Food Carts trend be any hotter?  Or more delicious? What beats a plate of piping hot, perfectly crisp fried anchovies? I tell you what would beat it...a place to sit down, a real fork & knife and a napkin. The simple things in life.  Grazing for three days is hard work I tell you, hard work.

We finished off last night with a rousingly good cocktail workshop hosted by Agostino Perrone. He runs the fabled Connaught Hotel Bar in London and just won Barman of the Year at the Tales of the Cocktail competition, so the guy knows his way around a shaker.  Italy doesn’t have much of a cocktail culture, although it is slowly coming alive. What Italy does have is great cocktail ingredients: vermouth, Galliano, American Cocchi, Maraschino, bitters, infusions etc., etc.
Agostino and Dom Costa hosted a lively, informative and tasty workshop, demonstrating how classic cocktails can be enhanced with top notch ingredients and techniques.  For example, the Martinez which is a gin, vermouth, maraschino gets an update by swapping out the gin with tequila and a spritz of balsamic.
Don got his chops on the cruise ships and has an encyclopedic knowledge of the evolution and trends of cocktail drinking. He shared the story of the Yellow Bird cocktail, how it originated in the Caribbean using available ingredients: rum, lime juice and Galliano and then Agostino shared an updated version using a Bergamot velvet froth (zucrose whipped with the Bergamot liquor, this creates a very stable foam and no eggy taste).

 Chris McMillian, one of the founders of the Museum of the American Cocktail was behind the Salone Bar the other night. No, he wasn’t just behind the bar, he was holding court, telling stories and snatches of history all while mixing an original cocktail, the “While New Orleans Drowns”.  The bar was full of world class shakers, local chefs, Chris’s gracious and beautiful wife Laura, and a blogger or two. Gee, a bar as a gathering point, what a novel idea!  You should have been here.  It always amazes me how generous the bar men and ladies are about sharing their knowledge. 

Today we head to learn more about Fruili, discover Calabria and who knows where else the great goddess Serendipity will take us.

Palette Chaos at Salone del Gusto

This Slow Food “Salone” thing is huge.  The conference center, our hotel, and enormous shopping mall are all part of the old Fiat factory. It’s impossible for me to gauge the size, as there is no anchor to use to get perspective. Employees get around on bicycles, scooters, and a hybrid big-wheel motorized scooter transport thingy.  We’ve gotten the lay of the land and now talk about making a left at Puglia, or you should go past Liguria to find Umbria, and do you want to eat in Spain today? It’s a maze of cultures, flavors, smells. Despite my best interests to not get sucked into tasting yet another olio novello (the first pressed olive oil season), I can’t resist.  Could you resist walking through Liguria and not tasting five varieties of pesto?
We are taking advantage of the numerous workshops that are offered and I started the day watching Eneko Atxa of the Azurmendi restaurant located outside of Bilbao explain how he does what he does. Chef Atxa takes the traditional flavors he grew up and figures out a way to bring the diner into his world. An oyster dish that is served with a magical seawater potion that transports you to the sea.  A whimsical vegetable dish that literally looks and smells like a garden.  We were treated to a tasting of an oxtail ‘ravioli’ where the rice paper thin shell was made from lardo and bread crumbs.  The finale was a blood pudding ‘meat ball’ that is gently fried. The delicate crust cracks open to yield up it’s soft, fragrant succulent interior. We are definitely talking sex.


The wine courses are particularly interesting as the vintners explain the why and how of what they do. We spent part of the afternoon in Sicily, and if you ever run across “Occipiniti” wine, grab it immediately. Arianna is a very young winemaker and she’s going to make big waves in the Italian wine world.  Later, Jeff went to Verdicchio land, while I indulged in a blue cheese and sweet red wine tasting. 


Passion is alive and well here in Torino. (Wasn’t passion the Torino Olympic slogan? Well, it’s true.)  Now it’s time to go back for day to. I think I’ll go to the Langhe this morning, I hear they make a bangin’ Nebbiolo.  Stay tuned....

