briciole

melanzana / eggplant

(Solanum melongena) One of my favorite vegetables ever. Its color (light or dark purple, or white), its texture, its versatility: what's not to love about eggplant? The only moment of tension that ever occurred between me and my friend melanzana was the day I decided to make baba ganoush and forgot to pierce the skin of the plump specimen I had selected for my experiment before putting it into the oven. After some time, I heard a soft plopping sound, which I almost dismissed. I opened the oven door and found what is probably the worst kitchen disaster that ever happened... Read more →

pollo arrosto / roast chicken

Talking about Sunday lunch (pranzo) in my previous post made me think of another dish that was only featured in that meal: pollo arrosto. We would buy it at a store, una rosticceria, actually 'the' store, because we had one favorite place. I am not sure whether it is still in business, but I hope it is. As a child, I loved going with my father to the rotisserie to get the roast chicken: I loved the smell of the place and the look of the food that was made and sold there. I usually got to carry the warm bag... Read more →

pesca / peach

[pèsca] peach [pésca] fishing The local farmers' market is so full of peaches (pesche), I have to write about them. I hope it is clear from the audio snippet that the word pesca is pronounced differently to disambiguate the two meanings. The fruit of the peach tree (pesco) owes its name to ancient Persia: in fact the Latin word persica is a shortening of the whole name of the fruit mala persica, Persian apples. It appears that Prunus persica arrived in Persia from its original China and from there reached the Mediterranean. My father calls the fruit with its Latin name,... Read more →

mora / blackberry or mulberry

Rubus fruticosus (blackberry), Morus alba, nigra or rubra (white, black and red mulberry, respectively) — Both fruits are made of aggregated drupelets. When more are blackberries, they grow on a rovo (blackberry bush); when they are mulberries they grow on a gelso (mulberry tree). Mulberry trees are famous also because their leaves feed silk worms, bachi da seta. As an amateur bookbinder and boxmaker, I am also familiar with mulberry paper, produced from an Asian species of mulberry tree (Morus papyrifera or Broussonetia papyrifera). While I have no experience picking mulberries, I love picking blackberries: getting scraped by the thorns and... Read more →

santoreggia / savory

There are two main kinds: santoreggia: summer savory (Satureia hortensis) santoreggia montana: winter savory (Satureia montana) The word comes from the Latin satura, indicating a mixed dish, usually of legumes, which was seasoned with santoreggia and other herbs. According to my dictionary, there is also an influence of the word santo (holy) as a reference to the therapeutic properties of the plant, which have been known since ancient times. Santoreggia has a flavor reminiscent of thyme, with mint and pepper tones. Besides being used as seasoning, it is an ingredients of herb liqueurs. My experience with savory prior to last Sunday,... Read more →

Montalbano

Name: Salvo Montalbano Occupation: Commissario di Polizia (Police Inspector) Creator: Andrea Camilleri Location: Vigata [see footnote 1 for more details] Language spoken: Italian with a Sicilian accent, sprinkled with a generous dose of Sicilian words Typical expression: Montalbano sono, i.e., this is Montalbano, pronounced when he answers the phone or knocks on someone's door. It is a typical trait of the Sicilian language to place the verb at the end in this sentence, which in Italian would be Sono Montalbano. A number of people have heard me sing the praise of Camilleri's novels, so I thought I would expand a bit... Read more →

panzanella

There are many variations of this traditional dish, which is fundamentally a way of dressing up stale bread, but I like my father's recipe the best. During my childhood, every August we would spend three weeks in Poggio Catino, my father's native village, located in the historic region of Sabina, north of Rome. Our morning walks in the woods of the Monti Sabini usually ended with a breakfast of panzanella, for which we would carry with us the ingredients. First of all, we brought pane casareccio (homemade-style bread) that was at least one day old. Then we brought tasty tomatoes, ripe,... Read more →

cocomero / watermelon

Also called anguria or melone d'acqua. The word cocomero comes from the Latin cucumis, while anguria derives from a Greek word. Be aware that in certain parts of Italy cocomero actually means cucumber. The latter's scientific name is, indeed, Cucumis sativus. The scientific name of watermelon, on the other hand, is Citrullus lanatus. In case you hear the word citrullo while in Italy, consider that it is not a compliment. Humans have been eating watermelons for thousands of years and I believe no justification for this is required. As a child I eagerly waited for summer, when, among other delectable fruits,... Read more →

cavolino di Bruxelles / Brussels sprout

Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera, also called cavoletto di Bruxelles. The plural form, which is almost always used, is cavolini and cavoletti, respectively. I was 22 years old and living in Milan the first time I ate cavolini di Bruxelles alla parmigiana at a friend's house, steamed and lightly seasoned with butter and parmigiano. I liked them then and still do. I am aware that in this country they get mixed reviews. I believe the trick is to offset their soft nature (when steamed) with something crunchy, like toasted hazelnuts or almonds, or to enhance their flavor with cheese (like, for example... Read more →

grembiule / apron

When my mother gets home, she always does two things: she changes into her home clogs (zoccoli) and puts on her apron. You will never catch her at home wearing shoes or without her apron. As soon as my mother entered my kitchen in the house where my husband and I were about to get married, in Orinda, California, she asked me where my apron was. The direct consequence of growing up with a constant apron-wearing mother was that I had mixed feelings about aprons and did not own one. I did not explain to my mother the cause, only the... Read more →