Travels and Tastes of Italy

Amalfi Coast ( part 2)



A breakfast with the view

 

Deserts deserve a separate mention.  Italian gelato of course is always highly praised but there is difference between just gelato and home-made Sicilian style gelato which is all over the Amlfi coast.  It comes in every flavor imaginable and my key to trying most of them is my daughter who eats a minimum 3 of these a day. 

 

 I selfishly let her; with the only condition… she cannot order the same flavor twice throughout the whole trip… I think it’s a win-win deal for everyone involved.  And trust me, you have not lived until tasting a hazelnut gelato, or the pistachio one or the one with wild strawberries ( fragolini) or the mango, melon, peach, pear…. This is why I travel with my kids, they eat everything and provide two more tasting plates at each meal expanding my food experience tremendously.  And you thought I intend to culture them up?

So back to deserts, since Lemon is the key here, you get your Lemon domes, which are sponge cake soaked in Lemonchello filled with cream, your Hazelnut torts again filled with lemon cream and of course the sfogliatelle, which alone can easily be the only reason to come to Amalfi coast. 

 

 A thousand layers of crispy goodness filled with Lemon Ricotta cream…. I once looked at the process of making it and decided this will be the only desert that I will greatly admire but will never attempt.

All this gorgeous food needs to be washed down with wine.  I made it a point to only order local Campania wines, most of the time, just house wines and was not disappointed.  House wine is cheaper than soda here (something I keep telling my 15 year old) and it is great.  Grape varietals are unusual to our palates, something we are not used, but complex and delicious never the less.  And if you ask for a recommendation from the ever so friendly, familiar and truly hospitable restaurant staff, you will get an even better treat.

Imagine walking into a restaurant on  thundering evening to find your family the only customers… an owner comes out and starts chatting with you like he has known you all his life… You don’t get menus, he tells you he wants to ‘feed” you, you will like it… just surrender to his all Italian hospitality and you do…  We had an experience like this in Scirocco restaurant in Monterpertuso and even though Rocco’s food was great but not the best we tasted on our trip we came back to him on our last night…just to experience this unbelievable hospitality, the true old fashioned enjoyment from feeding people.  He asked us if we wanted wine, I said “Just bring me the wine you want me to drink” he brought one of the best wines I ever tasted… He showed up with a huge Florentine steak, and antipasti and some of home- made gnocchi and at the end of the night with a plate of all of his deserts….

The Scirocco family

 

 

A grand big smile, and invitation for my son to come and stay with him any summer and another bottle of wine to take home (“come back and tell me how you like it” -  he said, I would have come back anyway) and on our last night he kissed us all on two cheeks and shook our hands and made you feel like you had family to come back to anytime you wanted….

And he fed us mozzarella…. Nine years ago, sitting in a tiny restaurant outside of Florence’s Duomo I had a religious experience.  I bit into a slice of mozzarella and knew I can never forget the taste.  And I didn’t, I searched for it everywhere in the US, coming close but it was still not the same.  The pure taste of milk, unpasteurized buffalo milk….. Pulled by hand, melt in your mouth….when Rocco put this cheese on our table and I took the first bite I knew I finally found it…. This mozzarella needs not to be dressed with anything; it needs to be savored like fine caviar….

Campania region is where mozzarella comes from, and there are many varieties but all are split into cow milk Mozz and Buffalo.  Mozzarella is delicious everywhere in this part of Italy but if you happen to be down near Paestrum, this is where the buffalo mozzarella farms are.

 

 I decided to kill two birds with one stone, visit the ancient Greek temples and eat the best mozzarella on the planet, so what that it is 3 hours away along some of the most dangerous roads….

My family had no say in this one…. Although I think they enjoyed it, at least they very well pretended. 

This trip was not all about food or great views, we had to get a sense for the ancient way of life and visited Pompeii, Heraclium and Paestrum.  There is something about touching a 2000 year old house wall and imagining a family that lived here, touched that same wall, and walked the same streets…. I always found it fascinating, a bit haunting, and almost invasive into their long gone lives…. What did they look like, what was their daily life like, what did they eat?  Surprisingly, fast street food is not a modern invention… two millennia ago it was just as popular in bustling cities of the Roman Empire… Roman McDonalds….