Eataly The Mothership

We rolled into Torino this afternoon and can you imagine our good luck?  The original Eataly is right across the street. Hello!! We dropped our bags (and the kitty) in the hotel  and made a beeline to The Mothership: the original mack daddy Eataly. We were at the far end of lunchtime, full into the danger zone, so lingering in the hotel wasn't an option.

Holy cow.  We got as far as the fish restaurant counter and that was good enough for us. The fish market behind us had swordfish, 10 kinds of European oysters and a bunch of ugly looking fish that I bet taste divine. (Note the small chunk of styrofoam on the tip of the swordfish's sword.)

 

I don't know what goes on in the uber-caldo Eataly in New York, but the beauty of this one is the food that imported.  I know, it's an oxymoron, but I don't care.  We made a snap decision. Let's eat dinner in the hotel room. There were far too many treats available, and after months of nothing but Umbrian goodness it was time to branch out. So we went foraging in Eataly for dinner.  Now we are savoring French foie gras that comes in these nifty little egg shaped portions so you can always have a foie gras snack. Real English Stilton. Oh my, have I missed Stilton. Some other French cheeses, that I don't know the name of, I think we ate the labels. And real bread...crusty, chewy, dense. Incredible.

Tomorrow the Salone del Gusto officially opens. We took a sneak peek tonight as they were setting up and handing out press passes and it is freakin' huge! Miles and miles of food...oh my!

Slow Food Salone del Gusto

We're off to Torino to attend the Slow Food Salone del Gusto.  I'm hoping to be able to blog from Torino, but you just never know how the internet connection will be. This is a massive conference with producers from all over the globe  coming in to show off their wares, discuss food trends and politics, host tastings, put on demonstrations etc etc etc etc. 

I have a feeling this will be a huge dose of inspiration!

Braise, baby, braise! Artichokes are back.

Grazie Dio! Carciofi are back! The first few fall ‘chokes are back in the market. The spring harvest is about 5 times bigger than the fall, but at least now, we also have cardoons.
To celebrate, we had braised artichokes.

White Wine Braised Artichokes
1 choke per person, clean and prepped
1 lemon

Filling:
1-2 plum tomatoes
1 shallot
1-2 cloves garlic
3T grated cheese
2T bread crumbs
Olive oil, salt pepper

White wine, enough to partially submerge the chokes.

To clean an artichoke: Pull off the tough outer leaves and slice the artichoke down the middle. Using the tip of a sharp knife, carve out the downy thistles in the center. Rub all the cut exposed pieces with a cut lemon.  Peel the stem of the outer layer. Don’t throw the stems out! They are delicious.

For the filling:  Throw all the filling ingredients in a blender and puree for a few moments. Add enough olive oil that you get a loose, thick porridge consistency.

Place the filling into the artichoke heart cavity. Arrange the artichokes in a baking dish that has a cover. Add enough wine to come at least halfway up the sides of the choke.
Braise at 325F/165C for about 20 minutes or until the choke is soft. Serve with some of that white wine, a piece of cheese and a hunk of bread. Buon’appetito.

Sunday Style Roast Pigeon

Buon'Domenica!
It means Happy Sunday and in Umbria,  you start wishing people a Buon'Domenica on Saturday when you go grocery shopping.  The lady at the cheese counter, the meat guy, they all assume you are buying food to feed an entire Italian family, because that’s what Sundays are for.
There are only two of us in the house, at the moment, so a roast pigeon will do fine. The classic Umbrian way to serve a roast bird is on a thick piece of salt-less Umbrian bread, where it soaks up the salty, juicy, run-off from the bird.  Me? I like white beans. Especially when it’s fall-chilly outside.

Roast Pigeon, Sunday Style
1 pigeon per person
Lots of fresh herbs: rosemary, thyme, fennel weed (yeah, I’m still heavily into fennel weed), sage and juniper berries.
Salt, Olive Oil

Wash the bird, inside and out in cool, running water.  If you buy little birdies in Italy, you usually have do the decapitation and de-foot-itation as well, but I’ll spare you those photos.
Stuff the cavity with the fresh herbs. Heavily salt the skin of the pigeon to make a crackling crust. The crispy crust also keeps moisture in, and when you are roasting game birds, this is critical.
Roast at 350F/180C for about 35 minutes.
Serve, with all the pan juices on either a chunk of toasted bread or on a pile of yummy white beans, and maybe a side dish of roasted, savory prunes.
Buon’Domenica!

