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I Opened the Window and in Flew Enza
Or how to feed a fever
I had a little bird, and its name was Enza
I opened the window, and in-flew-enza.
Children’s skip rope rhyme, circa 1918
Flu season is upon us. No doubt about it. Just look at the CDC Weekly Influenza Report, your workplace or your kid’s classroom and you’ll be convinced. While nowhere near as severe as the great Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919, which killed an estimated 20 to 40 million people worldwide, this year’s flu is nothing to sneeze at, so to speak.
This is a bit like the “Invalid Cookery” chapter out of Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management, but where in the mid-nineteenth century the esteemed Isabella Beeton recommended beef tea, today’s common wisdom dictates soups based on brodo di pollo – chicken broth. I grew up hearing that chicken soup was good for what ailed you, and science has proven it true. So get a head start on the flu season and stock your freezer with several quarts of brodo di pollo.
A word about chicken broth: I’ll say unequivocally that homemade is best. You can control the flavor, and you know exactly what it contains. If you don’t have a personal favorite of your own, click here for mine. Of the many commercial brands available Stock Options* is now my favorite. It comes in 8 and 16 ounce tubs and is in the frozen section at the market. Its flavor is light and clean, and not at all salty. For boxed and canned versions, I can recommend Swanson Certified Organic Chicken broth. It is supplied in a 32 ounce container.
This trio of light broth based soups is perfect for someone in need, and with brodo in your freezer you are halfway there. The decorated pasta squares in the Quadrucci in brodo, will lift the spirits of any flu sufferer. The second, Zuppa Pavese is a meal in itself – toasted bread topped with an egg and Parmigiano and set floating in a pool of hot broth, complete nutrition at its simple, yet satisfying best. For a cooked egg soup, try Stracciatella, light broth brimming with egg. Keep these in your recipe file. Like the Girl Scout motto says: Be prepared.
Quadrucci in brodo
Liberation of Rome – June 4, 1944
Spaghetti Carbonara
Citizens of Rome, this is not the time for demonstrations. Obey these directions and go on with your regular work. Rome is yours! Your job is to save the city, ours is to destroy the enemy.
So read the Allied leaflets that fell from the sky early on the morning of June 4, 1944. D-Day was just hours away. Italy and much of Europe lay in ruins, her great capitals and cities reduced to rubble. Monuments and buildings that still stood were pockmarked by bullets, testament to a continent ravaged by war. In less than a year the Third Reich would fall, consigned forever to history’s dung heap.
The Allied communique sent later in the day to Washington and London was considerably shorter – The Allies are in Rome. The Italian campaign had begun ten months earlier with the landing at Salerno. After brutal fighting, the American Fifth Army under General Mark Clark advanced to Rome, and entered unopposed. Read the remainder of this entry »
World Nutella Day, February 5, 2012
Bring it Forth
More than seventy years ago pastry chef Pietro Ferrero invented Nutella. Originally supplied in Mamma convenient sliceable loaves and called “pasta gianduja” it was made of cocoa and Piemontese hazelnuts. Over time the formula was modified, made spreadable and renamed “supercrema gianduja” and ultimately in 1964 was renamed Nutella. It was first imported to America in 1983, and the rest, as they say, is history.
This delightful nut and milk chocolate concoction even has its own day. In 2007, Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso realized that Nutella deserved some serious recognition, a day for people to proudly eat Nutella directly from the jar. (Well, they suggest use of a spoon.) A day when one might wish to sit for a portrait whilst lovingly caressing a jumbo jar of the cocoa and hazelnut manna. And year by year the number of celebrants has grown. The world is a sweeter, better place. Yes, my thanks go out to Sara and Michelle who “solemnly declare Sunday, February 5th World Nutella Day 2012 – a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella.” Read the remainder of this entry »
Punch Abruzzo
Punch Abruzzo – The secret ingredient in my Caffe, Cioccolata and Tiramisu
una bevanda che fa cambà cent’anni e cente mise – a drink that will let you live a hundred years and a hundred months
OK. Mayors do lots of wonderful things for towns. Chief administrators, they look out for the well being of their citizens, perform good works – everything from planting trees to visiting the needy and serving Thanksgiving meals. But one Mayor, Sig. Antonio Evangelista of the small town of Borrello in the province of Chieti (in southeastern Abruzzo) performed magic. To stave off the winter cold he decocted spirits, herbs and spices to come up with Punch Abruzzo, a most magnificent liquore. The mayor made it in his home fireplace, and apparently it caused quite a stir in the town, inciting all kinds of curiosity in the townsfolk.
Over time he refined his creation, making it for friends and fellow citizens, and in 1907 he named it Punch Abruzzo. Closely guarded, the formula has been handed down from father to son, and now the third generation of Evangelista produces Punch Abruzzo according to his grandfather’s proprietary formula, having moved the firm to Sambuceto (CH).
Punch Abruzzo has won much acclaim, and now on little cat feet it has quietly made its way to us. Expect to hear much more about this masterly infusion over the coming year as the importer rolls it out across America. Today’s enterprising mixologists will no doubt make hay with this one in long drinks and cocktails. I can’t wait. Read the remainder of this entry »