 Like ketchup pumps, these urns dispensed a kind of fermented paste of fish and animal intestines that Roman’s found irresistible and smeared on everything… Oh how the tastes change!

Bathed in Italian sunshine, properly salted by the blue water of Mediterranean and well fed, we headed to Rome…. And yes, all roads do lead to Rome if you manage to decipher the Italian road signs and get through the tolls without adventure… we didn’t.

To be continued….

Travels and tastes of Italy

Amalfi Coast (Part 1)

 

It has been nine years since I last been to Italy, but knew immediately upon arriving that nothing has changed.  The car rental wing of the Rome airport is still under construction, the drivers are still anarchists and the food and the coffee is still amazing at every single gas station along the highway.  As a matter of fact the selection in those drive-in-and-gas-up places was one of the most vivid memories of my last trip. 

You can always count on a great espresso and a full bar by the road.  You got to love Italy! -  Have a drink and take the edge of the road rage next time someone cuts you off!

Picked up by espresso and salami sandwiches we headed for Amalfi coast and all was well until we hit the beginning of Amalfi coast drive just outside of Sorrento.   This road deserves a paragraph of its own and let me jump ahead and say all was well for the entire week we drove on it, but boy, I sure am glad I learned to drive in New York city.

When the donkey routes used for centuries all along the Amalfi coast were paved, the road engineers just made the roads wide enough for two donkeys to pass.  And unlike glorious Romans two millennia ago the modern day engineers did not contemplate sidewalks.  Combine that with 360 degree blind hairpins, car drivers who think of road rules as mere suggestions, scooter drivers who believe all cars are evil and therefore should be annoyed and cutoff at every opportunity, bicyclists who rightfully adopt an attitude of “Hit me and deal with mayhem!” attitude and pedestrians who, once again, have no sidewalks therefore being forced to walk the same road – well, you get the picture.  You also have to anticipate full size buses driving on the same road, parked cars along the side and broken blind curve mirrors, all threatening to plunge you into abysses of the sea at every opportunity.  And once you get used to all of that… well you may just encounter a peacefully sleeping dog in the middle of the road.  After all, he is just resting outside his owner’s business and you are a “turisto..” so deal….

And if you are the unfortunate driver you cannot possibly enjoy the most outrageous views the Amlfi coast has to offer.  The natural beauty of the whole coast is breathtaking and can only be described as majestic.  Every time you see a view that cannot possibly be topped and you can see yourself staring at it for eternity it is bested at the next turn.  Plunging coastline with clear blue waters and little towns perched up on its shores like marltets nests.  Yachts, new, old, rich and simple, rolling gently in the Lagunas and the mooring fields.  Gargantuan rock formations adorned with lush vegetation and vertical gardens frame the skyline, the deep true blue of Mediterranean everywhere.... you could go mad seeing this kind of beauty..   

I got to see this view every day from the terrace of our apartment.  We lived in a village just above Positano called Monterpertuso.  Unlike Positano, it was not as touristy and offered a glimpse into a simpler life.  Older folks, with sun wrinkled skin sitting on the sides of the only piazza just taking in the scenery.  Little grocery store selling what the neighbors grew in their gardens.  “local, organic, artisanal” are meaningless here, they are the way of life, the only way….

We had a garden with tomatoes, eggplant, basil, grapes and plums we could pick.  Chickens to say good morning to every day and to give us fresh eggs.  Almost every house in the village keeps chickens and you wake up to fresh sea breezes and rooster calls, which I loved and strangely my city dwelling family did not…

There is something about picking only what you need for the meal from the garden, walking into a grocery store and seeing only what grows in the back right now… you know, I am a patriot, I love my country, but it is just not possible in the mainstream US… unless you are from California, in which case I am green with jealousy…  I never tasted tomatoes sweeter, pears riper or eggs fresher than I did in Italy.

The whole of Amalfi coast is plush and lush with gardens, every gaze falls upon lemon, olive or fig trees.   The artichokes are on the menus but “Scuzi,  not in season…., how about eggplant?”.  The Senior Limone is the predominate here, celebrated in everything you see… candy, dishes, artwork, liquor… Lemon is everywhere and no wonder…

 Amalfi coast grows over 40 different varieties; most memorable are the huge football size lemons that are mostly used for making Lemonchello.  And they are everywhere, on the back of every fruit cart, sold from the back of the car right in the middle of the road and gardens of them lining every road. 

