Adri Barr Crocetti

Think hip, very hip and wearing Prada or Dolce & Gabbana, maybe Armani. Now add Milano’s famous bar Camparino (formerly known as Zucca in Galleria and birthplace, by the way, of the famous Americano cocktail.) Enter the bar to see patrons partaking of Zucca. Zucca is Italian for pumpkin, but this is no vegetable smoothie. It is Rabarbaro Zucca, an amaro, whose principal and most noteworthy ingredient, the ingredient that puts it squarely in the spotlight, is Chinese rhubarb. This complex libation was invented in 1845 by Ettore Zucca, and has been at the top of its category ever since. It is manufactured today by I.L.L.V.A. Saronno, of Disaronno Originale (amaretto) fame. New to our shores, Zucca is becoming a favorite of envelope pushing barmen and mixologists across the U.S. as the bitter component in many new cocktails. Zucca is hot.

I have written about amari before, and I admit that I occasionally still get “the look” when I lift an unfamiliar bottle from the liquor cabinet. A napkin quietly brought to the edge of a guest’s mouth, a slight downward tip of the head coupled with a quiet sidelong glance. You see, many in the U.S. still view amari as “the other.” However, change is coming as more companies import their products. That can only be good news for those of us who imbibe. And for our digestion as well. Read the remainder of this entry »

Pumpkin Lasagna with Four Cheeses

This one needs a Family Tree.  So here goes.  I have been a fan of Domenica Marchetti for quite some time.  Lucky me, I won a copy of her newest book, The Glorious Pasta of Italy from Paula Yoo of Write Like You Mean It.  (Great name, Paula.  Great site.)  I had just begun to give the book some serious reading when David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria included Domenica’s recipe for Pumpkin Lasagne in his Weekly Update.  (If you do not already subscribe, sign up for a wealth of information.)  And as if I needed any more convincing, Kathy included the recipe in her Food Lover’s Odyssey (another site not to be missed) Top 10 Italian Recipes from Around the Web. See what I mean about the Family Tree?

I had been looking for something different for a first course for Thanksgiving when the Pumpkin Lasagne recipe caught my eye.  Lasagna, why not?  What surprised me was that the pumpkin puree is in the pasta, not between the layers.  By the way – don’t be thrown by lasagne ending with an “e”.  The name of this recipe refers to the multiple sheets of pasta known individually as lasagna.  The final “a” of Italian feminine nouns changes to “e” in the plural.  Mystery solved. Read the remainder of this entry »

Italian cuisine is not all about pasta. Oh no. The Italians have a way with vegetables. And they grow their own. They have developed the most magnificent array, and now we in America can buy Italian seeds. Yes, now you can grow Italian. Each year I see more and more imported Italian vegetable and herb seeds at garden centers, but the go to place remains Seeds from Italy. The number of their offerings is astounding – more than thirty varieties of radicchio and chicory alone. And it just keeps getting better – by September they expect to have Italian garlic – Sulmona from Abruzzo and Berrentina Piacentina from Piacenza. The list goes on – beans, cabbages, kale, cavolo, caulifower, endive, escarole, and I’m only to E.  My favorites, however are the pumpkins, le zucche.  You’ll find a tremendous selection, and you have never seen ones like those grown from Seeds from Italy. The only thing you will regret once you peruse their catalogue of imported Italian seeds is that your backyard garden is not larger. Life is good in the garden. Start planning!

Note: You can click on any picture to see a slide show of even more pictures!

I have no affiliation with any product, manufacturer, or site mentioned in this article.