Garden Soup

  It’s takes about six months to make this soup. Start in the spring. Eat in the fall.

Step 1: In the spring, plant tomatoes, basil, parsley, leeks, carrots, zucchini, and maybe some onions.

Step 2: Right after the peak of summer, plant some bitter greens like chicory or chard.

Step 3: One gorgeous fall day, go round up whatever you find in the garden.

Step 4: Clean and chop all the vegetables. Reserve the parsley and basil. Gently saute the vegetables in olive oil, then salt and add water, simmer for about an hour.

Step 5: Puree the parsley and basil with a clove or two of garlic.

Step 6: Clean out the random bits of dried spaghetti that you have in the pantry. The odd handful of dried pasta that isn’t quite a full portion but you can’t throw out.... break it up into bite size pieces and toss into the soup. Note: Revel in the moment of satisfaction that comes from finally using up that remnant package of pasta.

Step 7: Now, mangia! Eat the soup! Serve with the parsley-basil-garlic sauce, plenty of grated cheese and enjoy the fruits of six months labor.

Cross Training In The Kitchen

Where does cooking inspiration come from?

We had a liberating, inspiring weekend. After work and chores were done on Saturday,  we headed out to see two Caravaggio paintings that were being shown in the nearby town of Monte Santa Maria Tiberina.  It’s a remote hilltop village, but as we got within parking range, there were cars everywhere and jolly parking attendants in their fluorescent outfits. We assumed there must be a festival going on, but no, the crowds were there to see the Caravaggio and Guercino paintings. It was amazing, parents with kids in tow, old, young, rough, polished...everyone was there for this rare opportunity to view these masterpieces.
Could you imagine a gathering like this in the States? Where young children would be expected to want to know about these paintings?  In the States, I imagine there would be a primary colored video playing in the corner to distract the kiddies while the adults took in the paintings. If they even allowed kids in.

Our reverential Caravaggio viewing was followed by an aperitivo and dinner in Citta di Castello.  There was a celebration for the local boy’s rugby team going on in the piazza; with kids running and shrieking in pure puppy abandonment and energy. Rugby?? Talk about an underdog sport! 
Truffles are just starting to come into season, so we indulged at Le Logge, our favorite restaurant in Citta di Castello.
Picture this: a poached egg, served next to a nearly poached egg, covered in shaved white truffles, on a bed of pureed potatoes. The yokes broken and swirled into the potatoes, the steamy heat releasing the fragrance of the truffles. Inspiring.

Sunday morning we got on our bikes in search of a restaurant that we had discovered last year, also on our bikes. Al Palazzaccio in San Giacomo di Spoleto is a venerable, traditional trattoria.  With kitties running around, long wooden tables and the best ricotta cheese cake in the whole world,  it is the embodiment of a ‘trattoria tipica’. Not in a theme park way, this is simply how they have always done it.

We finished off the day discovering an enormous antique fair in Pissignano where we fell in love with a putti enhanced crystal chandelier that will hang in our boudoir (formerly known as our bedroom). Then a last minute discovery as we were leaving Pissignano: the evocative Fonti del Clitunno, a strangely manicured and tranquil park.  Umbria isn’t know for manicured anything, so this park seemed so charmingly out of place.

It’s inspiring to give yourself permission to cross train, to think about something other than cooking.  Thinking about the way Caravaggio manipulated light, or how a runny egg yoke is transformed by fragrance...all of this leads somewhere, even if the answer isn’t right in front of you.

Ristorante Le Logge, 075-864-2304

Piazza Giacomo Matteotti

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Al Palazzaccio da Piero 0743/520168

SS Flaminia KM134, San Giacomo di Spoleto