 You are generously offered a frozen glass of Lemonchello at every meal, but if you grow sick of lemons, you can enjoy a nice melon or pistachio liquor or something tasting a bit like medicine… I was told it is good for you digestion… The jury is still out on that one.  Of course if you find yourself just a bit wary of any type of alcohol due to early hour or too many the night before, you can just lose yourself in a little espresso and fresh orange juice….

 

Amlfi coast and Island of Capri draws some of the wealthiest and sparkly crowd.  If you look down at the mooring fields you can glimpse into the shameless boasting of wealth of the owners.   There are the romantic sailboats, the obscene four deck yachts and the vintage lovers steam boats.  It is fun to observe them from ashore and imagine up stories about who the owners are and what they are doing here. 

The coastline and all the little towns are completely vertical, so every activity resembles a Stairmaster session.  When we arrived we were told that Positano is a mere 20 minute walk, only discovering that its made up of 800 steps taking you just to the upper road.  To get down to the beach is another 300 steps… oh Joy!  But if you want to eat you have no choice so we went climbing…

Every steep step is worth it, because the food here is amazing…  This region of Italy offers the simplest and tastiest staples of Italian cuisine.  Few choicest freshest ingredients make all the difference.  Starting with the pasta.  Compania region of Italy is known for dry winds so when the pasta was introduced to the region from the Middle East, this was the perfect place to dry it.  And contrary to popular belief fresh pasta is not always better, the choice between fresh and dried depends on the dish and the type of sauce the pasta will hold.  Fresh homemade gnocchi in tangy tomato broth,  mushroom and herbs pappardells were the most succulent and memorable of the fresh pastas here.  But the true star, the most memorable and unforgettable dish that I can still smell and taste was the Spaghetti and wild clams. 

This dish is a true showcase to the region’s cuisine, delicious simplicity with only 5 or 6 ingredients…we couldn’t get enough.  In fact one of us ordered it every night and all picked at it shamelessly… The dried Spaghetti cooked perfectly al dente dressed with just a bit of olive oil and garlic and the colorful wild clams taste of the sea with surprising sweetness.  Sometimes tossed with a few sugar tomatoes and a bit of parsley, I can eat this every day for eternity.  I would take a break only for other seafood from here.  It is fished daily, swordfish, muscles, anchovies… 

 Mediterranean  is a salty sea, which gives all the local fish a brinier, brighter flavor.  It was deliciously and simply prepared everywhere and in ways which I have not tasted before. 

 Adding raisins and pine nuts to a simple sauce for dressing grilled fish is a great idea… I am definitely stealing that one. 

To be continued….

Pig Tales

 

 

 

 This is how optimistic I was about the project.  The menu board says: "Spanish inspired meal.  Pig if comes out, if not - Chinese"

 

It all started two years ago when I got a smoker for my birthday… In their selfish wisdom my friends correctly decided to get me a very large one, I am sure it was all with intent on getting fed.  As I used it over the next two summers to smoke Cornish hens, ducks, ribs and fish, I felt like the size of that thing is going to waste.  I need to do something bigger… something delicious and preferably difficult so I can claim the bragging rights… I wanted to BBQ a whole suckling pig.  I talked about it all spring and most of the summer, doing my homework, researching how to buy and cook the creature.  I ignored dirty looks from my bulldog when I measured him (he is the size and girth of an average piglet),and then the surface of the smoker, to make sure I have a good fit.  I prepared mentally for having to deal with a whole animal and I watched the weather….   I really didn’t want to watch the grill for 8 hrs in the rain…

Finally, the forecast was favorable, no other plans in sight and I went piggy shopping.  Let me tell you, nothing on those BBQ Master blogs said anything about the guilt I would feel when a happy, floppy eared piglet was horsing around with his buddy and making funny noises and nosing up to me and I knew he was dinner… Nothing… I just pointed and ran and let my husband take care of the dirty work of having to witness the slaughter.   Let’s just say I didn’t sleep well for a few nights. 

Once home the still floppy eared, no longer happy piglet had to be brined.  Technically suckling pigs are those that do not yet have teeth, but anything fewer than 40 pounds is considered a very young pig and is easy to cook at home. 

