briciole

Cucina in California / California cuisine

When I first moved to California, 14 years ago, shopping for food was a way to get to know my new environment, it was a little adventure (in some ways it is still an adventure). I lived in Orinda then and I remember when the farmers' market started there. So, for my first contribution to Francesca's blog, I decided to talk about farmers' markets (the post is in Italian and English). I do not get all my food from farmers' markets, so I am planning to talk about other interesting shopping options in future posts. Since today is February 29, I... Read more →

pane francese / French bread

though not any French bread, but Julia Child's French bread, from volume two of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, compliments of Breadchick Mary (The Sour Dough) & Sara (I Like to Cook), who hosted this month's Daring Bakers' challenge. I grew up eating (and loving) sfilatini. Later on, I discovered that French people call them baguettes. For the challenge, however, I decided to follow this part of the instructions: "Making clean, sure cuts with a large knife or a bench scraper, divide the dough into: [...] 2 equal pieces for medium round loaves (pain de ménage or miche only)" I... Read more →

ciambella all'arancia / orange ring cake

A little while ago, as I was perusing the vast bulk section of the Co-op in Eureka, CA, I decided to buy half a small paper bag of mixed tropical dried fruit, without having the slightest idea about what to do with it. The other day, as I was trying to make sense of my cupboard organizing rationale (I have none and therefore I have difficulty finding what I need when I need it), I found the paper bag with my impulsive purchase and decided I had to use it. I also decided it was time to use the ring bottom... Read more →

Edizione speciale: Novel Food #3 / Announcing Novel Food #3

The culinary/literary event Lisa of Champaign Taste and I co-launched two seasons ago is back. Continuing what is becoming a special tradition, we are looking to find culinary inspiration in literary works. Hence, we are co-hosting the third edition of Novel Food. In case you missed the previous editions of the event and you are wondering what it is about, you can read the roundups here and here (first edition), here and here (second edition). The roundups are also great sources of reading suggestions. I will make this announcement short and just lay out the simple rules for participating in Novel... Read more →

Cucina in California / California cuisine

A little while ago, Francesca of francescav and I started planning a guest column on her blog where I would talk about California food and cooking. Today Francesca announced the upcoming publication of the first post: the announcement and the future posts will be bilingual. Many thanks to Francesca, the wonderful host, and to Keith, who designed the beautiful logo for the column. See you all on Francesca's blog! Read more →

spianatoia e matterello / kneading (or pastry) board and rolling pin

Spianatoia and matterello are two important items in my mother's kitchen. She mostly uses them to make pasta all'uovo (egg pasta), one of her specialties. In the kitchen of my childhood, when not in use, both items were inserted in the kitchen table, underneath the table top, like special drawers. Only recently did I discover that my mother had that table and its wooden add-ons custom-made. When we moved to a bigger apartment, she left the kitchen table behind, but not the spianatoia and matterello pair. Since she could no longer store them in the place that had been built for... Read more →

ceci al pomodoro con albicocche secche / chickpeas with tomatoes and dried apricots

As a child I disliked legumi (legumes) profoundly. Fortunately, my mother would not cook them often: fagioli (beans), piselli (peas), lenticchie (lentils), ceci (chickpeas) were all blacklisted. Then, one day, some time after I moved to California, something happened. I convinced myself to try an Indian chickpea dish at a party and thought: why has nobody ever offered me anything so flavorful before? That was the beginning of a far-reaching rethinking of my position with respect to legumes. As a result, now I love them. Although my favorite legumes are lenticchie (lentils), probably because they were the least disliked legumes of... Read more →

fare la spesa (seconda puntata) / to shop for groceries (part 2)

Some time ago, I wrote a post about shopping at a supermercato (grocery store). I hope you are ready for a few more tidbits. In the earlier post, I explained how you, the customer (cliente), need to weigh and label fruit and vegetables by yourself. Before you start choosing any fruit or vegetable, you need not only to get a plastic bag, but also to don plastic gloves (guanti). Bags and gloves are usually located close to each other and also close to a bin where you can deposit the used gloves. The only tricky thing here is that the adhesive... Read more →