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LA Times Gravenstein Thin-Crusted Apple Tart

Posted August 16, 2011 By Adri

Gravenstein Apple Tart

When you have really nice apples you don’t need anything else. Well, except for some butter and flour to make a tart. When I saw the article in the August 11 edition of the Los Angeles Times about the endangered Gravenstein apple and the accompanying recipe, I just had to give it try. I had forgotten about Gravensteins. They were one of my mother’s favorites for baking, along with Jonathans. The Gravenstein apple, once a large crop in California is now in danger of disappearing. There are several reasons, foremost among them, the apples are difficult to harvest, perishable and quite simply, farmers can make more money growing other crops. However the Gravenstein is not without friends. Read more… »

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Acqua di Cedro – a Drink and a Panna Cotta

Posted August 14, 2011 By Adri

Acqua di Cedro Citron

Acqua di CedroMove over Limoncello. Acqua di Cedro has arrived. This clear liqueur is made with citron, cedro in Italian (botanical name – Citrus medica.) Poor unattractive and underused citron, aside from its candied peel used for Christmas baking, it is pretty much ignored in my kitchen. Not so however on my dressing table where its essential oils form the base of many of my favorite perfumes. This most ancient of citrus with its gnarled and bumpy skin is said to have flourished in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and was brought to Italy by Alexander the Great – this baby’s got some history behind it. Read more… »

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Negroni sbagliato

Posted August 5, 2011 By Adri

Negroni Sbagliato

 

Looking for Bar BassoI’m such an Armchair Traveler. Take one look at my Passport, and you’ll know I haven’t been anywhere in years. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my virtual peregrinations, brimming as they are with a wonderful combination of memories, true nostalgia and the discovery of the new. In the realm of memories and possibly even more of nostalgia are the many cocktails that have as their base that quintessential Italian beverage, Campari. The Campari cocktail with the most character is unassailably the Negroni (nay-GROW-nee), an aperitivo with a distinct point of view – herbaceous, botanical, Italian and pure alcohol. These days it seems everybody talks Negroni, but not everybody drinks Negroni. And I think it’s the gin that stops them. Ah, but drinkers walk the walk where Prosecco is concerned. Everybody drinks Prosecco. Want the allure of a Negroni, but don’t want the gin? When is a Negroni not a Negroni? Read more… »

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The Americano Cocktail

Posted July 30, 2011 By Adri

Americano Cocktail

Well, I’m back to James Bond again. I’ve come to him late in life – or is it just that Daniel Craig came to Bond late in my life? Either way, it is time for L’Americano – the first cocktail 007 ordered in Casino Royale. This cocktail, originally known as a Milano-Torino – for the Campari which came from Milano and the Cinzano vermouth that came from Torino – underwent a name change when it became a favorite of American tourists escaping the deprivations of the Volstead Act. Sort of a Campari cocktail with training wheels, it is composed of 1 ounce each of Campari and sweet vermouth over ice in a Rocks glass topped off with club soda (the training wheels.) Read more… »

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Stracenate, Stracnar and a Cavarola Board

Posted July 18, 2011 By Adri


“…This is another of those great old pastas that must be made manually and is disappearing, but let us revive it…”
– Giuliano Bugialli, in Bugialli on Pasta


Cavarola18


Everything old is new again. No jive. Question: What’s a cavarola? Answer: a small rectangular wooden board with a herringbone surface used to make some of the traditional pastas of Italy’s Mezzogiorno. These household boards are relatively small, usually about 12 inches long and 8 inches wide. They can be made from any wood – fruit woods and beech being very commonly used. The herringbone pattern is carved into one side of the board, and is transferred to the pasta with a rolling pin. The resulting pasta is unique, lovely to look at and the irregular surface holds condimenti better than any smooth pasta ever could. Read more… »

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Il Festino di Santa Rosalia and The Black Plague

Posted July 15, 2011 By Adri
Santa Rosalia

Courtesy: Raymond Giamona, giamona.com

Yersinia pestis. The Plague, the Black Death, the Work of the Devil and God’s Retribution, the people of Palermo called it all that and more in 1624 when they were struck by a microbe whose name man did not yet know. As they prayed, built fires and collected the dead, they waited for the only help they knew, Salvation from Above. Salvation came in the form of a citizen’s fever dream, and Santa Rosalia was her name. Though dead for 400 years, “la Santuzza” appeared to one Sig. Bonello and directed him to retrieve her bones and carry them in a Grand Procession to all corners of the city. This he did, and the Plague abated. The Palermitani were saved, and a patron saint was born to Palermo. Read more… »

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