 

 

 

 

Mine came right down to the wire at 39 pounds and at “way too big for my refrigerator” length.  I needed to submerge it in the brine for at least 24 hrs prior to smoking and upon reviewing every option available we decided to give the porky a sit-in bath.  I cannot describe the surrealism of opening you fridge door to have a pig sitting on his ass in a bath of brine staring right into your eyes…  Bone chilling, especially at night…  We had to turn it over the next day so that the head and shoulders can get brined, so were now subjected to the ass view every time was opened the fridge door… Really, I don’t know what is more sobering…head or … ass?

 

Finally the cooking day was here, we were armed with at least 8 hrs worth of lump coal and enough wood chips to smoke out a fox.  I got up early to have a quiet cup of coffee before I had to deal with any large animals dead or alive, and it is at that time, I realized that I must have pissed off either swine gods or some kind of Jewish ancestor… it was pouring…  The TV weather announcer smirked as he announced that the whole Saturday is a wash, and I drank my coffee in despair contemplating changing my career to weather forecaster, after all, they get paid rain or shine regardless of what is foretold.

That’s the thing with cooking something so demanding, you can’t back out.  It’s not a chicken or a few steaks that you can throw back in the fridge.  It is not like seafood, that you can’t throw back in the fridge, but you are still reasonably sure that you can finish it off with just your family.  Buying and brining a pig is like cooking the entire Thanksgiving dinner for a large crowd and then have no one show up… you are stuck, it has to get cooked… and it had to be today…

 

 

 

I am going to skip over the fire pit straggles in the rain and the practice runs of positioning the porky on the grill grate.  Let’s just say that my huge smoker was not big enough for this sucker.  The only way that pig was going to fit if we curled it up like a napping dog and propped up with bricks.  When the final position was chosen I stuffed the cavity with apples, fennel, ginger, garlic and rosemary and sewed it right up.  The stuffing cannot be eaten as it never reaches the safe temperature, but it flavors the meat and keeps everything moist.  It is not necessary by any means as whole pig is a self-basting roast and really adds up to an hour to the cooking time.

  I chose to stuff, because I had to get the meat juicy and delicious as it was becoming apparent that I have to forget about crackling crispy skin which is one of the best parts of the whole roasted pig.  The smoker was just not big enough, the air was not going to circulate properly and the position was just too awkward…. I had a glass of sangria and just decided to go with a flow…

Rubbed with smoked paprika, brown sugar and a bit of salt, propped up with bricks, ears and snout covered with foil, this was the ugliest thing to hit my grill.  Another glass of sangria and I decided not to worry about the final presentation, just getting the thing cooked and most importantly taking it off grill somehow. 

Six anxious hours and countless glasses of sangria later, the sun was out and the pig reached the magical internal temperature of 165F at the ham.  I decided that I cannot make everyone eat at midnight, so the quest for 190F pulled pork state had to be abandoned and Porky was taken off. 

 

It looked even uglier now than before it cooked, I really did try to do something about the presentation.  I stuck half an apple in it’s mouth ( a whole would not fit), I gave him cherry tomato eyes, well…Freddy would be proud.  But the meat was delicious, juicy, and full of that undeniable pork flavor.  I was surprised that a 40 pound pig didn’t yield that much meat, the head and the bones were quite a waste. 

 

 

 

 To compensate for the ugliness of the swine, a friend brought a beautiful cabbage pie, that was as delicious as it was pretty.  So at least I had something decent looking to photograph.

 

Another glass of sangria to honor the floppy eared Porky who gave up his life for a delicious dinner and the “Pig Tales” came to an end.  Not sure if I will ever do it again, but I did spot a baby goat at the farm… maybe worth looking into spit roasting!

 

I am not sure if anyone reading this blog will ever attempt to roast a whole piglet, but just in case, here are the cooking notes:

1.        When choosing the pig, make sure it is less than 40 lbs… anything larger will be more difficult to cook as the muscle group start to develop.

2.       If the pig is alive when you are choosing it… apologize profusely!

3.       Choose the pig that can fit in your grill comfortably if butterflied

4.       A 40 lbs pig will yield about 13-15 lbs of meat, maybe a little more if you are a skilled carver

5.       Make sure the butcher cleans the cavity, burns off all the hair from the skin and takes out the eyes – they pop during cooking – gross!

6.       Brine the pig for at least 24 hrs, make sure it stays cold during brining, if it doesn’t fit in the fridge, you can brine it in a large cooler with unopened bags of ice.  The brine should be simple so that you don’t mask the pork flavor, I used water, salt, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, black pepper, a splash of apple cider and orange juice.

7.       When ready to cook you can either stuff the cavity or not its up to you, stuffing adds one hour to cooking time and it is not safe to eat.

8.       Score the skin all over with a sharp knife or a razor, run smoked paprika, brown sugar and a little salt all over. 

9.       Cover the ears and the snout with foil or they will burn ( mine did anyway), take the foil off the last hour of cooking

10.   Roast over indirect heat, low and slow at no more than 250F.  At that temperature you can figure it will take 1 hr per 10 lbs of meat, but the pig will be ready when it is ready so start checking about an hour before you think it should be done. 

11.   Check for internal temperature at the ham and shoulder, making sure your thermometer does not hit the bone.  The pork is cooked at 165F and is pullable at 190F.  If you are cooking a young piglet, the meat will be juicy, soft and delicious at 165F so spare yourself hours of waiting

12.   To get the skin crispy, you need to increase the temperature to 450F for 10-15 minutes, but I it is very hard to do on the BBQ and transferring that monster into the oven was not an option in my case, so I am not sure if this step works.

13.   Let the pig rest for 20-30 minutes before carving

14.   If all goes terribly wrong… order Chinese food…

Pan Seared Tile fish with Summer Corn salad and Basil Tarragon Pesto.

Officially I go shopping for groceries once a week.  This is when I stock up on things like cereal and paper towels and dog chew toys.  On all other days of the week I just pick up the rest of what I need… eggs on the farm near my house, fruits from market number 1, vegetables from a market number 2,  because I don’t like the selection at the first, sea food depending on the type from either an Italian or an Asian fishmonger( sometimes both), crusty bread from the old-world Italian store ( and not the one that houses the fishmonger), bagels freshly baked from only one shop, ricotta from another Italian store that make their own…meat from a slaughter farm….God forbid I need some specialty ingredients … I am surprised I don’t fly to Mexico for chili peppers.  You get the point.  I am driving in opposite directions wasting gas and not to mention time just to assemble dinner… because I can’t compromise on the quality of ingredients, timing of when they are freshest and because I am insane.  

I also shop for too many meals at the time which makes things even more complicated.  Say I want to make Spicy Spanish style muscles on Sunday, first I would have to make the stock and chorizo the weekend before (each requires its own shopping spree to different continents of suburban New Jersey).   I will buy some of the vegetables on Thursday except the peppers because they didn’t look good that day and not basil, because who buys basil in advance? So Friday I would go hunting for peppers and white wine but buy no muscles or bread, because who buys these things in advance?  Saturday, I will go get bread, because I need day old bread for charring, not two day bread, not same day bread…. One day old it must be.  Finally on Sunday, I get around to buying the muscles (no more than 2 hrs in advance of cooking to assure ultimate freshness or most likely because I have no space in the fridge) only to get home and realize I forgot the basil after all.   “Honey, can you go and pick up some basil for me, please, please?  And not from the 20 nearest shops, go to the Italian store on the other side of the world, they have the BEST Basil!”  Now time that story by ten or so dishes I cook in a week and you might just feel sorry for me.  But this is not how I like to shop… I like to shop for one meal, one star ingredient that I can build a plate around.

Take last weekend, with fridge fully stocked with kid’s weekday meals I was free to go hunting just for Sunday dinner.  With no ideas I just wanted to be inspired by something, and I was.  The freshest local corn was too good to pass up and tarragon looked amazing….idea complete. I am going to make a summer corn salad and some kind of fish, whatever looks good in either this store or the next one… A simple meal with few in season ingredients, no extensive driving required (well, a little bit)…

For the Tile fish.

 4 Tile fish filets, skin scored and pin bones removed

½ cup corn meal

3 tbs olive oil

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Salt and black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Heat the olive oil in an oven safe pan until almost smoking.  Season the fish with salt, black and cayenne pepper.  Dip the skin side into corn meal and pan sear skin side down weighting down with another heavy pan.  Sear for a minute or two or until the fish unsticks itself.  Turn skin side up and transfer to the oven for 7-8 minutes.

Summer corn salad

5 ears of corn

1 cup cherry tomatoes halved

1.5 cups of roughly chopped frisee lettuce

1.5 tbs of chopped fresh tarragon + 1 tsp

1 tsp olive oil

1.5 tbs lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat a shallow skillet with olive oil.  Cut the kernels of the corn and sauté on low for 3-4 minute tossing often.  Add the tomatoes, tarragon, salt and pepper.  Saute for a few more minutes than let cool to room temperature.  Toss the corn and tomatoes with frisee lettuce and reserved tarragon, dress with lemon juice and salt and pepper if needed. 

Tarragon and Basil Pesto.

I used this pesto as sauce for my orzo pasta and fish.

¼ cup fresh tarragon leaves

2 cups of fresh basil leaves

¼ cup pine nuts toasted

3 garlic cloves minced

Zest of ½ the lemon

2 tsp of lemon juice

Salt and pepper

¼ cup Parmesan cheese (I omit the cheese if serving with fish or sea food… greatest cooking sin every Italian will attest to is mixing fish and cheese)

½ cup of extra virgin olive oil

In a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients and pulse until smooth.  If your pest is coming out to thick, just add a little more olive oil or even a little water.

Serve tossed with pasta or as sauce for meat, fish, flat bread, bread dipping sauce, fried eggs topper or whatever you would normally put herbs on.

Summer on a plate, colorful and delicious!  Now you have to excuse me, I have to go food shopping….

Awesome Muscles - California style.

I didn’t always like muscles.  For some reason, up until maybe six or seven years ago, I didn’t ever think of ordering them in restaurants and I certainly didn’t know how to cook them.  Then one day I couldn’t get enough.  I remember sitting in a restaurant in Paris, telling my husband that I want to eat muscles until I never want to look at them again, and since my wish was his command, he kept ordering and ordering and ordering until we started getting funny looks from the waiters. They came in cast iron cauldrons, fragrant with white wine and herbs, with huge charred croutons to soup up the juice.  Pure happiness under the heavy lid…   Fast forward to my recent trip to California and it was an entirely different kind of a dish.  Spicy with homemade sausage, heavy on the charred pepper, a bit sweet and fragrant from the spices, a completely different preparation, but still happiness on the plate. 

When I eat something I love, I immediately set to recreate it at home.  The memory of the taste will haunt me until the recipe is figured out, mastered and safely tucked into my file.  This is the best muscles I ever made and as close as I could get to the Californian version without kidnapping the chef.

 Spicy chorizo muscles

4 lbs of muscles scrubbed and de-bearded

1.5 cups of fresh chorizo ( see my recipe here.)  You can use the pre-cooked kind, just make sure to take off the sausage casing before chopping

2 tbs olive oil

2 cups of dry white wine

3 cups of chicken stock

1 large carrot shredded

1 medium Spanish onion shredded

2 celery stalks shredded

1 red bell pepper shredded

1 roasted red pepper shredded

5 garlic cloves minced

0.5 tbs of smoked paprika

2 tbs of unsalted butter

Chopped parsley or Basil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Thick slices of charred country bread to serve (see Note)

Note:  1) You may want to spread the bread olive oil and minced garlic mixture before toasting or grilling.

2) You need a large pan for this, big enough to fit all your muscles and allow you to stir them from the bottom up in the sauce.  I use a turkey roaster as it also has a lid.

In a large pan, heat the olive oil.  Brown the sausage until crispy.  Add the carrot, celery and garlic and sauté on medium-low heat for one minute.  Add all the peppers and sauté the vegetable and sausage mixture for another 4-5 minutes.  Add smoked paprika, salt and pepper and white wine.  Allow the wine to cook out for a few minutes, and then add the stock.  Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce to a simmer, cover and let it cook for 10 minutes.  Adjust salt and pepper seasoning before adding the muscles.  Once you add all the muscles, cook them covered, stirring occasionally so that they cook evenly – 5-6 minutes or until the muscles just open.  When most muscles have opened, turn off the heat, stir in butter and herbs, cover and let stand for 2 minutes.  Stir muscles one more time before serving with thick slices of toasted bread.